Miss "D" / Iris Davenport

Cleveland, 1953-1962

In the early 1950s, Cleveland teenager Iris Davenport was entering talent shows and singing around town. She was good enough to finish second behind the Five Lyrics in one contest, and won the Three Bears TV Talent Parade competition in 1955. She seems to have stopped performing around 1955. 

In September/October of 1962, the Jowall record label tried to restart her singing career by recording a song she wrote - "People Will Walk All Over You" - with the flip side written by Clevelander Randy Shipp, who was a member of the BOS Singers (later). She was credited as Miss "D" and had a few live shows playing up the mystery/anonimity of the name. Why the ruse? We'll probably never know as she passed away in 2012 and there are no other mentions of her as a performer in the papers. It's possible that she was dedicated to singing gospel and wanted a unique secular identity?

She doesn't seem to have made any more apprearences as a club singer in the greater Cleveland area as there are no other mentions in the newspapers.

Discography:
People Will Walk Over You / Come Back Lover - Jowall 501, Sept 1962