Archie Comics debuted a serial about a fun, teen girl band named Josie and the Pussy Cats in 1969 after a rebrand from She’s Josie on issue #45. This is also the issue that introduced the lovely Valerie Brown!
Bending reality with the comics, La La Productions put together a live action band who released a full album with singer Patrice Holloway in the role of Valerie. That’s her leading the theme song to the animated Josie and the Pussy Cats cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions where she contributed Valerie’s singing voice each week for the first season. The group occasionally solved mysteries in cross-overs with the Scooby Doo gang where Valerie flexed her books marts and leadership skills. In one episode, she has a doppelganger and friend named Princess Milwila.
But, before the cartoon even debuted, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera wanted Valerie recast as a white woman which meant Patrice would be recast as well. Dan Janssen of La La Productions had cast Patrice and was firm that she and Valerie had to stay. After a back and forth between the men, the cartoon was released and Valerie became one of the first Afro-American regulars in the Saturday morning cartoon line-up.
They said good news and bad news: We’re going do the show but we can’t use Patrice because she’s black. I said I can’t do that because it’s against my religion. I can’t tell Patrice she can’t do it because she’s black.
-Dan Janssen, Noblemania, 2011
Issue #45