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The Best of the Girl Groups

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The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 1
Compilation album by
Various
Released1990
GenreGirl group
LabelRhino
ProducerBill Inglot
The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 2
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
(Vol.1) Allmusic[1]
(Vol. 2)Allmusic[2]

The Best of the Girl Groups is a 2-volume compilation series released by Rhino Records in 1990. The collection, compiling 36 of the better known tracks by girl groups of the 1960s, is listed at #421 in Rolling Stone's list of "Greatest Albums of All Time".[3] Music journalist Robert Christgau includes the compilation in his "core collection" for an essential rock library of music preceding 1980.[4] Entertainment Weekly described the first volume as "a veritable catalog of the era's romantic attitudes".[5] The New York Times recommends both volumes, in conjunction with Rhino's Girl Group Greats, for listeners seeking "the biggest girl-group hits".[6]

Song selection

The compilation collects a broad range of the era's well-known hits, featuring seven #1 hit singles and an additional 14 top ten hits among its 36 tracks, but it includes lesser-known material as well, enough—according to AllMusic—to "keep the collection interesting for more serious fans of girl group pop".[7] The collection includes two representative tracks of Ellie Greenwich, a prolific charting songwriter whose own material both solo and with The Raindrops was often overlooked.[8] The included solo single "You Don't Know" was described by journalist Alan Betrock in his book Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound as "the kind of record that not only transcends and expands the boundaries that come to mind when someone says, 'Girl-group record,' but...also can stand alone, totally unique and unmatched by any other competition".[8] "I Can't Let Go", a 1965 song by Evie Sands which did not chart, was critically described as "superb" though the song failed to capture popular interest until covered by The Hollies a year later.[9] "The One You Can't Have" is one of several "outstanding" singles by popular backing vocalists The Honeys that failed to achieve commercial success.[10] Cher's brush with the girl group genre is also represented, by the 1965 "Dream Baby", a "girl group classic" if not a charting single.[11]

Track listing

The Best of the Girl Groups, Volume 1

# Title Composer Performer Chart Position Time
1 "Leader of the Pack" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Shadow Morton) The Shangri-Las #1 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[12] 		2:54
2 "He's So Fine" (Ronnie Mack) The Chiffons #1 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[13] 		1:54
3 "Chapel of Love" (Barry, Greenwich, Phil Spector) The Dixie Cups #1 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[14] 		2:50
4 "The Boy from New York City" (George Davis, John T. Taylor) The Ad Libs #6 Black Singles
#8 Pop Singles[15] 		3:02
5 "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" (Rudy Clark) Betty Everett #6 Black Singles
#6 Pop Singles[16] 		2:16
6 "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" (Zell Sanders, Abner Spector) The Jaynetts #4 Black Singles
#2 Pop Singles[17] 		3:16
7 "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) The Shirelles #2 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[18] 		2:44
8 "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" (Morton) The Shangri-Las #5 Black Singles
#5 Pop Singles[12] 		2:20
9 "One Fine Day" (Goffin, King) The Chiffons #6 Black Singles
#5 Pop Singles[13] 		2:10
10 "Party Lights" (Claudine Clark) Claudine Clark #3 Black Singles
#5 Pop Singles[19] 		2:24
11 "People Say" (Barry, Greenwich) The Dixie Cups #12 Black Singles
#12 Pop Singles[14] 		2:46
12 "He's Got the Power" (Elle Greenwich, Tony Powers) The Exciters #57 Pop Singles[20] 2:24
13 "I Can't Stay Mad at You" (Goffin, King) Skeeter Davis #2 Adult Contemporary
#14 Country Singles
#7 Pop Singles[21] 		2:09
14 "I Wanna Love Him So Bad" (Barry, Elle Greenwich) The Jelly Beans #9 Black Singles
#9 Pop Singles[22] 		2:45
15 "Dream Baby" (Sonny Bono)[23] Cher — 2:59
16 "Baby It's You" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David, B. Williams) The Shirelles #3 Black Singles
#8 Pop Singles[18] 		2:40
17 "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" (Morton) The Shangri-Las #18 Pop Singles[12] 2:12
18 "I Can't Let Go" (Al Gorgoni, Chip Taylor)[24] Evie Sands — 2:08

The Best of the Girl Groups, Volume 2

# Title Composer Performer Chart Position Time
1 "My Boyfriend's Back" (Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, Richard Gottehrer) The Angels #2 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[25] 		2:39
2 "Sweet Talkin' Guy" (Elliot Greenberg, Doug Morris) The Chiffons #10 Pop Singles[13] 2:27
3 "The Loco-Motion" (Goffin, King) Little Eva #1 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[26] 		2:27
4 "A Lover's Concerto" (Sandy Linzer, Denny Randell) The Toys #4 Black Singles
#2 Pop Singles[27] 		2:42
5 "The Kind of Boy You Can't Forget" (Barry, Greenwich) The Raindrops #27 Black Singles
#17 Pop Singles[28] 		2:11
6 "You Don't Know" (Barry, Greenwich, Morton)[29] Ellie Greenwich — 3:17
7 "Chains" (Goffin, King) The Cookies #17 Black Singles
#6 Pop Singles[30] 		2:32
8 "Popsicles and Icicles" (David Gates) The Murmaids #2 Adult Contemporary
#3 Pop Singles[31] 		2:33
9 "The One You Can't Have" (Brian Wilson)[10] The Honeys — 2:00
10 "Tell Him" (Bert Russell) The Exciters #5 Black Singles
#4 Pop Singles[20] 		2:39
11 "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" (Goffin, King) The Cookies #3 Black Singles
#7 Pop Singles[30] 		2:45
12 "I Met Him on a Sunday" (Doris Coley, Addie Harris, Beverley Lee, Shirley Owens) The Shirelles #49 Pop Singles[18] 2:16
13 "Wonderful Summer" (Perry Botkin, Jr., Gil Garfield) Robin Ward #23 Black Singles
#14 Pop Singles[32] 		2:29
14 "It Might As Well Rain Until September" (Goffin, King) Carole King #22 Pop Singles[33] 2:25
15 "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" (Bob Merrill, Terry Shand) The Caravelles #2 Adult Contemporary
#3 Pop Singles[34] 		2:02
16 "Easier Said Than Done" (Larry Huff, William Linton) The Essex #1 Black Singles
#1 Pop Singles[35] 		2:12
17 "I Love How You Love Me" (Larry Kolber, Barry Mann) The Paris Sisters #5 Pop Singles[36] 2:09
18 "Johnny Get Angry" (Hal David, Sherman Edwards, Donald Meyer) Joanie Sommers #7 Pop Singles[37] 2:32

Personnel

Performance

Production

References

  1. ^ (Vol.1) Allmusic review
  2. ^ (Vol. 2)Allmusic review
  3. ^ The Best of the Girl Groups: Volumes 1 and 2 Rolling Stone online. (November 1, 2003). Accessed November 1, 2007.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. (1990) Rock library before 1980 Excerpted from Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Christgau official website. Accessed November 1, 2007.
  5. ^ Recordings at a glance EW.com. (September 28, 1990). Accessed November 1, 2007.
  6. ^ Staff. (November 25, 2005). The good, the rare and the nostalgic in boxed sets The New York Times. Accessed November 1, 2007.
  7. ^ The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 1 at AllMusic
  8. ^ a b You Don't Know at AllMusic
  9. ^ label+Evie Sands at AllMusic
  10. ^ a b The Honeys at AllMusic
  11. ^ All I Really Want to Do at AllMusic
  12. ^ a b c d Shangri Las at AllMusic
  13. ^ a b c d Chiffons at AllMusic
  14. ^ a b c The Dixie Cups at AllMusic
  15. ^ a b The Ad Libs at AllMusic
  16. ^ Betty Everett at AllMusic
  17. ^ a b Jaynetts at AllMusic
  18. ^ a b c d The Shirelles at AllMusic
  19. ^ Claudine Clark at AllMusic
  20. ^ a b c The Exciters at AllMusic
  21. ^ Skeeter Davis at AllMusic
  22. ^ a b The Jelly Beans at AllMusic
  23. ^ Cher at AllMusic
  24. ^ I Can't Let Go at AllMusic
  25. ^ a b The Angels at AllMusic
  26. ^ Little Eva at AllMusic
  27. ^ a b The Toys at AllMusic
  28. ^ The Raindrops at AllMusic
  29. ^ Ellie Greenwich at AllMusic
  30. ^ a b c The Cookies at AllMusic
  31. ^ The Murmaids at AllMusic
  32. ^ Robin Warn at AllMusic
  33. ^ Carole King at AllMusic
  34. ^ a b The Caravelles at AllMusic
  35. ^ a b The Essex at AllMusic
  36. ^ a b The Paris Sisters at AllMusic
  37. ^ Joanie Sommers at AllMusic
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