Paul & Paula
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Paul & Paula (Ray Hildebrand, born December 21, 1940, and Jill Jackson, born May 20, 1942) were a pop singing duo, best known for their 1963 #1 hit "Hey Paula."
Biography
Hildebrand and Jackson were attending Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas in 1962 when a local DJ asked listeners to come to the studio and sing their songs to help the American Cancer Society. The duo sang a song called "Hey Paula," which Hildebrand wrote, and were encouraged by everyone in town to make a record of it.
Shelby Singleton of Mercury Records eventually signed them, but not before changing their professional name (Singleton reasoned that a pair named Ray and Jill singing about "Hey, hey Paula" and "Hey, hey Paul" didn't quite make sense). The pairing of Paul & Paula was credited with inspiring other famous male/female pairings down the line, mostly from record companies that had originally turned the duo down in 1962: Jerry Butler was quickly paired with Betty Everett, and Marvin Gaye was paired with a number of female partners before Motown finally settled on Tammi Terrell.
The duo put out two regular albums and a Christmas-themed album after the success of "Hey Paula", which sold over two million copies in early 1963, charting to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the entire month of February. Their follow-up, "Young Lovers," reached #6 on the Billboard charts later in 1963.
In 1965, Hildebrand left the act to complete his college education, having decided that a future in show business was not for him. Unfortunately, he made this decision in the middle of a Dick Clark Caravan of Stars road trip, and Clark had to fill in at the last minute.
Jackson went on with a solo career and Hildebrand returned to singing in the 1980s in the Christian duo Land & Hildebrand. Today, Ray and Jill get together from time-to-time to sing as "Paul and Paula" for special events.
Discography
- (1963) We Go Together
- (1963) Holiday for Teens
- (1964) Paul & Paula Sing for Young Lovers
- (1995) The Best of Paul & Paula
- (2000) Greatest Hits
Single Releases
- "Hey Paula" (1963)
- "Young Lovers" (1964)
- "First Quarrel" (1964)
See also
External links
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