Where The Girls Are, Volume 5 [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 11, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ace Records UK
• ASIN: B000083LRL
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,041 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dressed In Black - The Pussycats

2. I Want Yoru Love - The Pussycats

3. They're Dancing Now - Patty Michaels

4. That New Boy In Town - Jan Tanzy

5. Let The Little Girl Limbo - Doris Day

6. My Boyfriend - Becky & The Lollipops

7. One Boy Tells Another - The Sufer Girls

8. That Boy Is Messing Up My Mind

9. Marching Home - Tracey Dey

10. Did You Get Your Fun - The Bootiques

11. Will You Care What's Hap'nin To Me, Baby - Bernadette Peters

12. Wonderful World Of Love - The Poppies

13. You're My Lovin Baby - The Sweet Things

14. Sing Me A Love Song - The Glories

15. Gonna Make Him My Baby - April Young

16. Friends And Lovers Forever - Nancy Ames

17. The Harlem Tango - The Orchids

18. Takin' That Long Walk Home - Dorothy Jones

19. It's Love That Really Counts (In The Long Run) - Marlina Mar

20. Sweet Bitter Love - Aretha Franklin

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

A sparkling and eclectic collection of girl group-style treasures from the Columbia vaults. Includes a host of Brill Building rarities, most making their CD debut.

Like the doo wop domain, the girl group category is full of diverse delights. The ultimate in crossover music, and truly beyond color, it's a fact that, 30-odd years after the event, the ethnic origin of some of the best-loved girl group performers remains unknown. Thus, recordings that might otherwise be considered pop, or pure pop, and those of the soul, or even deep soul, variety can, and do, fit quite happily into the genre, alongside some performers of the singer-songwriter inclination. A meticulous and painstaking four years in the making, and drawn exclusively from the vaults of the mighty Columbia family of labels, Where The Girls Are, Vol 5 serves to illustrate this diversity perfectly.

Practically a Who's Who of 1960s songwriters, this collection contains creations from many of the Brill Building's brightest stars. A building by name, yet an entire district by nature, that legendary New York edifice today lends its appellation to a complete genus of composers.

Leading the parade here are Gerry Goffin & Carole King with songs performed by The Orchids, singing actress Peggy Lipton, soul sister supreme Erma Franklin and Dorothy Jones, session singer extraordinaire and leader of the ubiquitous Cookies. Boy genius scribe Van McCoy is represented via delicious offerings from The Sweet Things, Aretha Franklin and Northern Soul legend Sandi Sheldon. The once mysterious Miss Sheldon is pictured and interviewed in the lavish booklet. Elsewhere, The Pussycats sing Shadow Morton, the delectable Bernadette Peters performs Brute Force, patrician TV star Nancy Ames renders a great Bert Berns number and Marlina Mars, ex of The Clickettes, gets to grips with the songbook of Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Other Brill Building legends showcased include husband and wife teams Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil plus Bob Crewe, Neil Diamond and Phil Spector, to name just a few.

Not solely Broadway-based, this latest delve into the female world also offers selections committed to magnetic tape in Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia. Nashville is represented by those southern Supremes wannabes The Poppies, and sunny California by Becky & The Lollipops, The Bootiques and Doris Day, who gives Chubby Checker a run for his money with a downright demented dance craze ditty.

An acknowledged auteur's medium, the multitude of studio geniuses on hand here includes Jack Nitzsche, Curtis Mayfield, Curt Boettcher and Jerry Ross, ensuring an impressively varied soundscape throughout. Producers Helen Miller, Clyde Otis and Lou Adler also feature, as do the inimitable Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff, manning the controls for the great Laura Nyro & Labelle, whose atmospheric contribution is, perhaps, the most enigmatic track ever included on a girl group compilation.

Their names say it all really - The Little Foxes, The Surfer Girls, The Glories, The Opals - one can almost hear the music in one's mind, so evocative are those monikers. Add to all this, desirable tracks by young starlets like Patty Michaels, Jan Tanzy, April Young and Tracey Dey, and you have yourselves what might be the most gorgeous and playable girl group compilation there has ever been.

It was Ace Records' Rob Finnis who first used the chocolate box metaphor when describing a previous all-distaff collection. Musically sweet and succulent, copiously annotated and luxuriously illustrated throughout, that scrumptious analogy could well have been at the forefront of the minds of the compilers of this mouth-watering set. One well-nigh expects to find each selection entwisted in a differently colored foil wrapper.

-Mick Patrick/Ace UK

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calling all girl group fans!, March 29, 2003

By 

"plumex" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where The Girls Are, Volume 5 (Audio CD)

Sweet on the Shangri Las? Then perhaps a double dose of the Pussycats is what you need . . . Hungry for the feminine side of soul? Surely the Opals and Sandi Sheldon will please. Whether you savor the sounds of vivacious teenage girls or prefer to hear a soulstress singing the blues, "Where The Girls Are, Volume 5: A Decade Of Columbia Femme Pop" most certainly has something for you.

For years, those aficionados Mick Patrick and Malcolm Baumgart have been serving up compilations that run the gamut of the girl group sound. What makes the "Where The Girls Are" series so irresistible is that they don't discriminate. Yes, my friends, here you will find girls of all shapes and sizes, colors and creeds, singing songs by some of the best writers and producers the sixties had to offer.

This new volume pays special attention to the 'Brill Building' songwriters, whose first class compositions are surely the cream of the compilation. Husband and wife songwriting teams Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry and Gerry Goffin & Carole King are represented by the Orchids' debut single "That Boy Is Messing Up My Mind" and "The Harlem Tango". The third of the Brill couples, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, give Hollywood legend Doris Day her girl group moment with "Let The Little Girl Limbo" - a "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" clone with orchestral arrangement by Jack Nitzsche and a cameo appearance by Darlene Love!

The brightest moment on this compilation comes from the Washington DC-based trio the Sweet Things whose "You?re My Lovin' Baby" is made of the stuff we girl group fans dream about. Written and produced by former Scepter Records staffer Van McCoy, this 1966 release is awash in warm melodies and a dazzling chorus that recalls the best of the Spector sound. It'll have you asking that all too common question, "How could this not have been a hit?!!" If the Sweet Things aren't enough to satisfy your craving for thundering Spector productions, then April Young's "Gonna Make Him My Baby" will do the job. Handclaps, xylophones, and plenty of "doo ron day ron day rons" humming in the background make this Pete Anders & Vinnie Poncia gem a stunning one indeed.

For more sprightly pop, look no further than Bernadette Peters, Jan Tanzy, the Surfer Girls, Becky & the Lollipops, and Patty Michaels, whose tracks scream "teenage!" And in the soul category we have the queen, Aretha Franklin, her sister Erma, the Little Foxes and the Opals, whose vocal delivery on Curtis Mayfield's "You Can't Hurt Me No More" is nothing short of superb. Northern Soul favorite Sandi Sheldon also makes an appearance with the gorgeous Van McCoy track "Baby You're Mine".

Fans of David Lynch's dark soap opera Twin Peaks will be thrilled to find Peggy Lipton (who played waitress, Norma Jennings on the show) included on the compilation. "Wasn't It You", an orchestral ballad previously recorded by Petula Clark, is taken from Peggy's eponymous album from 1968. I wasn't even aware that this former Mod Squad star had a singing career, let alone an album!

As if an assortment of 26 shimmering girl group rarities isn't enough, Mick and Malcolm further treat us to detailed mini-biographies of each of the featured artists. Add that to the oodles of rare photos (check out the very cute Patty Michaels and the Orchids singing with Bobby Darin) and you've got yourself a compilation that has clearly set the standard for girl group compilations to come. And isn't the cover to die for?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Collection of Rarities, March 12, 2006

By 

vintageboy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where The Girls Are, Volume 5 (Audio CD)

This is a very worthy addition to the ongoing series from ACE, and probably my favorite one in the set so far. This volume collects tracks from Columbia, Date and related labels. Chock full of great sounds, this volume covers a wide range of styles. Tracey Dey (a wonderful, much underrated artist) is featured here with the punchy "Marching Home", Bernadette Peters has a great track, "Will You Care What's Hap'nin' to Me Baby", and The Orchids', "That Boy is Messin' Up My Mind" is a classic. On the soulful side, there's a soulful, inspired version of "Spanish Harlem" by Laura Nyro and Patti Labelle, and one of the BEST tracks on the disc, Aretha Franklin's "Sweet Bitter Love" (written by Van McCoy). Absolutely goose pimple-inducing greatness!

Other sublime tracks include the Sweet Things' stellar "You're My Lovin' Baby", Dorothy Jones' "Takin' That Long Walk Home", and The Opals' "You Can't Hurt Me No More". These are all, but a few of the awesome tracks on this set. Even for the casual Girl Group fan, I would heartily recommend this disc, because there is a wide variety of the genre represented here. All great stuff. I hope ACE keeps this series going for a long while...it's really the cornerstone of Girl Group CDs on the market today.