MUSICAL DECADES - 1960s - Boyfriends

Times have certainly changed over the years, particularly in the dating/romance scene. Today I'd like to take you back to the 1960s to look at how girls saw their boyfriends back then.

The Shirelles were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. The group rose to fame with "Tonight's the Night".

The Shirelles have been described as having a "naive schoolgirl sound" that contrasted with the sexual themes of many of their songs. Several of their hits used strings and baião-style music. They have been credited with launching the girl group genre, with much of their music reflecting the genre's essence. Their acceptance by both white and black audiences, predating that of the Motown acts, has been noted as reflecting the early success of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

The Shirelles' song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", written by husband-wife songwriting team Gerry Goffin and Carole King, became the first Billboard number-one hit by an African-American girl group, possibly the first by any girl group.

The Supremes were an American female singing group and the most commercially successful of Motown's acts. In fact, they are, to date, America's most successful vocal group with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity, and it is said that their success made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success.

“Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song, written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland. It held the #1 position on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from March 27, 1965 through April 3, 1965, and reached the number-two position on the soul chart.

The Chiffons were one of the top girl groups of the early 1960s. With their trademark tight harmonies, high-stepping confidence and the hit machine of Gerry Goffin and Carol King writing songs such as "One Fine Day", "Sweet Talkin' Guy" and "I Have A Boyfriend", the Chiffons made music that helped define the girl-group sound of the era.

The Crystals are an American vocal group based in New York, considered one of the defining acts of the girl group era in the first half of the 1960s. Their 1961–1964 chart hits, including "There's No Other (Like My Baby)", "Uptown", "He's Sure the Boy I Love", "He's a Rebel", "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)" and "Then He Kissed Me", featured three successive female lead singers, and were all produced by Phil Spector.

"Then He Kissed Me" is a song written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. The song was initially released as a single in July 1963. In the United States, it peaked at #6 and in the United Kingdom at #2. It was The Crystals' third single to chart in the top ten in the United States and their second to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom. The song was also a major hit in the Republic of Ireland, reaching #3 in the charts there.

The Angels are an American girl group. In 1963, the trio signed to Mercury Records' subsidiary label Smash Records and began working with the Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer songwriting team, who wrote "My Boyfriend's Back". The Angels' performance was originally intended as a demo for The Shirelles' consideration, but the music publishers chose instead to release it as it stood. The song was a major hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

During their Smash Records career, the Angels maintained a steady string of moderately successful singles which included "Wow Wow Wee (He's The Boy For Me)" (#41 US). Their album, My Boyfriend's Back, made the top forty, charting at #33.

The Marvelettes was an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early- to mid-1960s. Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their glee club at Inkster High School in Michigan, they were signed to Motown's Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their early recordings.

Despite their early successes, the group was eclipsed in popularity by groups like the Supremes, with whom they shared an intense rivalry. Nevertheless, they managed a major comeback in 1966 with "Don't Mess with Bill", followed by a few smaller hits.

This ends Musical Decades for this week. Thanks for listening and I hope to see you here next time.

(The information used in this post is from Wikipedia.)

Dominique "Nik" Petersen is an aficionado of "oldies" music and the author of Dr. Hook and Me:  A Fan's Journal/Scrapbook. Read about it and her other books at the website:

www.nikdesignsgraphics.com