"In popular music terms, the Vernons Girls story had it all. Girls, first and foremost; a lightning flash of late fifties rock ‘n’ roll, the dawning of pop culture on TV, more girls, the start of the swinging sixties, Mersey Beat, the rise and rise of the Beatles; and still those girls kept coming. There was even ‘the beautiful game’ and a few score draws thrown in for good luck too.
Assembled from employees of Vernons Football Pools in Liverpool, the original 70 piece choir quit singing about Nymphs and Shepherds and became TV regulars on ’6.5 Special’ and ’Oh Boy!’ as a 16 piece wearing short shorts, white bucks and saddle shoes. Various girls left to carve out careers of their own - Lyn Cornell, The Breakaways and The Ladybirds - becoming the backbone of the studio session circuit for the next two decades.
By 1962, a slimmed down trio of Maureen Kennedy, Frances Lee and Jean Owen arrived at Decca Records and some serious hit making began. From that opening shuffle of Clyde McPhatter’s ‘Lover Please’, the girls meant business with further UK takes on US girl group classics ‘The Locomotion’, ‘Do The Bird’ and ‘Tomorrow Is Another Day’ as well as creating a home grown girl group classic of their own - ‘Only You Can Do It’ - from the only man who could, Charles Blackwell. Novelty numbers ‘You Know What I Mean’ and ‘Funny All Over’ returned the girls to their musical roots sung in the Scousest tongue in cheek this side of Bootle. All tracks sparkle with a variety of musical styles shining through on this new collection - the first to compile their complete Decca output including swansong ‘It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie’ and sleeve notes contributions from original member Jean Owen, later to become RPM Dream Babe, Samantha Jones."
Tracklisting
1. LOVER PLEASE
2. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
3. DAT’S LOVE
4. BE NICE TO HIM MAMA
5. DON’T WANNA GO
6. THE LOCO-MOTION
7. SEE FOR YOURSELF
8. FUNNY ALL OVER
9. DO THE BIRD
10. I’M GONNA LET MY HAIR DOWN
11. STAY-AT-HOME
12. HE’LL NEVER COME BACK
13. MAMA DOESN’T KNOW
14. JUST ANOTHER GIRL
15. TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY
16. WHY WHY WHY
17. HEY LOVER BOY
18. STUPID LITTLE GIRL
19. WE LOVE THE BEATLES (BEATLEMANIA)
20. ONLY YOU CAN DO IT
21. IT’S A SIN TO TELL A LIE
22. DON’T SAY GOODBYE
LRP £9.99 - discounted to...
