In the beginning was the Shangs... My brother bought the Golden Hits album for me at a street market in Cambridge and gave it me for my birthday...




*Obviously* I knew Leader Of The Pack - it has been a big hit in the UK second time around in the early 70's and was a staple -if not the staple - girl group record - endlessly anthologised - I must have it 20 times if I have it once but the killer track is Heaven Only Knows. This is where it all starts for me...


The basic Shang's sound is still what most people think of as Girl Group - call and response - spoken intros ("Is she really going out with him?", "I don't know lets, ask her..." and "How does he dance?", "Close, real close", What colour are his eyes?", "I don't know he's always wearing shades", etc, etc). Your common or garden anthologiser lazily reaches out for Leader Of The Pack, Remember (Walking In The Sand) or Past, Present And Future - great songs all -but the best of the Shangs is in other corners of the catalog. My favourites (apart from Heaven Only Knows, natch!) are The Train From Kansas City for its great storyline and the greatest screamer record ever, of all time, Never Again which is just rage, rage, rage... But there are other lesser known gems, Bull Dog has a simple charm.


Cos I know there are completeness nuts out there here is a rare live version of Leader Of The Pack from the Murray The K Christmas album (its awful - you cannae say you wernie telt!) and their first recordings Wishing Well which is still a great record and Hate To Say I Told You So (play it once you realise how duff the live LOTP is...)

Jacqueline Taïeb

Finally managed to download a copy of the The Complete Masterworks Of The French Mademoiselle. There had been a copy on Amazon market place but it was $55 in the US or £55 Sterling in the UK (ie $110) and I didn't manage to get a proxy to buy it and reship it in time.

Still listening away to it -records take longer to sink it when they're not in your native tongue. The song that really gets to me is Ce Soir Je M'En Vais. This is a truly stunning record - one of the greats. Jacqueline brings the song to a series of crunching climaxes, the cycle of frenzy and release leaves you emotionally drained, a trumpet figure floats over the broken wreckage of the song. Absolutely marvelous.

I have had some François Hardy records for forever, but the French Mademoiselle really ignited my interest in ye-ye.

Other stand out tracks are Juste Un Peu D'Amour and Bravo!. The former has a mad Algerian bit to it that just really zings, and the later is all histronics in that effortless way that French girl singers just seem to have.

I have 300 or 400 girl group albums (half vinyl, half CD's - the majority compilations) and I'm just going to noodle on about them.

At the moment I am obsessed with Jacqueline Taieb. Basically I have just bought up girl systematically for about 18 years and have hoovered a little range of record shops in London (Hanway St, Soho, Camden sometimes, Beano's in Croydon but not for a while) and been to The House Of Oldies and even Amoeba (don't bother) but basically shopped out. So the bidie-in orders us a girl CD from Amazon which never comes and swaps it out for a French Girl CD. Ce Soir Je M'En Vais just blew me away.

Anyway whilst looking for more info on Ms Taeib I come across Spiked Candy which not only points out that my French Mademoiselles is rubbish and is ripping of pair of similarly titled complication. And she has put them up for download - which I am listening to now. Once I have got me head around them I will post more - unfortunately neither of them have any Jacqueline Taieb but hey!.