The Lewis Sisters

Sisters Helen and Kay Lewis had cut a slew of niche and novelty records with a classical bent, but they came to Motown’s West Coast office in Los Angeles as songwriters and backing vocalists, rather than artists in their own right. LA producer Hal Davis liked the ladies’ voices a lot, and so they ended up with an artist contract too; billed, bafflingly, as “The Singing School Teachers” (even though neither of them were actually teachers), their two Motown singles failed to inspire much interest, despite the direct involvement of Motown president Berry Gordy Jr. and the rare privilege of seeing release in Europe. Thereafter, Helen and Kay stuck to songwriting, penning several excellent songs for more established Motown acts.