The Teddy Bears 1958
Phil Spector
Marshall Leib
Annette Kleinbard

To Know Him is to Love Him
#1 in 1958


The Teddy Bears was a group that is perhaps most known for being Phil Spector's first band. Following his graduation from Fairfax high school in Los Angeles, California, Spector became obsessed with a song, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", he had written for his group, The Teddy Bears. After a hasty audition at ERA Records who offered to finance a studio session, The Teddy Bears - Spector, Marshall Leib, lead singer Annette Kleinbard, and last minute recruit, drummer Sandy Nelson - recorded the song at Gold Star Studios at a total cost of $75. Released on ERA's Dore label in August 1958, it took a full two months before "To Know Him Is to Love Him" began to get airplay. The record eventually stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 for twenty three weeks, resided in the Top Ten for eleven of those weeks, and commanded the #1 chart position for three weeks. At age seventeen, Spector had written, arranged, played, sung, and produced the best-selling record in the country. Although subsequent releases by the Teddy Bears on the Imperial label were considered well-recorded soft pop, they did not sell, and within a year of their impressive debut, Spector had disbanded the group. Spector was not the only Teddy Bear who went on to an illustrious career after the group broke up. Annette Kleinbard continued to write and record songs, and eventually changed her name to Carol Connors. Among her songwriting credits are the Rip Chords hit "Hey Little Cobra" and the Academy Awards nominated Rocky theme song "Gonna Fly Now". On February 3, 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was killed in Spector's mansion. Phil Spector was convicted of her murder on April 13, 2008, and sentended to 19 tears to life. Phill Spector died in prison on Jan 16, 2021, at the age of 81.
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