The Sprites were students at the Charles Springmyer school in Mack, Ohio, a suburb west of Cincinnati.

Buckeye Beat covered the Sprites first single, listing the people involved:

the schools ‘vocal director’ Donna Buel … Linda Tyra, Nancy Schunk, Janet Miller, Norma Sumner, Shirley Mangold, all 8th graders, Diane Rodenburg, Diane Schwander, Jill Lampe, Mary Schleue, Diane Spencer, all 7th graders, and Jane Labanz, a first grader … An eleventh member was added … in time for the studio ‘take’ … Melody Stinson now a ninth-grader at Oak Hills High School.

The Percussions backed the Sprites for their recording of “Little Latin Lupe Lu” / “On a Slow Boat to China”. The tape was sent to Wakefield Manufacturing in Phoenix, Arizona to be pressed, and the Wakefield code 7234 dates it to 1965.

Even more obscure is their second record, which probably features a different group of children, as the Wakefield number 14360 dates it to 1969 or 1970. “Consider Yourself” (from Oliver!) is about what you’d expect, and features backing by the Percussions (definitely not a rock group). The flip is the gentle and affecting “Jim’s Ballad” featuring guitar by Jim Wenstrup.

This must be the same Jim Wenstrup who played lead guitar with the Electros, a group from nearby Elder High School and Oak Hills High School. The Electros included Frank Luckey on rhythm guitar, Gene Yuellig on drums, Rick Clark on bass and Ed Holloway on vocals. The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a photo of the group on April 8, 1967, and mentioned that the Electros planned to cut a record “Chase Around the World” – but if they did I haven’t seen it.

I would like to know more about how the Sprites came to record what seems to be an original song by Jim Wenstrup.