I have had an ongoing passion for the so-called "girl groups" of the early Sixties ever since they came on the scene. Hard to pin-point exactly why. I think part of it was an appreciation of the special tonalities of female voices, the sex appeal of of a female singing to me (as I imagine it) and the often husky even tough voices contrasted with the passionate or sometimes just sentimental lyrical content. The term "girl groups" is a somewhat strange in the sense that we don't speak of "guy groups" or "boy groups". It is mostly a term of exceptionalism, given that most rock 'n' roll vocal groups were male. It was hard for girls to be part of the street corner vocal scene. The Bobbettes broke through with their one-off hit "Mr. Lee" in 1957, but it was the mighty Chantels, led by the incomparable vocals of Arlene Smith, who proved that a girl group could be more than a novelty, scoring a string of hits from 1957 - 1962, hitting the pop charts, not just the R & B charts, in the process. Suddenly girls realized that they could be on the radio just like the guys and The Chantels inspired a number of young ladies to form groups, including the greatest girl-group hitmakers of the pre-Supremes classic girl group era--The Shirelles. They hit the pop charts 25 times between 1958 and 1967--15 times in their peak period of 1960-1963--including such indelible classics as "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", "Tonights The Night", "Baby It's You", "Soldier Boy", "Mama Said, "Dedicated To The One I Love," and in turn inspired the girl-group explosion of The Ronettes, The Chiffons, The Crystals, The Orlons etc.
But those stats don't really convey the magic. A lot of the magic came from lead singer Shirley Owens (later Alston). She had a husky, warm, sometimes quavery voice that conveyed strength and vulnerability at the same time. Technically, Doris Kenner (later Coley), the group's other lead singer, had a stronger, more conventionally impressive voice (she sang lead on their first mega-hit, "Dedicated To The One I Love").
But Shirley's singing and sound were completely unique. Another source of their magic was the high quality of songs they were given to record, written by the likes of Carole King, Bacharach/David and Luther Dixon. Their level was evidenced by the fact that Dionne Warwick was sometimes a substitute Shirelle. In an era when albums were often two hits and a bunch of throw-aways or versions of popular songs by other artists, The Shirelles albums had a lot of quality non-hits, songs like "It's Love That Really Counts", "The Things I Want To Hear", "Blue Holiday" etc., and their songs were covered by the likes of The Beatles("Boys"), Manfred Mann("Sha La La", The Mamas & Papas("Dedicated To The One I love", Smith("Baby It's You"), Roberta Flack("Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow") and more. They were equally good on ballads and uptempo material--check the tough "Big John", "Love Is A Swingin' Thing", and "Everybody Loves A Love". I was fortunate to see the Shirelles in the Seventies, the originals Shirley, Beverly and Mickey, with only Doris absent, sounded as good as they had a decade earlier--'course they were only in their thirties when I saw them.
This love letter was occasioned by my decision to put together an ultimate Shirelles mix-cd for myself. I start off with the monumental "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?", a stately, passionate capsule of a moment when a young woman has decided she is going to have sex with the guy she likes and wonders what it will mean for him--yet is going to go ahead with it anyway. Then there is the straight-up passion of "Dedicated To The One I Love", their interpretation of the Five Royales hit, which The Shirelles turn into a wise bit of philosophy. "Mama Said" captures the dynamic between mother and daughter in a positive way via one of the most addictively catchy melodies ever written. "Baby It's You" is right up there with "Fever" as one of the sexiest songs ever written and Shirley puts it across with alternately come-hither breathiness and more assertive, demanding tones, delivered via slinky, insinuating phrasing. And so on...thirty-four tracks, only a few of them just fair, the rest ranging from excellent to sublime. The only hit I left of was "Soldier Boy" which I can't stand due to it's clip-clopping tempo, dull unison vocals, and sometimes silly lyrics ("oh, my little soldier boy"?). Obviously the public took another view as it was one of the signature songs, one of two #1 pop hits of their career. But it's my mix cd and I'll leave it off if I want to!
The Shirelles have existed in one form or another until recently. Shirley left for a solo career in 1975 but Doris, who had left to get married in 1968, returned when Shirley left. In the Eighties the group split into two factions which continued into the new millenium, though MIcki died in 1982, with Shirley performing as Shirley Alson of The Shirelles. Now I hear Doris has passed. But I will remember them as four talented "around-the-way" girls, attractive but not devastating beauties, who were the first real superstar girl group and made some of the most moving and enduring music of the past fifty years.
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