While attending college and working at a See's Candy store in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, Sperling re-encountered Dick St. John, an old junior high classmate. Both realized they were singer songwriters, and together they began writing songs and harmonizing.The first Dick and Dee Dee 45 RPM release was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, The Wilder Brothers. Without telling her, the record producers changed her name to Dee Dee, something she didn't discover until the record was released. "The Mountain's High" became a smash hit in the Bay Area, eventually becoming number two on the Billboard Top 100 in the United States. Sperling took time off from college so they could tour Texas. "The Mountain's High" was re-issued on Liberty Records for national distribution.