Saturday, January 23, 2010

Girl Group Gems Soul to Surf

I was intrigued by these "lost gems" of songs from the early 1960s and was thrilled to first hear them. If you're a die-hard collector of the "girl group" sound, this is a nice addition to your collection. But let's get a couple of things straight. First of all, of all the artists included, only two had actual hit records, Annette Funicello, of course [who had ten - none of which are in this CD], and The Blossoms, who had one, 1961's "answer" song to Mother-In-Law called Son-In-Law which topped out at # 79 in May [also not here].

Secondly, since record labels were in the business to make money, the fact that not one of these was released as a single at the time tells you that someone in authority had to make the decision that they would not be able to compete on the market with their contemporaries. Yes, there have been mistakes made by distributors to that end, but not many. So, to boldly say that all were better than The Supremes is just ridiculous.

Having cleared that up, let me hasten to add that this IS a neat little package with informative liner notes that should occupy a place in any collection of the "girl group" sound which dominated that portion of the 1960s. I especially like the energetic "Gotta Tell It" by the Blossoms and "He's My Boyfriend" by Chris Anderson. Also, Donna Loren's "Muscle Buscle" is great. This is truly a combination of fun surf-type songs and soulful love songs.


Because Of You (Erlene And Her Girlfriends) 2. Dream World (Donna Loren) 3. Cryin' On My Pillow (Dorothy Berry) 4. He's My Boyfriend (Kriss Anderson) 5. Better Be Ready (Stereo)(Annette Funicello) 6. He's A Big Deal (Renee Medina) 7. You're So Fine (Dorothy Berry) 8. Muscle Bustle (Donna Loren) 9. The Perfect Boy (Stereo)(Annette Funicello) 10. Big Talkin' Jim (The Blossoms) 11. Cassanova (Erlene And Her Girlfriends) 12. A Little Bit Of Soap (Yvonne Carroll) 13. Hard To Get (The Blossoms) 14. Cross My Heart (Yvonne And The Violets) 15. I Gotta Tell It (The Blossoms)

ggsts

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