Cindy Birdsong label, Cameo-Parkway, for a more lucrative deal with Atlantic Records. Birdsong first met The Supremes when the group opened for them in 1963. Patti LaBelle has noted that a rivalry between the two groups developed after the Supremes were seen in the same store LaBelle and her band members were, shopping for clothes for performances. Group members reportedly were angry when the Supremes showed up on stage wearing the same outfit that they wore. The group also befriended a fellow Motown alumnus and Philly native, Tammi Terrell during that same period. The Blue Belles had some success after joining Atlantic
Cindy Birdsong being initially impressed with the looks of Patsy Holt before Holt and the group sang to him during an audition, which prompted Robinson to change his mind, signing the group and changing the name of both the group (into The Blue Belles, based from a Newtown subsidiary, Blue Belle Records) and Holt's own name, from Patsy Holt to Patti LaBelle. The group had their first hit with "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" in 1962 though LaBelle wrote in her memoirs that the song was actually recorded by The Starlets. When the controversy over the song wound down, the