The Angels are an American girl group best known for their US chart-topper “My Boyfriend’s Back”. The group began when sisters Barbara and Phyllis Allbut sang in their school choir but wanted to perform beyond that, so they formed The Starlets with Bernadette Carroll and Linda Malzone. Their cover of Johnny Mercer’s “PS I Love You” almost made the Hot 100, but no major labels signed them, so they earned money as professional background singers. Linda Jankowski replaced Malzone, and Carroll embarked upon a solo career.

A meeting with producer Gerry Granahan, ex-lead singer of Dickey Doo and The Don'ts, led to a record contract with Caprice Records. Their first release under the new name The Angels, a cover of the Percy Faith’s Orchestra song “Till”, hit #14 in the US in early 1961. The follow-up single “Cry Baby Cry” reached #38 three months later. Subsequent singles did not chart. Jankowski left for a solo career in late 1962 after a contractual dispute, so the Allbut sisters recruited fellow Jersey native Peggy Santiglia who had sung in The Delicates, another three-member girl group.

The Bob Feldmen-penned “My Boyfriend’s Back” shot to #1 in the US in the summer of 1963, catapulting the group into national fame. It also reached #50 in the UK. The Angels toured the US and overseas, opening for Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Erma Franklin (Aretha’s sister). They also performed for several TV shows.

Their next singles were “I Adore Him”, which made it to #25 in the US three months later, and “Thank You And Goodnight”, which was a minor hit that December. The Angels continued their work as professional backing singers for artists like Neil Diamond, Lesley Gore, Tony Orlando, Jackie Wilson, Frank Sinatra, and Lou Christie on his chart-topper “Lightnin' Strikes”. They also continued releasing their own singles like “Wow Wow Wee!” (a #41 hit in early 1964), a “Boyfriend” prequel “Why Don’t The Boy Leave Me Alone?” and a “Boyfriend” sequel “The Guy With The Black Eye”.

In 1964, Santiglia began a solo career with “Snow Man” under the name Peggy Sans, co-written with Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons. By 1965, The Angels' contract with Smash Records ended and Santiglia had left due to not liking the way the trio was managed. She then got involved in many projects including co-writing The Four Seasons' 1967 hit “Beggin'”, fronting The Outlaws, and touring with The Serendipity Singers.

Meanwhile the Allbut sisters recruited Toni Mason and changed their name to The Halos, releasing several singles from 1965-1966 to no chart success, leading Congress Records to abandon their plans to release a full album. So the sisters recruited Pixies Three singer Debbie Swisher to re-form The Angels and released several singles on RCA from 1967-1968 that also did not chart.

In 1969, Santiglia rejoined the group and The Angels performed at a number of nostalgia/revival gigs that made them a successful touring act again. Barbra left in the ‘70s, replaced by Lana Shaw of The Serendipity Sisters until 1978 when the group’s guitarist Stan Sirico acted as third vocalist.

In 1998, The Angels sued the songwriting team Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer for 35 years of unpaid royalties. More than ten years later, the case was still unresolved. In 2008, Phyllis Allbut’s daugher Karalyn Hugo became the group’s third vocalist. That year, they released Love, The Angels.