MY MUM WAS ONE OF THE DEES IN THE THREE DEES

One of the most obscure groups ever in the history of music was a rockabilly and country music inspired female singing trio from Brisbane called THE THREE DEES, who performed intermittently as teenagers from the late 1950`s to the mid 1960's but never made a record. The amazing thing is that my mother was a member of this group. MERLE DARGUSCH, JOAN DARGUSCH and my mother DAWN DARGUSCH were the three would be singing superstars who never quite made it and achieved the recognition they deserved. In the same vein as THE BEE GEES, the name THE THREE DEES was an abbreviation of THE THREE DARGUSCH'S. THE EVERLY BROTHERS were one of their biggest influences, the near perfect blend of country and rock'n'roll, as well as BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS. Being from a relatively strict christian household one of the obstacles the three Dargy girls faced was the involvement of backing dancers in what was meant to be their make it big performance on television, dancing was and still is completely frowned upon in their fundamentalist church, because of the jealousy issue between adults. Sounds tough, and i guess it is, but because their father (and my grandfather) was a minister in the church, he wouldn't allow THE THREE DEES to perform unless the TV station agreed to have them perform without backing dancers, which it would never agree to. It was probaly the moment, like in SLIDING DOORS, where the dream for THE THREE DEES ended in the blink of an eye. But despite their immense disappoinment, my mother and her two sisters never held it against their father for railroading their fledgling career and respected his decision without question. Prior to this occuring, which was probaly sometime around 1960 or 1961, THE THREE DEES performed at BOGGO ROAD JAIL in Brisbane, just think, this timeframe pre-dates JOHNNY CASH and FOLSOM PRISON, quite a gutsy effort by three quiet mannered young girls, as well as performing on a Brisbane TV telethon hosted by the late BERNARD KING, the TV chef with a hyena personality who threw brickbats at THE THREE DEES' performance, labelling them as 'hillbillies who couldn't sing that well'. THE THREE DEES also performed on a few occasions in suburban movie cinemas around Brisbane, taking the stage to sing a few songs just prior to a movie starting. It's likely that their brother KENNETH joined them on a few occasions playing acoustic guitar. The swansong for THE THREE DEES was most likely a performance at a concert organised by country legend REG LINDSAY at a venue near Beenleigh south of Brisbane around 1966, just after my mother was married and years after their scuttled performance involving backing dancers. THE THREE DEES could really harmonize wonderfully, they were a very worthy female equivalent of THE EVERLY BROTHERS. If anyone in Brisbane or Queensland per chance has an old photo of the THREE DEES performing, let me tell you it's rarer than hen's teeth, and i would love to get my hands on it, just leave a comment to this post and name your price. Just remember i'm a pensioner (laugh).