Stuff You Gotta Watch: Girl Groups - The Story of a Sound
Few things in life bring as much joy as a reverb-filled double clap or perfect three-part harmonies. Although these are only details of what made the pop music public fall in love with ’60s girl groups, they’re at the center of a distinct sound that never fails to ring as magical. Based on Alan Betrock’s 1982 book of the same name, Girl Groups - The Story of a Sound goes behind the scenes to tell the secrets of this wondrous world, explaining why the genre became (and remained) so incredibly popular—even after the British Invasion replaced it as America’s main pop hype. Through interviews with the likes of Ronnie Spector, Leiber & Stoller, Darlene Love, Don Kirschner, and many others, the documentary combines equal parts emotion and analysis in order to paint the full picture.
Though the archival footage might not be so impressive in 2022 with all the resources we have at our fingertips, part of the appeal of Girl Groups lies precisely in its role as an historical document in and of itself, providing evidence of how the scene was perceived a mere twenty years after its peak.
Review by Ana Leorne. Check out the full archive of the Stuff You Gotta Watch column.