Ginny Arnell

Ginny Arnell isn't exactly a household name among girl group acts in the manner of, say, Joanie Sommers or Little Peggy March, but she left her mark on the field with one song, "I Wish I Knew What Dress to Wear," which remains a classic of the genre for poignancy. Arnell's credits were actually fairly substantial -- a one-time partner of Gene Pitney in a duo called Jamie & Jane, who recorded for American Decca around 1959 -- she re-surfaced as a solo act on MGM Records in late 1963 with a pathetically self-deprecating single called "Dumb Head," co-written by David Hess and Camille Monte, which reached number 50 nationally. In early 1964, however, she re-emerged with "I Wish I Knew What Dress to Wear," written by Gloria Shayne and Noel Regney under the aegis of producers Jim Vienneau and Danny Davis. It only reached number 130 on the charts in April of that year, but left a major impression on fans of the genre. Arnell's singing projected extraordinary depth of feeling, similar to Lesley Gore, and turned the seemingly superficial song into a moving mini-drama. Despite the lackluster chart placement of her two singles, the label had enough confidence in Arnell to release a complete LP on her, Meet Ginny Arnell, which led off with "I Wish I Knew What Dress to Wear" and included the earlier single. That was Arnell's last known major contribution as a recording artist.