Girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop and which flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and start of the British Invasion.[1][2] All-female bands, in which members also play instruments, are usually considered a separate phenomenon. These groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate,[3] although this terminology is not universally followed.
With the advent of the music industry and radio broadcasting, a number of girl groups emerged, such as the Andrews Sisters. The late 1950s saw the emergence of all-female singing groups as a major force, with 750 distinct girl groups releasing songs that reached US and UK music charts from 1960 to 1966.[4] The Supremes alone held 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 during the height of the wave and throughout most of the British Invasion rivaled the Beatles in popularity.[5][6]
In later eras, the girl group template would be applied to
History
Vaudeville and close harmonies
One of the first major all-female groups was the Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce, an American trio who successfully toured England and parts of Europe in 1927, recorded and appeared on BBC radio – they toured the US variety and big-time theaters extensively, and later changed their stage name to the Three X Sisters. The band was together from 1923 until the early 1940s, and known for their close harmonies, as well as barbershop style or novelty tunes, and utilized their 1930s radio success.[11] The Three X Sisters were also especially a notable addition to the music scene, and predicted later girl group success by maintaining their popularity throughout the Great Depression.[12] The Boswell Sisters, who became one of the most popular singing groups from 1930 to 1936, had over twenty hits. The Andrews Sisters started in 1937 as a Boswell tribute band and continued recording and performing through the 1940s into the late-1960s, achieving more record sales, more Billboard hits, more million-sellers, and more movie appearances than any other girl group to date.[13] The Andrews Sisters had musical hits across multiple genres, which contributed to the prevalence and popularity of the girl group form.[14]
1955–1970: The golden age of girl groups
As the rock era began,
However, it was
Other songwriters and producers in the US and UK quickly recognized the potential of this new approach and recruited existing acts (or, in some cases, created new ones) to record their songs in a girl group style. Phil Spector recruited the Crystals, the Blossoms, and the Ronettes,[28] while Goffin and King penned two hit songs for the Cookies. Phil Spector made a huge impact on the ubiquity of the girl group, as well as bringing fame and notoriety to new heights for many girl groups. Phil Spector's so-called Wall of Sound, which used layers of instruments to create a more potent sound[29] allowed girl groups to sing powerfully and in different styles than earlier generations. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller would likewise foster the Exciters, the Dixie Cups, and the Shangri-Las.[30] The Shangri-Las' hit single, "Leader of the Pack", exemplified the "'death disc' genre" adopted by some girl groups.[31] These songs usually told the story of teenage love cut short by the death of one of the young lovers.
The Paris Sisters had success from 1961 to 1964, especially with "I Love How You Love Me". The Chiffons, the Angels, and the Orlons were also prominent in the early 1960s. In early fall 1963 one-hit wonder the Jaynetts' "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" achieved a mysterious sound[32] quite unlike that of any other girl group. In 1964, the one-hit wonder group the Murmaids took David Gates' "Popsicles and Icicles" to the top 3 in January, the Carefrees' "We Love You Beatles" scraped the top 40 in April, and the Jewels' "Opportunity" was a small hit in December.[33]
Over 750 girl groups were able to chart a song between 1960 and 1966
1966–1989: Changes in formats and genres
Entering the 1970s,
In Latin America, there were a number of dance-oriented popular girl groups during the era, including the Flans, Pandora and Fandango.
In Japan, all-female idol groups
1990–present: Dance pop girl group era
American R&B and hip hop
With the rise of
In the mid-to-late-2000s, there was a revival of girl groups. American girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls achieved worldwide success with their singles. Girl group Danity Kane also became the first girl group in Billboard history to have two consecutive number-one albums, as their self-titled debut album (2006) and their second album Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008) both topped the U.S. Billboard 200.[48] Girl groups have now been more popular compared to the early 2000s.
Girl groups continued their success in the 2010s.
The Second British Invasion and Europe
In the early 1990s, the British music scene was dominated by boy bands. The only girl group making an impact on the UK charts at the time was Eternal, but even they "remained largely faceless".[49] Amidst the American domination of the girl group format, the Second British Invasion saw the UK's Spice Girls turn the tide in the mid-1990s, achieving ten number 1 singles in the UK and US. With sold-out concerts, advertisements, merchandise, 86 million worldwide record sales, the best-selling album of all time by a female group,[50][51] and a film, the Spice Girls became the most commercially successful British group since the Beatles.[52][53][54] Unlike their predecessors who were marketed at male record buyers, the Spice Girls redefined the girl group concept by going after a young female fanbase instead.[8][9]
The cultural movement started by the Spice Girls produced a glut of other similar acts, which include the British-Canadian outfit
Emergence of Asian dance-pop girl groups
Although the emergence of dance-pop focused acts in Asia paralleled their British counterparts in the 1990s, girl groups in Asia sustained as a successful format through the 2010s.[59] Japan has
Since 2009,
This section needs expansion with: evolution of Korean girl groups after 2015. You can help by adding to it. (May 2023) |
From the second half of the 2010s, new generations of Korean girl groups emerged and enjoyed great success as the Korean wave's globalization accelerated.[72] These newer girl groups gradually shifted towards more "girl crush" concepts and it became more common for members to be involved in writing or production. Popular South Korean girl groups include Blackpink, Twice, Aespa, NewJeans, IVE and Red Velvet amongst others.[73]
Themes
This section possibly contains original research. (March 2021) |
Girl groups have a wide array of subject matter in their songs, depending on time and place and who was producing. Songs also had a penchant for reflecting the political and cultural climate around them. For instance, songs with abusive undertones were somewhat common during the 1950s–1970s. One notable example was the song "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" by the Crystals. During the "golden age of girl groups", lyrics were disparate, ranging from songs about mean dogs to underage pregnancy. However, common sentiments were also found in ideas like new love, pining after a crush or lover, and heartache. Some songs sounded upbeat or cheerful and sang about falling in love, whereas others took a decidedly more melancholic turn. Groups like the Shangri-Las, with the song "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" sang about the darker side of being in love.[74]
Adolescence
An especially prevalent theme was adolescence. Since most of the girl groups were composed of young singers, often still in high school, songs mentioned parents in many cases. Adolescence was also a popular subject because of an emerging audience of young girls listening to and buying records. Adolescence was also reinforced by girl groups in cultivation of a youthful image, since "an unprecedented instance of teenage girls occupying center stage of mainstream commercial culture".[75] An example of this youth branding might be Baby Spice from the Spice Girls. This was shown through flourishes like typically matching outfits for mid-century girl groups and youthful content in songs. Girl groups of the 1950s era would also give advice to other girls, or sing about the advice their mothers gave to them, which was a similarity to some male musical groups of the time (for example, the Miracles' "Shop Around").
Adolescence was also important (especially starting in the 1950s) from the other end: the consumers were "teenagers [with] disposable income, ready access to automobiles, and consolidated high schools that exposed them to large numbers of other teens. Mass teen culture was born."[76]
Feminism
As the girl group structure persisted through further generations, popular cultural sentiments were incorporated into the music. The appearance of "girl power" and feminism was also added, even though beginning groups were very structured in their femininity.[75] It would be simplistic to imply that girl groups only sang about being in love; on the contrary, many groups expressed complex sentiments in their songs. There were songs of support, songs that were gossipy, etc.; like any other musical movement, there was much variation in what was being sung. A prominent theme was often teaching "what it meant to be a woman".[77] Girl groups would exhibit what womanhood looked like from the clothes they were wearing to the actual lyrics in their songs. Of course this changed over the years (what the Supremes were wearing was different from the Spice Girls), but girl groups still served as beacons and examples of certain types of identities to their audiences through the years.
In the 1990s through the present, with the prevalence of such groups as the Spice Girls, there has been a strong emphasis on women's independence and a sort of feminism. At the very least, the music is more assertive lyrically and relies less on innuendo. This more recent wave of girl groups is more sexually provocative as well, which makes sense within pop music within this time frame as well.[78]
See also
- List of girl groups
- List of best-selling girl groups
- List of highest-grossing concert tours by girl groups
- All-female band
- Women in music
- Boy band
- Dreamgirls, a 1981 musical and 2006 movie that covers the experience of girl groups in the Motown area
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