[1] The girls lived in the housing projects of 1905 Second Ave and 99th Street and sang in the hallways of the building and downstairs in the playground.

In 1957, the girls released their first hit single, "Mr. Lee", an uptempo song in which the narrator proclaims her devotion to her crush—her school teacher.

The song would later be covered by Diana Ross on the European version of her 1987 album Red Hot Rhythm & Blues.

The personnel on "Mr. Lee" included Jesse Powell on tenor sax, Allan Hanlon and Al Caiola on guitar, Ray Ellis on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Joe Marshall on drums.

[1] It started to climb the charts rapidly, eventually reaching #52 on the Billboard Hot 100, whereupon Atlantic released their own version of the song.