Artist	Song
Viola Watkins & The Crows	Paint A Sky For Me (1951)
The Enchanters	How Could You (1952)
The Enchanters	Housewife Blues (1952)
Shirley Gunter & The Queens	Why (1954)
Shirley Gunter & The Queens	Oop Shoop (1954)
The Hearts	Lonely Nights (1954)
The Chordettes	Mr Sandman (1954)
Shirley Gunter & The Queens	Baby, I Love You So (1955)
Shirley Gunter & The Queens	What Difference Does It Make (1955)
The Joytones	All My Love Belongs To You (1956)
The Bonnie Sisters	Cry Baby (1956)
Patience & Prudence	Tonight You Belong To Me (1956)
The Teen Queens	Eddie My Love (1956)
The Joytones	Gee What A Boy! (1956)
The Joytones	My Foolish Heart (1956)
The Cookies	In Paradise (1956)
The Teen Queens	Let's Make Up (1956)
The Tune Weavers	Happy, Happy Birthday (1957)
The Bobettes	Mr Lee (1957)
The Blossoms	Move On (1957)
The Chantels	Maybe (1957)
The Poni-tails	Born Too Late (1958)
The Chordettes	Lollipop (1958)
The Chantels	I Love You So (1958)
The Chantels	Never Let Go (1958)
The Shirelles	I Met Him On A Sunday (1958)
The Primettes	Tears Of Sorrow (1959)
The Primettes	Pretty Baby (1959)
The Shirelles	Dedicated To The One I Love (1959)
The Chordettes	To Know Him Is To Love Him (1959)

Comment:

I've always been fascinated by the 'evolution' of popular music and this is one of many CDs I've put together over the years to trace the development of a particular genre. I find that you can tell a story like this by placing together the relevant songs in the right order far more effectively than any text book could. This collection was my attempt to demonstrate to my brother, who likes both Doo Wop and Girl Group music, how one style evolved from the other. It's curious that in the early/mid Fifties when Doo Wop was enjoying its 'golden era' it was an almost entirely male pursuit. A few notable exceptions like Shirley Gunter & The Queens helped to change that and just ten years later the vocal group sound was dominated by Girl Groups. It's very much a matter of opinion what the first "Girl Group" song was, but it's fair to say that it was recorded during the period covered by this CD and all of the popular candidates feature here: "Oop Shop", "Maybe", "Mr Lee", "Born Too Late", etc. I like to let the listener decide for themselves (or just sit back and enjoy some great music!) ...As often seems to happen to me, I put together a CD like this using all the best tracks I have in my collection and then a few days later I'm looking around a record shop or market stall and find a CD which contains some new material which demands inclusion! In this case, I just discovered some songs by an early Fifties girl group called The Enchanters which perfectly fill the gap between Viola Watkins and Shirley Gunter & The Queens. Realising that I still had some extra space on the CD I also took the opportunity to include the gorgeous "Tonight You Belong To Me" by Patience & Prudence which very much belongs on this extended mix.

Feedback: