Patience and Prudence

Sisters Patience and Prudence McIntyre comprised the vocal pop duo of Patience and Prudence, one hit wonders of the 1950s. In 1956 their musician father took his then 14 and 11-year-old daughters into a recording studio to record a demo of “Tonight You Belong to Me”, with the intention of getting an established singer to record his version of it. The recording made its way to the head of Liberty Records, who offered to sign the girls and release the song. The quickly recorded a B-side, “A Smile and a Ribbon”, and the single became a smash, going to number 4 in the US, climbing to number 28 in the UK, and becoming the biggest selling single in the label’s history to that point. They followed-up their debut with the sugary “Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now” b/w “The Money Tree”, and that hit number 11 at home, and reached number 22 in the UK. The girls had no real interest in a music career, and although they issued a handful of follow-up singles, none of them charted. They performed together in public for the final time on a 1978 television special.

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