I want to be in a girl band. I’ve told Natalie that we should start one – I imagine it to be cute, doo wop style. And maybe we could dress up in colour coordinated animal outfits like Munchausen by Proxy, Zooey Deschanel’s fictional band in the new film
Yes Man? Um ok maybe not…
The ‘girl band’ phenomenon started in the 1950s, but most of the best girl bands were formed in the 60s: The Ronettes (above), The Shangri Las, The Shirelles, The Chiffons, The Supremes. I love the high production values, the harmonies, the fashion, the fact that they all have the word The in their name. There’s also a sense of friendship involved with girl groups, something the Spice Girls blatantly used in their marketing. I used to wish I had a group of girlfriends that were as close; that was before I knew about the in-group bulimia and bullying…
I love how each decade has a distinct flavour of girl group. The Runaways and The Slits formed in the 1970s, the same decade that saw the release of the musical film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which follows the career of all-girl rock group The Carrie Nations (above). In the 80s girl bands became more popular than ever, with The Go-Gos, The Bangles, Bananarama, and Wilson Phillips all having hits. The 90s saw an explosion of manufactured girl pop like All Saints, Bewitched, Sugababes, Atomic Kitten, Destiny’s Child, the Spice Girls. Girl power took over all genres: Riot Grrrl (Erase Errata, Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney) and R&B girl groups took off (En Vogue, SWV, Salt n Pepa, TLC, and Eternal).
Current day girl groups that I like include The Pipettes, Au Revior Simone, The 5,6,7,8s, Pony Up, Sahara Hotnights, Plastiscines, Sugababes and The Like (above). I'm sure I'm missing out plenty more.
I want to be in a girl band. I’ve told Natalie that we should start one – I imagine it to be cute, doo wop style. And maybe we could dress up in colour coordinated animal outfits like Munchausen by Proxy, Zooey Deschanel’s fictional band in the new film Yes Man? Um ok maybe not… 
