Customer Reviews

Girl Groups: Fabulous Females That Rocked the World

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a great book! Not only does the author cover the usual suspects - the Supremes, Chiffons and Shirelles, but he gives extensive information on the less widely known, but no less (and often more) talented girl groups from coast to coast. For instance, records by Cincinnati's "Teardrops", whose raw talent and natural vocal blends made them a stand-out in that region, are still being collected from the US to the UK to Japan! Those girls never signed a major record deal, but their natural talents, unique sounds and inventive musical techniques were more "supreme" by far than some of their more famous, professionally produced counterparts.

Luckily, this book goes to great lengths to include 60 of the girl groups who were most influential in the genre, not just rehash what we already know about the best-known handful.

The Pre-British-Invasion sound of the 50s and 60s was largely influenced by girl groups, until the rise of their rich sound was eclipsed by an influx of first generation boy bands from across the sea. The sounds, styles and sentiments expressed through the girl group sound have never been matched.

Girl groups made music because they loved singing. Many of them were in their early to late teens when they hit the limelight. They grew up singing together with friends on street corners, in gymnasiums or wherever else the acoustics were good for creating that distinct harmonic sound we know and love - often times without any instruments to back them up.

That pure vocal magic has never been tapped again, as music has regrettably gone from passion to pop profit play. Finally, we have a book which explores the music and the makers of the last great era in heart-felt & soul-created music and gives us all a comprehensive understanding of how the groups came to be and where the girls who won our hearts are now.

The discography and pricing guide for collectors is a great added bonus, which illustrates the ongoing value of the music made decades ago. Some of the records, especially those made by the lesser known groups, are "hot" collector's items, hard to come by -- even in bootleg -- because it just doesn't get any better than it was when the Girl Groups sang!

Not since Alan Betrock's "GIRL GROUPS: STORY OF A SOUND" have we had such a telling history laid out for us about this decidedly underrated genre!

Through a host of photos in addition to interviews with original group members, Clemente effectively delivers the 411 on the mainstream girl groups and often sheds new light on thier histories. A special bonus is the inclusion of lesser known yet noteworthy girl group acts.

This is a very important book for anyone who loves girl groups in general and girl group afficiandos in particular

This is an excellent overview of the 60 most influential girl groups in rock and roll. John Clemente provides a well-researched overview of the girl group phenomenon. The book contains all the groups you would expect to see (Shirelles, Supremes, Chiffons, Ronettes, etc.) but also contains write-ups on many, many obscure groups. I've only started to read the book and have already learned quite a few things (who knew that The Cookies were also The Cinderellas?).

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is the number of typos in the book. While this didn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the book, I think a little more proofreading of the book should have been done.

I've been a fan of girl groups for as long as I can remember and am so glad to have this valuable resource. I'm also very impressed with the list of girl groups provided at the back of the book as well as the price guide for the most valuable girl group singles.

Overall, a very enjoyable book with lots of valuable information and some excellent and rare photos. This is a must-have for any fan of girl groups or rock and roll fans.

The work that went into this book is astounding. As a girl-groups expert, I seldom find information that is new to me. However, author John Clemente painstakingly looked at the top girl groups and not only gives a narrative history, but a listing of group members over the various years and an exhaustive discography. Fun to read, fab pictures, and, if you're into collectibles, a good reference book, too.

This is as close to a definitive book on the Girl Group genre as you are likely to find... unless John Clemente decides to write a sequel, including the groups he had to leave out due to space limitations.

He corrects many of the mistakes made in Alan Betrock's book on the same subject. This book sets the record straight. The discographies are amazing. The interviews and rare pics are terrific. Any fan would be pleased.

If I have a complaint, it's that some groups have been left out. How can you include the Go-Go's but not the Bangles? As I said, space must have been the issue. Let's hope there is a volume 2 in the works.

This is a book for those who already love the topic. The result of the good books that serve these specialist areas is whether they prompt further interest.This does and the desire to hear the songs referred to is the real feeling generated. Perhaps too factual in that it almost provides too much information. The point of difference is that it relies on interviews with those written about. Reflects an era when sheer love of singing was the motivation.

If you are into oldies Girl Groups, click the purchase button on Amazon.com right now! Super book, with literally EVERY girl group that was anything back in the day...and many more obscure groups as well. Incredible source of knowledge about the Girl Groups. I have NO IDEA how this much information was every accumlated. The details are unreal.

There have been a lot of books and videos about girl groups but all them involved large, really large, gaps of information, missing names, erroneous information and so on. John Clemente amazingly gets it all down, all correct and every little detail in. How he did it I don't know. This book is fabulous and endlessly rereadable. And you will love the rare photos.

Simply the best thing written on girl groups, ever.

Yes, this was a welcomed book, with the rare photos of obscure and not-so-obscure groups, the interviews with the players, the histories of the groups, and the discographies.

But. I want more. I want better. I want authoritative. And this just ain't that. Unfortunately, given the subject matter, there aren't going to be all that many chances to get what I want unless and until I write it myself. (The last, and first, book to cover this subject matter was "Girl Groups: The Story Of A Sound" back in the mid-1980s.)

Since the publication of Clemente's book, the online girl-group community has lifted him to near-godhead status, and I've heard not a peep of criticism: when you're starving, anything's better than nothing. But I think the book has obvious problems and these should be pointed out.

Despite Clemente's good intentions and obvious love for his subject matter, his writing is mundane, repetitive and often irritating. (Is there an editor in the house??) Worse is his lack of perspective/criticism: every girl group or female singer is just fa-a-abulous, so we don't get much insight into musical quality -- just a not very well-written cheerleader's surface story of when, who and how. Very little about the output --the "what", except, of course, that it's fa-a-abulous. Later I found, through a chat-list Clemente was on, that this may have been a quid pro quo for the interviews: he revealed in one post that he wasn't really much of a fan of, or that knowledgeable about, at least one of the groups' music, that of Reparata & the Delrons, but you wouldn't know it from their section in the book. For me, this cast doubt on the honesty of the whole project.

I've found several omissions in his discographies which could easily have been rectified with a quick check of other, reliable sources. Some of the histories are incomplete: While his piece on the Angels is in-depth and informative as far as it goes, their later-60's, early-70's story is truncated (and there is a story there still waiting to be told). ...And WHO designed that ugly cover?!

It's frustrating that books on this topic are so rare that an inferior book such as this one becomes a Bible.