{{short description|American rock band}} '''The Dartells''' were an American early 1960s rock band from Oxnard, California, United States.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=631}}</ref>
The group formed in 1962 while its members were teens,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and won local attention under the umbrella of manager/record producer Tom Ayers. They released a single in 1962 entitled "Hot Pastrami", which was a takeoff of Nat Kendrick & the Swans' "Mashed Potatoes".<ref name="LarkinGE"/> Dot Records picked the song up for national distribution, and it peaked at No. 11 on the US Pop<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and No. 15 on the Hot R&B Singles chart in 1963.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=146}}</ref> The single was successful, and a ''Hot Pastrami'' album was released,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> which hit No. 95 on the ''Billboard'' 200.<ref name="Whitburn">{{cite book | last = Whitburn | first = Joel | title = Top LPs, 1955–1972 | year = 1973 | publisher = Record Research | page = 41 | url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/41/mode/2up | access-date = November 15, 2025}}</ref> Subsequent singles fared less well: "Dance Everybody Dance" peaked at No. 99 Pop, and the third single, "Clap Your Hands" (not to be confused with the Beau-Marks record with the same title), failed to chart.<ref name="AMG">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-dartells-mn0000786027|title=The Dartells | Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=22 August 2021}}</ref> The group split up shortly thereafter.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
Lead singer Doug Phillips later played in New Concepts and Cottonwood, neither of which enjoyed sustained success.<ref name="AMG"/> Some of the group's members later joined the short-lived late 1960s group, Rain.<ref name="AMG"/>
==Members== *Doug Phillips - vocals, bass *Dick Burns - guitar *Gary Peeler - drums *Randy Ray - organ *Rich Piel - saxophone *Corky Wilkie - saxophone *Galen Mills - guitar<ref name="LarkinGE"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dartells, The}} Category:Musical groups from Ventura County, California Category:Dot Records artists