Early 60's pop music (pre-British Invasion), in addition to rock/rockabilly, doo-wop, surf/cars and schmaltzy movie themes, included the 'girl groups.' Though trashed by many rock purists as irrelevant and shallow, the genre was smart, sexy and hook-driven. Songs were generally quite short and didn't deal with very deep issues, but that was the point - teenagers weren't supposed to save the world, they had REAL problems to deal with! Yes, Phil Spector was front and center with his wall-of-sound stable of interchangeable groups, but there were many, many others as well who added their own textures to the style.Among the dozens of boxed sets of music available for the holidays is One Kiss Can Lead to Another from Rhino Records, a compilation of obscure (meaning no Spector) girl group songs chronicling the era. Perhaps someone will give it to me as a present this year! Four CDs (120 songs), priced at about $60 amazon.com.
"In the past 40 years the music featured on One Kiss has served as a touchstone for a wide variety of artists, most notably 1970s New Yorkers (the Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, New York Dolls, Blondie-- even Martin Scorsese), 1980s Brits (the Smiths, Jesus & Mary Chain, the Field Mice, the Cocteau Twins), and contemporary indie stars (Saint Etienne, Magnetic Fields, the Avalanches, the Concretes)." - Pitchfork review (9.8 rating)
Boston Pheonix review (3.5 stars) - Stomp & Stammer review
Some reference materials: - history of rock.com - girlgroups.com - spectropop.com
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