GIRL GROUP SONGS

There had been girl groups before (such as The Boswell Sisters in the 1930's, The Andrews Sisters in the 40's and The McGuire Sisters in the 50's) and of course there have been fine examples in recent years (such as En Vogue, TLC, The Spice Girls and Destiny's Child). But it is the Girl Group explosion which emerged in the late 1950's and was particularly prominent during the 1960's via both groups as well as certain solo artists which is the sound we all remember.

Not only were the performances and productions outstanding, but many of the songs were standout compositions in their own right. Songwriters included Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Neil Sedaka & Howard Greenfield, Burt Bacharach, Jackie DeShannon, Holland/Dozier/Holland, Smokey Robinson, Luther Dixon, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, Sandy Linzer & Denny Randell, Phil Spector, Toni Wine and Richard Barrett. All these talents are represented on the following selective list of EMI-published songs.

Just a glance thru these titles and you'll realize that many of these songs have lived several different lives already and they can be just as potent today. Remember how successful Phil Collins was when he revived The Supremes' hit YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE in 1982 and that same year, Britain's girl group Bananarama struck gold when they reworked the Velvelettes' HE WAS REALLY SAYIN' SOMETHIN'.

AIN'T GONNA KISS YA (Smith)
by Suzie Clark (Rendezvous: 1962)

ALL I COULD DO WAS CRY (Fuqua/Gordy/Davis)
by Etta James (Argo: 1960)

ALL IN MY MIND (Johnson/Brown/Kirkland)
by Maxine Brown (Nomar: 1960)

ANGEL BABY (Hamlin)
by Rosie & The Originals (Highland: 1960)

BABY BABY (I STILL LOVE YOU) (Weil/Titelman)
by The Cinderellas (Dimension: 1964)

BABY IN THE MORNING (Taylor/Vera)
by The Crystals (UA: recorded in '65, only ever released once on vinyl)

BABY IT'S YOU (Bacharach/David/Williams)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1961)

BABY LOVE (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Supremes (Motown: 1964)

BABY THAT'S ME (DeShannon/Nitzsche)
by The Cake (Decca: 1967)

BEECHWOOD 4-5789 (Gaye/Gordy/Stevenson)
by The Marvelettes (Tamla: 1962)

BEEN SO LONG (Ervin/Thomas/Willingham/Travis)
by Anita Humes (Roulette: 1963)

BOBBY'S GIRL (Klein/Hoffman)
by Marcie Blane (Seville: 1962)

BORN TO BE TOGETHER (Mann/Weil/Spector)
by The Ronettes (Philles: 1965)

BOYS (Dixon/Farrell)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1960)

BYE BYE BABY (Wells)
by Mary Wells (Motown: 1961)

CHAINS (Goffin/King)
by The Cookies (Dimension: 1962)
Gerry Goffin & Carole King wrote two exceptional songs for The Cookies; the second was DON'T SAY NOTHIN' BAD (ABOUT MY BABY) but that was preceded by the ever-infectious CHAINS which The Beatles covered (with George Harrison singing lead) on their debut Parlophone LP "Please Please Me" in '63.

CHICO'S GIRL (Mann/Weil)
by The Girls (Capitol: 1966)

CLEAN UP WOMAN (Reid/Clarke)
by Betty Wright (Alston: 1971)

COME AND STAY WITH ME (DeShannon)
by Marianne Faithfull (London: 1965)

COME ON LET ME TRY (Yorey)
by Linda & The Del Rios (Crackerjack: 1962)

COME SEE ABOUT ME (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Supremes (Motown: 1964)
by Nella Dodds (Wand: 1964)

DANCING IN THE STREET (Gaye/Hunter/Stevenson)
by Martha & The Vandellas (Gordy: 1964)
DON'T SAY NOTHIN' BAD (ABOUT MY BABY) (Goffin/King)
by The Cookies (Dimension: 1963)

DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME (DeShannon)
by Jackie DeShannon (Imperial: 1965)

DON'T WORRY BABY (Goffin/Wine)
by Darlene McCrea (Tower: 1964)

DUM DUM (DeShannon/Sheeley)
by Brenda Lee (Decca: 1961)

EASIER SAID THAN DONE (Huff/Linton)
by The Essex (Roulette: 1963)
Girls groups weren't always exclusively made up of the fairer sex; for instance, The Exciters were three girls & one guy and here, The Essex were three guys and one girl. But what a girl... Anita Humes' vocal power was also evident on her own solo singles but this was her shining moment on a single produced by Henry Glover when all the group were in the Marines.

EGYPTIAN SHUMBA (Christie/Herbert)
by The Tammys (UA: 1964)

EVERY FORTUNE TELLER TELLS ME (Wiener/Crane)
by Anne Kaye (Gee: 1956)

EVERY LITTLE BIT HURTS (Cobb)
by Brenda Holloway (Tamla: 1963)

A FOOL IN LOVE (Turner)
by Ike & Tina Turner (Sue: 1960)

FOOLISH LITTLE GIRL (Greenfield/Miller)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1963)

GIRLS GROW UP FASTER THAN BOYS (Goffin/Keller)
by The Cookies (Dimension: 1963)

HE HIT ME (IT FELT LIKE A KISS) (Goffin/King)
by The Crystals (Philles: 1962)

HE WAS REALLY SAYIN' SOMETHIN' (Whitfield/Stevenson/Holland)
by The Velvelettes (V.I.P: 1964)

HE'S GONE (Smith/Goldner)
by The Chantels (End: 1957)

HE'S SURE THE BOY I LOVE (Mann/Weil)
by The Crystals (Philles: 1962)

HEAVEN MUST HAVE SENT YOU (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by Bonnie Pointer (Motown: 1979)

HURT BY LOVE (Foxx)
by Inez Foxx (Symbol: 1964)

I CAN MAKE IT WITH YOU (Taylor)
by Jackie DeShannon (Imperial: 1966)

I CAN'T STAND IT (McAllister)
by The Soul Sisters (Sue: 1964)

I CAN'T STAY MAD AT YOU (Goffin/King)
by Skeeter Davis (RCA: 1963)

(I COULD WRITE A BOOK) ABOUT MY BABY (Stone)
by The Pandoras (Liberty: 1967)

I IDOLIZE YOU (Turner)
by Ike & Tina Turner (Sue: 1960)

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE (Whitfield/Strong)
by Gladys Knight & The Pips (Soul: 1967)

I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME (Mann/Kolber)
by The Paris Sisters (Gregmark: 1961)
Along with Larry Kolber, ace songwriter Barry Mann turned in the timeless love ballad I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME which was softly purred on the original 1961 hit version by The Paris Sisters' lead singer, Priscilla.

I LOVE YOU SO (Norton/Levy)
by The Chantels (End: 1958)

I SOLD MY HEART TO THE JUNKMAN (Rene/Rene)
by The Blue-Belles (Newtown: 1962)

I'LL NEVER NEED MORE THAN THIS (Greenwich/Barry/Spector)
by Ike & Tina Turner (Philles/A&M: 1966)

I'M BLUE (THE GONG GONG SONG) (Turner)
by The Ikettes (Atco: 1961)

I'M INTO SOMETHING GOOD (Goffin/King)
by Earl-Jean (Colpix: 1964)

I'M SO EXCITED (Pointer/Pointer/Pointer/Lawrence)
by The Pointer Sisters (Planet: 1982)

IKO IKO (Hawkins/Hawkins/Johnson)
by The Dixie Cups (Red Bird: 1965)

IS THIS WHAT I GET FOR LOVING YOU (Goffin/King/Spector)
by The Ronettes (Philles: 1965)

IT MIGHT AS WELL RAIN UNTIL SEPTEMBER (Goffin/King)
by Carole King (Dimension: 1962)
Carole King, seen here with her then-husband Gerry Goffin, notched up her debut hit with this sad ballad originally intended for Bobby Vee.

IT'S AS EASY AS 1,2,3 (Gibson/Altfeld)
by Jill Gibson (Imperial: 1964)

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY BABY (Goffin/King)
by Little Eva (Dimension: 1962)

LADY MARMALADE (Crewe/Nolan)
by Labelle (Epic: 1975)

LEADER OF THE PACK (Greenwich/Barry/Morton)
by The Shangri-Las (Red Bird: 1964)

LEAVE ME ALONE (Weiss/Maurer/Edwards Jr.)
by Baby Washington (Sue: 1963)

LET'S TURKEY TROT (Goffin/Keller)
by Little Eva (Dimension: 1963)

THE LOCO-MOTION (Goffin/King)
by Little Eva (Dimension: 1962)
Eva Boyd was Carole King & Gerry Goffin's babysitter and she sang on the demo of this novelty dance song; Don Kirshner loved the demo so much he released it as a single and it flew to #1 on both the Pop & R&B chart.

LOOK IN MY EYES (Barrett)
by The Chantels (Carlton: 1961)

THE LOOK OF LOVE (Bacharach/David)
by Dusty Springfield (Philips: 1967)

LOVE CHILD (Taylor/Wilson/Richards/Sawyer)
by Diana Ross & The Supremes (Motown: 1968)
by Sweet Sensation (Atco: 1990)

(LOVE IS LIKE A) HEATWAVE (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by Martha & The Vandellas (Gordy: 1963)

A LOVE LIKE YOURS (DON'T COME KNOCKIN' EVERYDAY) (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by Ike & Tina Turner (Philles/A&M: 1966)

A LOVER'S CONCERTO (Linzer/Randell)
by The Toys (DynoVoice: 1965)
The Toys were three girls from Queens NY and their smash hit (#2 in Billboard) "Lover's Concerto" was based on the melody from Bach's Minuet in G.

MAKE ME YOUR BABY (Atkins/Miller)
by Barbara Lewis (Atlantic: 1965)

MAMA SAID (Dixon/Denson)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1961)

MASHED POTATO TIME (Mann/Garrett/Dobbins/Bateman/Gorman/Holland)
by Dee Dee Sharp (Cameo: 1962)

MAYBE (Barrett)
by The Chantels (End: 1958)
by The Three Degrees (Roulette: 1970)
The Chantels, fronted by Arlene Smith, made girl group history in 1958 with this glorious Richard Barrett ballad; from her very first note, Arlene tears your heart out!

MY BABY (Sandoval)
by The Girls (Capitol: 1965)

MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK (Feldman/Goldstein/Gottehrer)
by The Angels (Smash: 1963)

MY GUY (Robinson)
by Mary Wells (Motown: 1964)

NAVY BLUE (Crewe/Fluri/Rehak)
by Diane Renay (20th Century: 1964)

NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK (Whitfield/Stevenson)
by The Velvelettes (V.I.P: 1964)

NEEDLES AND PINS (Nitzsche/Bono)
by Jackie DeShannon (Liberty: 1963)
Glamorous Jackie DeShannon made rock 'n' roll history singing the original version of Jack Nitzsche & Sonny Bono's haunting ballad "Needles And Pins"; her timeless vocal was matched by Nitzsche's outstanding Spector-influenced arrangement.

NOWHERE TO RUN (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by Martha & The Vandellas (Gordy: 1965)

OH NO NOT MY BABY (Goffin/King)
by Maxine Brown (Wand: 1964)

ONE FINE DAY (Goffin/King)
by The Chiffons (Laurie: 1963)

OOH BABY BABY (Robinson/Moore)
by Linda Ronstadt (Asylum: 1978)

THE ONE WHO REALLY LOVES YOU (Robinson)
by Mary Wells (Motown: 1962)

ONLY THOSE IN LOVE (Kaempfert/Singleton)
by Baby Washington (Sue: 1965)

PEACHES 'N' CREAM (Boyce/Venet)
by The Ikettes (Modern: 1965)
Ike Turner's vocal group stepped into the spotlight for this pulsating mover co-written and produced by Nik Venet's brother, Steve.

PLEASE MR. POSTMAN (Garrett/Dobbins/Gorman/Bateman/Holland)
by The Marvelettes (Tamla: 1961)

POOR FOOL (Turner)
by Ike & Tina Turner (Sue: 1961)

SHA LA LA (Taylor/Mosley/Dixon)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1964)

SHE DON'T UNDERSTAND HIM (LIKE I DO) (DeShannon/Newman)
by Jackie DeShannon (Liberty: 1964)

SOLDIER BOY (Dixon/Green)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1962)

SOUL SERENADE (Ousley/Dixon)
by Aretha Franklin (Atlantic: 1967)

STOP! IN THE NAME OF LOVE (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Supremes (Motown: 1965)

STOP THE WEDDING (Woods/Johnson/Kirkland)
by Etta James (Argo: 1962)

STUPID CUPID (Sedaka/Greenfield)
by Connie Francis (MGM: 1958)

THE SUNSHINE AFTER THE RAIN (Greenwich)
by Ellie Greenwich (UA: 1967)

SWEET TALKIN' GUY (Morris/Greenberg/Baer/Schwartz)
by The Chiffons (Laurie: 1966)
Another of the standout female vocal groups, The Chiffons were produced by The Tokens; "Sweet Talkin' Guy" was their final Top Ten hit and it was co-authored by Doug Morris.

TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS (ROCK ME A LITTLE WHILE) (H/D/H)
by Kim Weston (Gordy: 1965)

TEENAGE CLEOPATRA (Ross)
by Tracey Dey (Liberty: 1963)

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT (Dixon/Owens)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1960)

TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA (Whitfield/Holland)
by The Marvelettes (Tamla: 1964)

TWO LOVERS (Robinson)
by Mary Wells (Motown: 1962)

UPTOWN (Mann/Weil)
by The Crystals (Philles: 1962)

WALKING IN THE RAIN (Mann/Weil/Spector)
by The Ronettes (Philles: 1964)
Which red-blooded guy wouldn't want to walk in the rain, or indeed in anything, with Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes! This Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Phil Spector song was successfully revived in the late 60's by Jay & The Americans.

A WALKIN' MIRACLE (Hugo/Luigi/Weiss)
by The Essex (Roulette: 1963)

WALKIN' MY CAT NAMED DOG (Tanega)
by Norma Tanega (New Voice: 1966)

WE'LL BE MAKING OUT (Crewe/Gaudio)
by Jessica James & The Outlaws (DynoVoice: 1966)

WHEN I'M GONE (Robinson)
by Brenda Holloway (Tamla: 1965)

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM (DeShannon)
by Jackie DeShannon (Liberty: 1964)

WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Supremes (Motown: 1964)

WHERE THE BOYS ARE (Sedaka/Greenfield)
by Connie Francis (MGM: 1961)

WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW (Goffin/King)
by The Shirelles (Scepter: 1961)
Very few record producers were ever seen on album covers but Luther Dixon was along with the four gorgeous Shirelles. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" was the very first Goffin/King song to hit #1 and the record's success was undeniably due in part to the plaintive vocal of the group's outstanding lead vocalist, Shirley Alston.

WONDERFUL SUMMER (Botkin/Garfield)
by Robin Ward (Dot: 1963)

YES WE CAN CAN (Toussaint)
by The Pointer Sisters (Blue Thumb: 1973)

YOU, BABY (Mann/Weil/Spector)
by The Ronettes (Philles: 1964)

YOU BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH (Robinson/White)
by Mary Wells (Motown: 1962)

YOU CAME, YOU SAW, YOU CONQUERED (Spector/Wine/Levine)
by The Ronettes (A&M: 1969)

YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Supremes (Motown: 1966)

YOU CAN'T TURN ME OFF (IN THE MIDDLE OF TURNING ME ON) (Sawyer/McLeod)
by High Inergy (Gordy: 1977)

YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME
(Donaggio/Pallavacini/Wickham/Napier-Bell)
by Dusty Springfield (Philips: 1966)

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Hear audio extracts of these songs on our website

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Please remember as always that these lists are based on songs controlled by EMI in the U.S. and that control of certain copyrights varies by territory.

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ROCK ON !
Alan Warner