The 1960s are popularly acclaimed as a turning point in youth culture and the evolution of the teenager, and this book is a welcome addition to the study of both popular music and female identity of the period. Jacqueline Warwick is assistant professor of music at Dalhousie University and the founding editor of the online journal Echo. Her book started as a doctoral project in musicology at the University of California and came to publication through a grant from the Dalhousie University Research Development Fund. She defines “girl group” as featuring the following elements: the interests of teenage girls in its lyrics (boys, parental stricture, etc.); material produced mostly by professional songwriters, originating from the recording studio and reliant upon session musicians; an instrumental, often orchestral sound as opposed to the prevalent “beat group” line-up of guitar, bass, and drums; and especially adolescent girl voices in dialogue between lead and backing vocals.
The research is presented in five very readable parts identified by great titles: “Girl Talk,” “A Brand New Dance Now,” “He Makes Me Say Things I Don’t Want To Say,” “Look Here Girls, And Take This Advice,” “Out In The Streets.” Each part explores significant features of the genre: the call and response song form, the vocabulary and codification of girl group movements and gestures, the politics of music production, issues of race and class in girl groups and girl culture, and, in the final section, issues connected with girls and public space.
Girl groups such as The Chantals, Shirelles, and The Shangri-Las were at the forefront of mainstream North American culture from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. Jacqueline Warwick explores their origins and impact and argues convincingly that they were more than just disposable pop. Warwick explores girl groups in the context of contemporary feminism, the civil rights movement, male-female relationships, and female self-image. She challenges an existing orthodoxy that centralizes instrumentalists and composers in music production by analyzing and asserting the importance of both singers and listeners in the genre. The roles of songwriters, producers, and promoters are also discussed and there are some great recollections from the singers. We travel from notions of propriety and demure feminine behaviour to The Shangri-Las reinvention as rebel girls following the enormous success of their 1964 song, “Leader of the Pack,” ending with a nod to 90s “girl-power.” Some contemporary black-and-white photos are included but these are few, which strikes me as a pity.
This book is an intriguing social history of the Girl Group phenomenon of the period. It is scholarly, with an extensive bibliography, and foot-noted in a solid style while written in an accessible and engaging manner that will have appeal beyond the academy. Hard-core music scholars will appreciate the musicological analysis that is applied to tunes, chord changes, and song structure, but the non-music cultural studies student and general reader may well find themselves skipping a few pages here and there.
Overall, this is a wonderful read, a great reference source, and an essential volume for those interested in popular musicology. Good books can be life-changing. Jacqueline Warwick’s won’t do that but I guarantee that if you read it, singing into your hairbrush will never be the same again.
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[Review length: 540 words • Review posted on October 15, 2008]