Music Review: Various Artists, All About The Girls

By Melissa Bratcher

Croydon Municipal, as I have mentioned frequently, is an amazing boutique label. An offshoot of Cherry Red Records, Croydon Municipal is run by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley, who culls his gargantuan record collection to curate brilliantly themed, thoughtful compilations (like his Popcorn Girls collections, or the current Songs For Swinging Ghosts). On All About The Girls, the theme is lost girl group gems, and it is a delight through and through.

The girl group era was incredibly brief, but influential. Girl groups laid bare the emotions that couldn’t be spoken, only sung. Sometimes, as you’ll hear on All About The Girls, those singers didn’t always have the strongest of voices, but they had heart. Songs about tragic love, happy love, dance crazes (real and imagined)… that’s what girl groups did, with sweet, sweet harmonies. And usually, excellent hairdos.

All About The Girls isn’t totally girl groups, though. There are a variety of solo female artists, the youngest being 10-year-old Robin Clark, who sounds, well, like she’s 10 on 1961’s “Daddy Daddy (Gotta Get A Phone In My Room).” Her voice is strident and childish, but charming. Frankly, though, she shouldn’t be having those conversions with boys at 10. Get off my lawn, youths! Margie Rayburn was 38 when she recorded the sunny “Bobby Is My Hobby,” but her voice belies her age. “Poor Little Puppet” from Cathy Carroll has an odd charm, with bright backing music seemingly played on children’s instruments. O’Nita Hammond’s enunciation of “Mighty Fine” is curious and incredibly sharp. Jennie Smith’s “It’s Murder For Roberta” not only begs to be in a John Waters film’s soundtrack, but is also catchy as anything.

The Wright Sisters kick things off with the strolling “That’s OK.” It’s a little shrill, though the issue lies more with the way the songs are mastered for AM radio (like Buck Owens did!), rather than the artists themselves. There are more sisters: the Young Sisters slip into a minor key on the chorus and bridge of the Motown-flavored “Casanova Brown.” With wonderful harmonies and great vocals from the lead singer, it’s a treat.

“The Beating Of My Heart” from The Petites is a slice of doo wop with a fine melody on the chorus. The Contessas’ lead singer has a beautiful, pure voice. Their “Hard Guy To Please” (on the Witch label—seriously, Google the logo. It’s great.) is a delight with super high back-up vocals. The Blossoms (fronted by Darlene Love) has magnificent harmonies with hand claps and finger snaps thrown in on “Big Talking Jim,” a marvelous track. The Challengers’ “I Hear An Echo” is a curiosity; it’s a bit downbeat and edgy with killer vocals. The Four Cal-Quettes’ “Again,” with swooning strings and pretty pretty vocals is a dreamy way to wrap things up.

All About The Girls is a wee treasure chest featuring 24 tracks of absolute girl group gems. There’s the sublime, like The Shondells’ (not that one) “I Gotta Tell It” and the ridiculous, like The Buttons’ “Popeye Does The Mashed Potato” (which defies words) and all kinds of wonders in between.

All About The Girls was released by Croydon Municipal and Cherry Red Records on September 25.