The Shirelles were one of the first of the "girl groups", of the late fifties, early sixties. They were also the first black girl group with a #1 single.

The four 16 and 17 year old girls from Passaic, New Jersey first called themselves the Poquellos (meaning birds). The original members were lead singer Shirley Owens, Beverly Lee, Addie "Micki" Harris and Doris Kenner. Their school friend Mary Jane Greenberg wanted them to meet her mother Florence who owned a small record label named Tiara. The girls met and eventually signed with Florence and recorded a song that they had written entitled I Met Him On A Sunday. The release reached #49 on the Billboard charts and as a result the girls were signed by the Decca label. The two singles released by Decca went nowhere and the girls were back with Florence, this time on her new Scepter label.

In 1959 they hit the charts again this time with Dedicated to the One I Love, and in 1960 followed up with Tonight's the Night. Their biggest hit, the Goffin-King penned song Will You Love Me Tomorrow, became the first Number One release by an all-girl group in the rock era. Their series of hits climaxed in 1962 with their second American Number One hit, Soldier Boy.

In 1963 they put their final top ten effort on the charts with Foolish Little Girl, a Greenfield and Miller composition. Their last song to reach the top forty Don't Say Goodnight And Mean Goodbye, was recorded in 1963. They did not chart again after 1967.

The group broke up in the late sixties. They re-formed in the Seventies and went on the nostalgia circuit. Micki Harris died in 1982. Doris Kenner married and became Doris Coley. She left the group in 1968, then returned in 1975. Shirley Owens became Shirley Alston, and left the group in 1975.

Many consider the Shirelles to be the top girl group of the 60's.


Bibliography:
Aquila, Richard. That Old Time Rock and Roll, A Chronicle of an Era, 1954-1963. New York: Schirmer Books, 1989
Spector,Ronnie with Vince Waldron. Be My Baby. New York: Harmony Books, 1990
Warner, Jay The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups, A History 1940-1990. New York: Billboard Books, 1992
Gaar, Gillian G. She's A Rebel, The History of women in Rock and Roll Seatle: Seal Press, 1992
Grieg, Charlotte Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, Girl Groups from the 50's on... London: VIRAGO PRESS
Szatmary, David A Time To Rock, A Social History of Rock 'N' Roll New York: Schirmer Books, 1996

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