Girl group

A girl group is a musical group featuring several young female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is generally not applied to girl bands or all-women bands, in which women play instruments as well as sing.

Pre-girl groups

During the Music Hall/Vaudeville era, girl groups were mainly novelty acts singing nonsense songs in silly voices. One of the first major exceptions was the Boswell Sisters, one of the most popular singing group from 1930 to 1936, with over twenty hits, and one of the most important bands of the twentieth century. The Boswells were noted for their artistry, and often played their own instruments and performed their own arrangements. The Andrews Sisters started (1937) as a Boswell tribute band, filling the vacuum left after that group's demise.

Early girl-groups

The first modern girl group was probably the Chantels, whose harmonies were very similar to male doo wop groups of the 1950s. The girl group sound was established as a major popular form with The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which was a huge hit in 1960. Throughout the 1960s, the girl group sound continued in popularity. Girl group songs were often hits, and girl groups appeared on TV shows such as "Shindig" and "Hullaballo" in the U.S., and "Tops of the Pops" in the U.K.

Many girl groups like The Crystals were put together by the record company; others, like the Dixie Cups formed on their own. In either case, girl groups were often used as a vehicle for the latest work by a particular songwriting or production team. Thus, Phil Spector was responsible for most of the output of the Ronettes, while Gerry Goffin and Carole King handled much of the output of the Cookies. Other important girl group songwriters included Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Cynthia Mann and Barry Weil. The Motown label also masterminded several major girl groups, including the Supremes and The Marvelettes.

Besides harmony singing, girl group songs of the time were characterized by high-end production, and producers were often as important to the recordings as the artists themselves. The most famous producer of the era was Phil Spector, whose Wall of Sound production featured a thick layer of instrumentation (drums, guitar, bass, a horn section and often something more exotic, such as Glockenspiel or vibraphone). Amidst the musical accompaniment, there was a lead vocal, often deliberately girlish in tone, singing deceptively simple, naïve lyrics which artfully and eloquently expressed the emotions of teenagers of the time. An example would be The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which doubles as both a charming love song and, implicitly, a portrayal of adolescent sexual mores. Many groups, such as the Shangri-Las, used productions inspired by Spectors', even if Spector himself did not work on their records. Others, including some New York City-based groups like The Chiffons, used more conventional pop music arrangements, while the Motown groups used typical driving Motown arrangements of the period.

The high-production, harmony-heavy sound of girl groups was so well-established that many individual singers were considered to have the "girl-group sound." Lesley Gore and Little Eva were solo artists, but are generally considered part of the girl group phenomena. Other groups, such as Ruby and the Romantics and The Essex had the "girl-group sound," even though they were not entirely comprised of females. The sound was also a key element of many of the "Beach Party" type movies of the same era, many starring Annette Funicello.

By the mid-late 1960s, in the face of the British Invasion and the increasing popularity of rock music, the popularity of girl groups began to wane. During this time, only a few all-female groups, such as The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas, made the transition to an earthier, soulful sound and success.

Later girl groups

In recent times, the sound of girl groups has been defined, and has helped to define, the popular musical styles of the period.

While the 1980s saw the emergence of rock and punk-rock girl groups such as The Go-Go's, a number of other girl groups also flourished.

The Pointer Sisters were a popular mainstream female R&B trio featuring three African-American sisters. The group charted several hits in the '80s including "Jump (for My Love)" and "I'm so Excited".

UK duos Mel & Kim and Pepsi & Shirlie found varying degrees of success, but New Wave/Europop trio Bananarama, also from the UK, racked up an extensive number of Top 40 singles around the world throughout the '80s and '90s, and later as a duo. Their most famous international hit, "Venus", hit No 1 in America (a feat they didn't achieve in their homeland). In 1988 they entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful all-female group in history, a record they still hold. (Former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey also created an edgy alternative group, Shakespears Sister, whose single "Stay" stayed at No 1 in the UK for a staggering 8 weeks, the longest run by any girl group, and the song also made the Top 5 in the U.S.)

In the late '80s and early '90s in America, Exposé, Sweet Sensation, The Cover Girls, Jade, and Seduction all enjoyed commercial success with the growth of a Latin- or R&B-oriented dance sound.

Rap duo Salt-N-Pepa, who later became a trio, were one of the first female rap acts to hit the charts with songs like "Push It" and "Let's Talk About Sex". One of the most inspirational girl bands was titled SWV standing for Sisters With Voices, with many hits throughout the 90s.^{[citation needed]} In Canada, a pop duo of twin sisters, Tú, and the R&B/rap duo Love & Sas found short-lived success.

Many of the girl groups of the 90s returned to a manufactured pop style marketed as clean-cut and aimed at young, predominantly female audiences. A prime example of this was the U.S. vocal trio Wilson Phillips, which featured the daughters of Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) and of John Phillips and Michelle Phillips (of The Mamas & the Papas).

In Canada, the West End Girls achieved minor hits on the Canadian charts.

In the UK, the R&B act Eternal scored a string of hits while one of the most successful American R&B girl groups of the early '90s was vocal quartet En Vogue.

The Spice Girls were one of the most influential pop girl groups around this time. They brought their slogan "Girl Power" to popular use through several number one pop singles, sold-out concerts, advertisements, and even a film.

At the same time, a rival British/Canadian quartet All Saints also found success with a more street-oriented, R&B sound.

In the early 2000s, girl groups again increased in popularity, spawning such bands as California-based Dream, the Swedish quartet Play, the Russian duo t.A.T.u. and the UK/U.S. quintet No Secrets.

The reality TV show Popstars produced some short-lived girl groups: in Australia, Bardot, in the U.S., Eden's Crush, and in Canada, Sugar Jones.

The Pipettes, one of the newest girl groups, self-reflexively mimic the girl group sound from the 1960s coined by Phil Spector in an effort to modernize the original girl group sentiments. Today's most commercially successful girl groups include British groups such as Atomic Kitten, Girls Aloud, and Sugababes.

In Japan, J-pop bands such as ZONE (2000s), Onyanko Club (1980s), Morning Musume (late 1990s-present) and SPEED were all popular girl groups.

Lately, bands like the Raveonettes, Miss Derringer and the Detroit Cobras incorporate the sound of early-60s girl groups.

Contemporary R&B and the girl group sound

Starting in the mid-90s, many bands began to combine hip-hop with the girl group sound, with great commercial success. En Vogue was one of the pioneers in this respect. TLC become one of the biggest girl groups in history. Their sophomore album CrazySexyCool sold 10 millions copies and was the most successfull R&B album ever released. They also released some of the biggest R&B and pop singles such as Waterfalls and No Scrubs. Other bands in this vein included 702 and Total, both groups often produced by Missy Elliot.

The most important girl group for contemporary R&B is undoubtedly Destiny's Child, whose 1999 album The Writing's on the Wall generated a string of hits, vaulted lead-singer Beyoncé to superstardom, and established the girl group sound as the blueprint for much contemporary R & B. Girl group hallmarks, such as slick production and harmony vocals (often multi-tracked) are essential to a range of hit artists, from Cassie, to Ashanti, to Paula DeAnda. Many actual (multi-member) girl groups have continued to be popular in R & B; some of the most popular examples are Cherish, The Pussycat Dolls, and Danity Kane.

See also

• List of girl groups
• List of all-women bands

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