Title: “1960s Girl Groups”1958-1966 | The Pop History Dig
Headings: “1960s Girl Groups”
“1960s Girl Groups”
1958-1966
Jacqueline Warwick’s 2007 book, “Girl Groups, Girl Culture,” with Shirelles on cover. Click for book.
The Shirelles shown on a later 1992 Ace compilation album of their greatest hits. Click for CD.
Three of The Marvelettes performing, 1960s. Click for CD.
Girl group record producer Phil Spector had his first million-dollar payday in the early 1960s with The Crystals.
The Crystals were the hot girl group in 1961-62 with hits such as: "Uptown," “He’s A Rebel” and “Da Doo Ron Ron,” which are sampled below.
Darlene Love with Phil Spector, 1960s.
Dolores “LaLa” Brooks with Phil Spector, 1960s.
The Ronettes of the 1960s at the top of their game, circa 1963-64. Click on photo for separate story.
The Chiffons girl group of the 1960s shown on a album cover featuring their greatest hits. Click for CD.
Cover of CD for “Billboard Top Hits of 1963,” lists three popular “girl group” songs from that year. Click for CD.
The Jaynetts hit, "Sally Go Round The Roses," featuring French record jacket w/ anonymous model. Click for digital.
Martha and the Vandellas on a 1964 record sleeve cover. Click on photo to visit their story at this website.
New Competition
Cover of 1995 CD from RPM Records, U.K., “The Shangri-Las: Myrmidons of Melodrama,” which includes 33 of their tracks with annotation. Click for CD.
1965: The Shangri-Las, in boots & leather, at radio station WHK, Geauga Lake Park, Cleveland, Ohio. Photo, George Shuba.
The Supremes in 1965: from left, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard. Click for 'Definitive Collection' CD.
The Supremes’ first No. 1 hit, “Where Did Our Love Go,” sold more than 2 million copies. Click for CD.
Album featuring Supremes singing hit songs composed by Motown’s Holland-Dozier-Holland team. Click for CD.
The Crystals of the early 1960s shown on a London Records recording. Click for 'Very Best of' CD.
The Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love” was a No. 1 hit for 4 weeks, June 1965. Click for CD.
Cover photo of the Beatles on their March 1995 EP that included The Shirelles’ song, “Baby It’s You.” Click for CD.
Record jacket for April 1967 Beach Boys single, “Then I Kissed Her” cover of Crystals song. Click for digital.
Linda Ronstadt’s “Heat Wave,” 1975.
Film & TV Music
The 1996 film, “One Fine Day,” used The Chiffons’s popular 1963 song of that name in the film score. Click for film DVD.
Gillian Gaar’s “She’s A Rebel,” 1992.
Peter Benjaminson’s “The Lost Supreme,” about Florence Ballard. Click for copy.
Broadhurst Theatre playbill for 2011 play, “Baby It’s You.” Click for playbill.
2013 playbill from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre for the Broadway show, “Motown The Musical.” Click for song originals.
For The Ages
Three CD collection from The Marvelettes (2009), showing from top left: Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, and Wanda Young. Click for CD.
Sources, Links & Additional Information

Content: By the summer of 1957 The Chantels were signed by record producer George Goldner, owner of End Records. Their second single, “Maybe” was released in December 1957, and by January 1958 it became a top hit, reaching No. 15 on the Billboard chart and No.2 on the R & B chart. “ Maybe” sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. One profile of the group in liner notes for the PBS collection, The Doo Wop Box, noted: “ Their records were not terribly sophisticated from a production standpoint, but then just listen to Arlene Smith’s voice and tell us if you really need anything else.” Smith was 16 years old when “Maybe” was recorded. The Shirelles shown on a later 1992 Ace compilation album of their greatest hits. Click for CD. However, The Shirelles, the girl group shown on the book cover above, and in later years on the album cover at left, are often regarded by rock historians as the opening act of the 1960s “girl group era,” and perhaps more representative of the girl group sound that followed in those years.