The Girl-Group Sound

摘要

Three bored-looking girls with colossal beehives and panda-style eyeliner snap gum from behind their microphones, then-BOOM!-a gigantic explosion of echo-drenched sound (guitar, bass, drums, strings), their angelic voices magically rising above it all. That, in a nutshell, is The Ronettes' 1963 single, "Be My Baby," the quintessential "girl-group" song. The girl-group sound, which emerged in the late 1950s with vocalists like The Chantels and The Bobbetts, is a study in contrasts. Painstakingly crafted by whiz-kid producers including Berry Gordy, "Shadow" Morton, and Phil Spector, it is innocent yet street-tough R&B soul mixed with pop perfectionism, with lyrics of dramatic teenage despair or puppy-love crushes. Much of its magic is tied to the voices of young singers seemingly plucked out of nowhere, like Darlene Love, Diana Ross, and Martha Reeves.