In 1964 three young ladies from New Orleans hit the top of the U.S. pop charts with “Chapel of Love,” displacing the Beatles’ “Love Me Do” from the top spot. Other hits would follow for the Dixie Cups (“People Say,” “Iko Iko”), whose numerous honors include their 2007 induction in the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and now, this month, the Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award.

Now living in Tampa post-Katrina, the group’s remaining founding members, sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, chatted recently with our Look-Ka Py Py Podcast host Zachary Johnson.

Listen up for stories of the band’s humble high school talent show beginnings, the origins of the Dixie Cups name, their distinguishing three-part harmonies (Hawkins’ cousin Joan Marie Johnson completed the trio) and what it was like to perform at the iconic Apollo.