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Various Artists - Early Girls Volume 1 (1964)

Track listing:
  1. Do-Wah Diddy The Exciters 2:26
  2. You're No Good Betty Everett 2:20
  3. The Name Game Shirley Ellis 3:01
  4. Chains The Cookies 2:31
  5. It Might As Well Rain Until September Carole King 2:27
  6. I'm Into Something Good Earl-Jean 2:52
  7. I Can't Stay Mad At You Skeeter Davis 2:09
  8. I Wish I Were A Princess Little Peggy March 2:12
  9. I've Told Every Little Star Linda Scott 2:17
  10. Triangle Janie Grant 2:28
  11. West Of The Wall Toni Fisher 2:36
  12. Pink Shoe Laces Dodie Stevens 2:28
  13. Music, Music, Music The Sensations 3:17
  14. Dear Abby The Hearts 3:00
  15. Whenever A Teenager Cries Reparata & The Delrons 2:50
  16. Popsicles & Icicles The Murmaids 2:36
  17. Wonderful Summer Robin Ward 2:30
  18. I Love How You Love Me The Paris Sisters 2:05
  19. Dark Moon Bonnie Guitar 2:46
  20. You The Aquatones 2:03
  21. 'til The Angels 2:32
  22. The Great Pretender Kathy Young 3:13
  23. Angel Baby Rosie & The Originals 2:51
  24. Eddie My Love The Teen Queens 3:17
  25. He's Gone The Chantels 2:31
  26. Dedicated To The One I Love The Shirelles 2:03
  27. Son-In-Law The Blossoms 2:06
  28. Easier Said Than Done The Essex 2:07

Notes

While the second volume of the Early Girls series is heavier on chart hits, the first collection offers more choice rarities (which, truth be told, is the real value in retrospectives of this kind). A handful of these 28 cuts are overly cloying (Earl-Jean's "I'm into Something Good" and Little Peggy March's "I Wish I Were a Princess" are almost sickeningly sweet), but the good far outweighs the bad -- alongside familiar singles like Shirley Ellis' "The Name Game" and the Shirelles' "Dedicated to the One I Love" are forgotten classics like Toni Fisher's amazing "West of the Wall" (an echo-drenched ode to Cold War-era romance) and Dodie Stevens' delightfully goofy "Pink Shoe Laces"; early favorites from Phil Spector (the Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me") and Carole King (the superb "It Might as Well Rain Until September," her lone solo hit before breaking through with Tapestry a decade later) round out this smartly compiled, well-annotated and consistently engaging set.