The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does what it says on the tin!

Post Youtubes, links, chastise me for any I've missed.....

It's really some of the greatest music ever, right?

The Ronettes will always be the ultimate girl group, and Ronnie Spector will always be the ultimate sex symbol of the girl groups. But the Shangri-Las and Mary Weiss are a very close second.  :)

And yet The Ronettes still have no votes...

I went with The Supremes - a consistent deluge of great hits (Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, You Can't Hurry Love, Back in My Arms, Reflections, Love Child, Up The Ladder to the Roof).

So many great ones there too - it's a difficult choice.

I will add a youtube video of one of the great underrated female R&B singers though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U&feature=feedf_more (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U&feature=feedf_more)

I really like Lesley Gore's voice. Though she's not really a group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_v468ptuXw

I wish I could be on that bus forever....

Shangi-las for sure. Check this feces out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFAV75uOk6Y&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFAV75uOk6Y&feature=related)
and just in case you need more proof...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM9orBt3ZWY&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM9orBt3ZWY&feature=related)

The Honeys!  Of course!

Trouble is ... there are SO MANY one-off 'girl group' recordings that are so great that you wish the 'group' had developed further. Personally, I rate The Westwoods (featuring Marilyn) "I Love My Surfer Boy Too" as one of the best ... and then there's the wonderful Beach Girls "Skiing In The Snow" which is hard to top. Subsequently, none of the above can get a vote from me ... and we need a best girl group SONG category instead !

Great idea for a poll----right up my street!----although I understand where Malc is coming from. I chose The Shangri Las----Mary Weiss' is the most plaintive voice in pop. I love those ladies.

A one-hit NYGG I'd like to mention is The Jaynetts. Their spooky "Sally Go 'Round The Roses" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiARkYITOUo) had a whole bunch of singers joining in on it----but then so did the Ronettes' "Be My Baby". Love the trick fadeout... Note: The Spector mentioned in the YouTube blurb is Abner Spector of Chess, not Phil of Philles.

PS: Sorry to be "picky" but it's the Velvelettes. ;=) 

Top 4
The Ronettes 
The Supremes 
The Honeys 
The Crystals 

I haven't voted, because I'm torn with my own choices!

There are a few 'non groups', like Gore, Eva, or Lewis, which are just sensational examples of mid 60's Girlpop so it would seem a shame not to put them in....

And there's one group which has a MAN in it  :o but he's out numbered by women so it's cool.

That Jaynetts song is great!

As is Gloria Jones, but that doesn't scream 'girl group' for some reason. More of a soul sound than a pop sound? None can top Stay With Me by Lorraine Ellison, though, criminally not on youtube.

You must mean The Fleetwoods. But what about Gladys Knight & the three male Pips??!!

It's here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrYwtAz-LZQ) (with a silly picture), unless it's unavailable in your part of the world...

I agree. Finest soul ballad ever.

You must be kidding. Screaming ala Janis doesn't get it for me. That plain sucks.

bgas, you have no soul.

i thought the Pips were girls! Every day an education.... Does that mean they're void from this poll?

Another one that I have been enjoying this year has been The Exciters. They are more known for "Tell Him" I think but I prefer the more raw "He's Got The Power":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thFy6QnfuOM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thFy6QnfuOM)

Wait. You thought the Pips were girls and I'm the one with no soul?
LMFAO

Tuff one between The Shirelles and the Ronettes. The Ronettes will win, so I voted The Shirelles.

Can't comment, I'm afraid, never having heard Janis Ian scream.

Ahh, too bad, she was a real moaner

Gad, that's irritating. Upon further investigation, every single musical memory I have of G Knight & The Pips actually comes from other Motown groups. Got confused by the female backing vox on their Heard it Thru the Grapevine. Oh Well. They're actually pretty good though! They have a girl-group thing going on, so they can stay.... just.

bgas, you may have a soul, but you obviously have never had your heart broken. Hence your dislike of 'Stay With Me'. To say nothing of the horn section, which sounds like a jet engine taking off in the studio. But we're getting off topic.

I think I'm going to have to vote for The Shangri-Las. But my heart says Ronettes. I'll sleep on it.

The Ronettes

One of the few 60's girl groups I can stand

If you are going to count Gladys Knight and The Pips, you might as well count Jefferson Airplane.  :p

I was going to say the Honeys( I voted first in the poll, after all) but now that I see Jeff Air is a choice, I vote for them. 

That's an interesting genre in itself----female solo singer with male backing vocalists. Other examples include The Essex ("Easier Said Than Done"), Ruby & the Romantics ("Our Time Will Come"), Kathy Young and The Innocents ("A Thousand Stars")... Not sure if The Teddy Bears count, as the backing vocals were all Spector.

Voted Shangri-Las, purely because my alarm decided to wake me up this morning with 'Give Him A Great Big Kiss'. Incredible song.

"Well, he's 'good' bad, but he's not evil' is sheer genius. :lol

I love the noise Mary makes (and the face she pulls in the Shindig vid) before she says "He's good--bad..." I could listen to that noise all day. :=)

Cool topic!

I'll have to go for the obvious choice - the Ronettes. Not only do I think that their best songs easily make the output of any other girl group pale in comparison, they were also incredibly sexy - which I don't think you can honestly say about a lot of the other groups mentioned. (Though Mary Weiss was really hot!  ;D)

I don't understand why the Fleetwoods figure in the poll? Gary Troxel sang lead on 99% of their songs. Now there's an underrated group who recorded a wealth of beautiful stuff, though I wouldn't call it girl group pop... My favourite by them would probably be this late recording, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the original version of this classic song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A00Ub78Vm_E

Has anyone ever listened to Rhino's 'One Kiss Led To Another' girl group box?


IT'S INCREDIBLE.

Kinda renders the concept of a poll a bit useless - so many one-offs in the genre. I can't believe music this good exists, and that some bastards still think rock music was somehow dead inbetween Buddy Holly and The Beatles. The girl group has probably got the perfect pop song somewhere, I just haven't found it yet....

In complete agreement about the ridiculous "Doldrums" theory. As for the perfect GG record, my money would probably be on either "He's So Fine", "(The Best Part Of) Breakin' Up" (that false ending!) or "Give Him A Great Big Kiss". H'mmm.

I already voted months ago for the Shangrila's.  The reason I went with them, isn't because I think they were the most talented.  the Supremes, the Ronnettes, probably many girl groups were actually much better singers and even made better songs, but when you say "Girl Group" you kind of draw up notions of girls in high school, being girly and cute in an 18 year old way.  The Ronnettes were great because Veronica had such an incredible voice, and the songs were so well written, and the production was perfect.  The Supremes were the original Divas, some of the greatest music of all time, they're like the Godzilla female group, nobody will ever be on their level.  The Shang-ri-las, though, were a GIRL group.  They sang stupid songs about running away from home, or kissing their boyfriend, or dating a guy with a motorcyle, or whatever.  Now *THAT* is what a Girl Group is all about.  They were easily my favorite. 

I always thought that Diana Ross pulled off 'sexy' when they were singing, and she had that thing she did with her shoulders.  I never understood what people saw in her, until I saw that the first time.  Something about it makes me want to have sex with her.  LOL. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8O6tEYKNRM&feature=related

My Diana Ross, in my mind, is still just like that.  Same type of dress, she's in Black and White, she's standing on a stage.  The newer Diana Ross doesn't exist.  Same thing I've done with Michael Jackson, lol.  He never got past the mid 90's in my mind. 

By the way watching that video, makes it really hard not to go back and vote the Supremes best ever.  I think they were so talented it's easy to forget just how great they were. 

Nothing beats Dancin' in the Street and Nowhere to Run!

Except for Leader of the Pack and (Remember) Walking In the Sand!

And Be My Baby, Be My Baby, and don't forget Be My Baby! [/Brian Wilson Mode]

When discussing girl groups in past threads, I said they're stupid. Here will say it again - stupid, starting with hairstyle ending with the girl group singing. Despite it, I choose The Chordettes. Songs catchy, light, sunny, filled with positivity & really charming voices ("Mr. Sandman" immediately gives you good mood which imo is music's chief purpose). Cool thing about this band is you don't hear uber-lush slick arrangement in the girls' songs. It's in compare simplistic. To these ears, the less "powerful", the better.
Black girl groups - The Supremes due to Diana Ross (d'uh!). She's really good, the best lead singer, beats any lead singer in listed here groups. Besides, some hits by Supremes miles better than the others'. Except Chiffons' sunny bright "One Fine Day" & Lesley Gore's cool chords-driven "It's My Party" (the single song by her I like). But, yep, the best is The Chordettes. :3d

Aww. How can anyone not love The Shangri Las?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01YePzk29Mc

As a child (6-7 years old) my favorite groups were the Chiffons and the Dixie-Cups (and their locally iconic song, Iko Iko).
A little older I liked the Shangri Las.
I came to love the “edgier”songs such as the Marvellettes’ Don’t Mess With Bill. And the later songs of the Supremes.

Favorite woman singers are Lesley Gore (love You Don’t Own Me) and Dusty Springfield.

As for big hair I was too young for it but it was the style back then - my oldest sister and her friends had the poofy big hair.

Yes indeed, E. "He's So Fine" is one of the iconic NYGG records.

I used to own the stunning "Don't Mess With Bill" on one of three Hitsville USA comps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVsW_6AomOQ