The McGuire Sisters: And Their Melodies Linger On . . .

Phyllis McGuire preferred not to dwell on the past, particularly not on her legendary love affair with Mafia boss Sam Giancana--a segment of her life that still fascinates the media 14 years after he was murdered. Simply stated, she has no regrets; she loved him. Period.

The McGuire Sisters, Christine and Dorothy included, could chatter for hours about any number of subjects--their discovery on “The Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts” TV show in 1952, their 30 hits over the next 14 years (“Sincerely,” “Sugartime” and “Muskrat Ramble” among them), command performances for five Presidents and Britain’s Queen Mother, a 17-year group hiatus when Phyllis worked alone, the trio’s comeback almost four years ago, their business successes, financial independence and on and on.

However, it’s a birthday party that has them chattering now--Dr. Armand Hammer’s 91st on Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Besides the McGuire Sisters, the program, to be emceed by Merv Griffin, includes the L.A. Philharmonic, conducted by David Alan Miller; Isaac Stern; opera star Sherrill Milnes; Mstislav Rostropovich on the cello, and Griffin’s orchestra for dancing. Jane Morgan is scheduled to sing “Happy Birthday to You,” and Helen Hayes will lead the toast to Hammer.

“I’m in awe of Dr. Hammer,” Phyllis McGuire said the other day from her New York townhouse. “The man is incredible. He’s accomplished so much.”

As interviews go, it seemed to matter not that Christine and Dorothy were in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they picked up the conversation a few hours later, hardly missing a beat.

“He’s picking us up in Akron, Ohio, in his private jet Saturday night after the second show,” Dorothy added, obviously impressed by the special attention, courtesy of the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Performing this week at the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron, the singers are in the early stages of an ambitious tour that next year will take them to Ireland, Australia and Japan. They received rave notices earlier this year when they sang at New York’s Rainbow & Stars club after a 25-year absence from the Big Apple.

“It was a fantastic engagement,” Dorothy said, with a burst of unrestrained enthusiasm. “I mean we took New York by storm.”

“We were rediscovered,” Christine overlapped.

Dorothy: “We’re doing a lot of theaters, which we love.”

Christine: “They’re better than a club. It’s a full house. They aren’t drinking. They aren’t worrying about the losses at the (gambling) tables. They really come to see you and be entertained. They are your fans. It’s just unbelievable the respect that we’re getting.”

Dorothy: “I don’t think any of us thought we’d get the reception that we’re getting. The love and the applause from the audience is unbelievable. Our fans are bringing their kids, telling them, ‘This is what we went to see. We want you to hear this.’ It’s just very, very rewarding.”

She was speaking from her home on the edge of a Scottsdale golf course. Dorothy and Christine, a temporary “boarder” who has her own “little wing” of the house, play golf and tennis when time permits. Dorothy and her husband of 31 years, real-estate developer Lowell Richardson, have two sons and a 3 1/2-month-old granddaughter.

Christine, married four times at last count but single at present, is a great-grandmother. She and Phyllis, also single, have turned handsome profits from a variety of business ventures over the years.

When not on the road, Phyllis divides her time between her plush New York townhouse, purchased from an Arab prince, and her sprawling Las Vegas home--an enormous house that includes a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and a 44-foot-high replica of the Eiffel Tower in the living room. There’s a moatlike area outside where 23 swans glide around and two guest houses where her sisters stay when they come to rehearse.

Sometimes referred to these days as the Barbie Dolls of the grandmotherly set, the McGuire Sisters, nonetheless, haven’t lost their glamorous images.

Christine turned 60 on her last birthday; Dorothy is 59; and Phyllis is the youngest (57 according to the World Almanac, 54 according to her). Still, with their youthful Size 8 figures, they continue to attract attention, on stage and off.

About a month ago, MCA Records re-released the trio’s Greatest Hits album on compact disc, and now the sisters hope to come out with a new recording, possibly produced by Richard Carpenter, who will meet with them here Monday, Phyllis said.

“We’re very excited,” she continued. “Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin brothers wrote a song for us, Charles Strouse wrote three songs, Peggy Lee wrote three songs. . . .”

“And, hopefully, (the music will have) a new sound,” Dorothy added later from Scottsdale, “not the big-band sound that we always had, but a new sound, like the synthesizer, you know, the in sound of today that all the kids and everybody seems to like.”