The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 1 | |
---|---|
Compilation album by Various | |
Released | 1990 |
Genre | Girl group |
Label | Rhino |
Producer | Bill Inglot |
The Best of the Girl Groups, Vol. 2 | |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
(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]
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]
# | 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 |
# | 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 (Ronde-Ronde)" | (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 |