favorite songs by '60s girl groups/singers

+Nothin' But a Heartache - the Flirtations
+These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra

Piece of My Heart, Erma Franklin
Go Now, Bessie Banks
Baby Don't Stop Now, Annette Funicello (sssasssy!)
Love Me, Love Me, Pixies Three

and always always always Nancy's boots...

5."The Big Hurt", Toni Fisher
4."The Loco-Motion", Little Eva
3."Come See About Me", Supremes
2."Let's Have A Party", Wanda Jackson

And, serious contender for my favourite song EVER!...

1."The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", Betty Everett

and an honorable mention to diane renay's cheesily produced but still brilliant "navy blue." i'm pretty sure that almost all pop music can be boiled down to 11 or 12 basic melodies, and "navy blue" is one of them in its entirety.

loads mentioned above but also the shirelles!! tell mama (and more)

lots of tunes by etta james, tina turner, and wanda jackson.

irma thomas, "two winters long."

girl group music the new orleans way. pure allen toussaintified bliss.

'68.

sandie shaw - as long as your happy baby
plus just about the shangri-la's entire recorded output

posted here

"He's A Rebel" is by the Crystals, not the Shangri-Las.

Shit, that's right..

We really need some Lesley Gore on this list, ergo:
"Maybe I Know" b/w "Wonder Boy"

Dionne-The Windows of The World
Angels-Wow Wow Wee
Shangs-The Sweet Sounds of Summer (somebody oughta sample that break)
Supremes-Reflections
Royalettes-It's Gonna Take A Miracle
Ketty Lester-Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid
Lesley Gore-The Look of Love (not the Bacharach/David song)
Evie Sands-I Can't Let Go
Nancy & Lee-Some Velvet Morning b/w Oh Lonesome Me

and much ditto to all the Spector, Dusty, & Shangs stuff mentioned.

Other than that, "Leader Of The Pack" sooooo to thread!

Patty Duke - Don't just Stand There
Leslie Gore - You Don't Own Me
Shirelles - Soldier Boy
Shelly Fabares - Johnny Angel
Chiffons - One Fine Day

etc
etc
etc

I just got a comp with this on it - IT IS THE GREATEST SONG EVER RECORDED, CONTEMPLATED, OR DANCED TO, BY MAN OR BEAST!

Also, "You Don't Own Me" and "Goodbye Tony" are quite open about being the same song.

Tell Him
Blowing Up My Mind
He's Got the Power (this was on the One Kiss girl group comp...it's utterly perfect)

and of course all the Supremes hits. Love Is Like an Itching In My Heart isn't on their greatest hit comps usually, but it's fabulous.

Lesley Gore - Maybe I Know
The Chiffons - I Have a Boyfriend

i think that girl group records are pretty much the gravitational center of my musical tastes -- at their best they are so direct, so melodious, so unaffected.

More than once I've plugged my phone into my stereo playing Wendy Rene's "After Laughter" and then clicking all the "Related Videos" with her name on it. I wish I had this CD:

http://jinkzmusings.blogspot.com/2008/04/va-you-thrill-my-soul-female-girl.html

I like Mary Wells too. I have an ex-girlfriend who looked like Mary Wells. Different color, though.

Sweet Talking Guy by the Chiffons, I love the way the lead and answer lines weave together with the little instrumental flourishes. The arrangement is perfect

Besides several that have already been mentioned,

Barbara Mason - "Yes, I'm Ready"
Dusty Springfield - "The Look Of Love"

This may be slightly out of genre, but one of the first records I had was a handed-down 45 of Judy Collins "Both Sides Now" b/w "Who Knows Where The Time Goes", songs written by Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny respectively, both who were unknowns at the time but went on to be towering figures of folk/pop. This was the first songwriting hit for both.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-crystals-singer-barbara-ann-alston-dead-at-74-w517091

Lead on “Uptown “ and “He Hit me (felt like a kiss)”

RIP! the flu! that sucks.

i have a new favorite from the shangri-las. i'd heard the a-side before, "he cried," but not the flip. it's fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrbDc9vZQ2E

if you are an old r.e.m. fan, a true distiple, and you haven't ever heard lesley gore's "i won't love you anymore (sorry)," prepare to have your mind blown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkcZKkouD_c

Shangri-Las - out in the streets, paradise

Feminine complex - I won't run

Every song that's been mentioned here!

+

Barbara Lewis - "Hello Stranger"

Murmaids - Popsicles and icicles

Glenda Collins - something to tell you

Dionne Warwick - walk on by

Andrew m., thanks for posting that but I confess I'm skeptical about that being the precursor to "So Central Rain."

I'm regularly tempted to start a 'create a tracklisting for One Kiss Can Lead to Another Vol. 2' thread. I'm sure I could fill four or five discs with top-tier girl group sounds.

Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry

Do it old lunch!

Love this music. This era seems in conflict to the romantic disconnect we have nowadays. Sometimes I feel like it cuts deeper than anything

Seriously. 'Dressed in Black' by the Pussycats is a prime example. It elevates thwarted teenage romance to the level of a cosmic epic.

I will have to remember to start that thread sometime when I'm not at work. It'll require some serious thinking and effort.

(Another girl group-related thread idea which I haven't pulled the trigger on yet: a poll of the various brilliant + insane ululations during the coda of 'Peanut Duck'.)

(I have no idea how I would even transcribe some of them. WACK-I-KEE)

another one i just recently heard. sends chills! heartache plus empowerment plus rocking gamble & huff production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-cEtBvXuB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM-TKH5rxxs

I guess by way of a shortcut I'd advise anyone who's a fan of girl groups generally and the One Kiss Can Lead to Another box specifically to pick up the Dream Girls comps if you haven't already because they're mostly just as magical.