US All-Girl Groups Made Impact On Our Bands

The Vampires all-girls from Singapore could have been influenced by the US female vocal groups that flourished in the late 50s and 60s. One such group and one of the first female R&B vocal groups to have nationwide success were The Chantels (left image: http://www.thechantels.com/ ).

These ladies were also considered by many to have been the best female group of all time because their choir-like sound and close-knit harmony brought a new dimension to rock n roll and rhythm n blues songs. They played instruments too.

Their 1958 hit Maybe was considered the standard by which other girl group songs were judged. Lead singer Arlene Smith was one of the very first female rock performers to write her own material. They are still performing today.

The Crystals vocal team was Phil Spector other big girl-group mainstay of the early 60s, cranking out classics such as Uptown, Then He Kissed Me, Da Doo Ron Ron, and He's A Rebel. Some of these songs have been covered by our Singapore bands.

Then came the Marvelettes and they got Motown their first number one hit, and in the process established the girl group as an undeniable hit-making genre of its own with songs such as Please Mister Postman. They set precedence for the other Motown greats like The Supremes.

There was The Ronettes, the girl group that best defined the Phil Spector Wall of Sound with their classic hits Be My Baby, Baby, I Love You, and Walking In The Rain.
The Shirelles too, the girl-group pioneers who scored some of the genre's earliest and iggest hits with Soldier Boy, Dedicated To The One I Love, Mama Said, and Will You Love Me Tomorrow and Everybody Loves A Lover.
Remember, Where Did Our Love Go (1964), Baby Love (1964), I Hear A Symphony (1965) , and Stop! In The Name Of Love (1965)? Originally a quartet, the Supremes (right image) were formed in 1959 under a different name.

"These girls gave Motown a successful base from which to build their label. The Supremes defined the girl-group aesthetic that projected an air of romantic grace and personal style essential to the genre. They helped establish a beachhead for American music at the height of the British Invasion (About.com)."

But how many all-girl groups did we have? The Vampires played their guitars and were an instrumental group backing a singer. Other Singapore all-girl teams, The Tidbits, Friday Girls and Girvin Sisters were vocals groups. I wonder if our local experts and gurus can provide an answer?

The above edited article is only a morsel of what readers can expect from the Website itself. So check out below for more reading:

http://oldies.about.com/od/girlgroups/Girl_Groups.htm