Lynne Nixon born 22 March 1941

Lynne Nixon (22 March 1941 – 9 January 2001) was the original female lead vocalist with the four-part harmony group The Aquatones. 

The Aquatones began in 1956 as three males from Valley Stream, New York, United States, called the Rhythm Kings; the members were Dave Goddard, Larry Vannata and Gene McCarthy. They came together to record a song written by Goddard for their junior class play at Valley Stream Central High School. All of the men played instruments as well as singing vocals — McCarthy on the clarinet and tenor sax, Vannata the alto and tenor saxophones and Goddard on piano. Bob Boden played drums when they performed live. 

A classmate's father, a record distributor, heard the group and suggested that they add a high falsetto voice. Shortly thereafter Vannata met Lynne Nixon at a dance and asked McCarthy and Goddard to give her an audition. Upon hearing her voice they agreed to add her to the group. At first Nixon only sang backgrounds, until Vannata wrote the song "You" for her to sing. 

The group later changed its name to the Aquatones. In 1957, the three original members decided to add Nixon as a fourth member to give the group some versatility. It was not long after the group became a foursome that they found themselves performing at a talent contest at Malverne High School. The contest, entitled "Stairway to the Stars", was just that for the group, as local real estate mogul-turned-music-promoter Lou Fargo heard them and liked what he saw and heard. In December 1957, he signed the group and they went to record on Fargo's own label. 

                             

Their first song was "You" (Fargo 1001 b/w "She's the One For Me"). The record hit on the Billboard chart in April 1958. "You" gained attention again in 1973 when it was used in the crime thriller Mean Streets, written and directed by Martin Scorsese. Such classics as "I Met Him on a Sunday" by The Shirelles, "Zoom Zoom Zoom" by The Collegians and "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry were out at the same time. While "You" did very well in the East, it only managed to hit No. 21 across the United States. More recently the song was featured in the TV series Mad Men. 

Their follow-up record was "Say You'll Be Mine" b/w "So Fine" (Fargo 1002). Their third single was "Our First Kiss" b/w "Drive In" (Fargo 1003). Their next release in October 1958 was "My Treasure" b/w "My One Desire" (Fargo 1005) but it received little interest. "My Darling" b/w "For You, For You" (Fargo 1111) followed, as did "Crazy For You" b/w "Wanted" (Fargo 1016) in 1961. "Crazy For You" was a cover of the original Heartbeats' tune. 

After that, the Aquatones went their separate ways. Lynne stayed on Long Island and got married, Larry moved to New Hampshire, Gene moved to the midwest and then to Atlanta, and Dave moved to California, Ohio, and finally Kentucky. Most important, Lynne stopped singing. Though the group members remained friends and stayed in touch, it was difficult to get together to perform – and without Lynne, they were missing the "sound" for which they were known. 

In 1964, Fargo Records issued a full-length album on the group that quickly became a staple in cutout bins and is now a collector's item going for several hundred dollars. The Aquatones may have been one-hit wonders, but a wonderful hit it was. 

Dave Goddard became deeply distraught, especially over the loss of Lynn, and over the years his desire to reform the Aquatones with a female lead like Lynn never left him. In the late 1990s, the group reformed with a new lead singer, Colette Delaney. They released a number of CDs on the Debra label of remakes and new material, including a Christmas album in 2006. 

Lynne Nixon Denicker died in January 2001 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)