Alongside the Perfect Pop category is the collector favorite Disturbing Pop. Glossy pop production wrapped tenderly around an utterly disturbing lyric. Perhaps the most disturbing song from the Girl Group era is the one described below. Note the inspiration was no less than Little Eva ("The Locomotion") herself.

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“He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, after their live-in babysitter Eva Boyd (19-year-old singer Little Eva) returned from a weekend away with her boyfriend, covered in bruises. The boyfriend seemed to have spent the entire weekend hitting the girl but, when questioned about it, the girl didn’t bat an eyelid. He hit her because he loved her. And, in the song, because she deserved it.It was a brutal song, as any attempt to justify such violence must be, and Spector’s arrangement only amplified its savagery, framing Barbara Alston’s lone vocal amid a sea of caustic strings and funereal drums, while the backing vocals almost trilled their own belief that the boy had done nothing wrong. In more ironic hands (and a more understanding age), “He Hit Me” might have passed at least as satire. But Spector showed no sign of appreciating that, nor did he feel any need to. No less than the song’s writers, he was not preaching, he was merely documenting.Unfortunately, very few people agreed with him. While radio play was initially encouraging, the complaints quickly began pouring in and, with the general public itself apparently preparing to rise up in protest against the record, igniting one of those periodic feeding frenzies to which society is so oddly prone, Spector pulled the single, ironically just as it prepared to enter the chart. Controversy can encourage sales, after all, as well as cripple them. - by Dave Thompson

Which I note, only because I went and splurged on a bunch of Girl Group hits including The Crystals. I've had most of this stuff on vinyl forever, but my interest has circled around again and I needed it digitally.

I think I'll put together two Girl Group mixes and post them at Buffistarawk. One for The Hits and one for the Rarities and Lesser Known.

Weird. But Spector=crazy so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Disturbing Pop

"Every Breath You Take" = stalker's anthem.

V. disturbing.

I first read about Girl Groups in Creem because it's always been the sentimental soft spot for any number of hipsters from Lester Bangs to David Johanson to Morrissey to Brian Wilson.

Well before glam there was something transgressive about all the guys who identified with tough, streetwise girl group songs. From the Shangs to the Ronettes, they were the "Bad Girls" the Dolls were certainly singing about.

"He's a Rebel" was not only the kickstart to the whole Girl Group era but also very memorably used in Kenneth Anger's movie Scorpio Rising, where it's appropriated to back an old silent of Jesus entering Jerusalem. (You've all seen Scorpio Rising right? A key avant-garde film and also one of the great pop subversive acts as it chronicled gay leather biker clubs.)

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Song Review by Richie Unterberger

Producer Phil Spector had had a fair amount of success already in the early '60s before the Crystals issued "He's a Rebel" in 1962. "He's a Rebel," though, was the record that elevated Spector from one of many middling hitmakers into an industry phenomenon, also blueprinting the "Wall of Sound" for which he's been lauded. The record, oddly enough for a girl-group classic that was (naturally) sung by women, was written by a male star, Gene Pitney, who himself was not noted as a prolific composer. Spector heard the song on a demo and went to town on the production, making an already-strong pop/rock song into an anthem. The track begins with a dramatic drum roll, the brief instrumental intro establishing an almost martial beat, embellished by layers of percussion and tinkling piano. As has since been revealed, as on many Crystals tracks, the vocalists were not the Crystals, and the lead singer was non- Crystal Darlene Love. On "He's a Rebel," Love sang a tough, soulful, streetwise lyric guaranteed for youth appeal: the guy who marches to his own beat, and the girl who loves him all the more for it. Her low vocals were seconded by strong, full soul backup vocals by the Blossoms. The arrangement was unusually dense for the period, with two bass players and two guitarists. The song really took off, though, when it dramatically jumped to a higher key for the chorus, remaining in that key, in fact, for the rest of the track. The chorus, with its loving defiance, was instantly memorable, particularly when the backup largely dropped out for Love to sing, largely on her own, stirring lines in which she asserted that just because he didn't do what everyone else did, that wasn't any reason why the couple couldn't share love. That was the cue for the band to re-enter full-on for a stirring ensemble vocal finish to the chorus, and then for Steve Douglas to take over with a sax solo. "He's a Rebel" actually doesn't have the strings that were found in many a Spector production, but the sound was rich and full, and the single an enormous success, reaching number one. There was brief concern that sales of the Crystals' "He's a Rebel" single might suffer from a simultaneous cover version by Vicki Carr, whose arrangement was actually not dissimilar, though it was stiffer and employed strings. - by Richie Unterberger

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Richie Unterberger, incidentally, has written two books on cult musicians and the definitive (two volume) chronicle of Folk Rock. Also he came to my first Bubblegum reading at Booksmith.

"Every Breath You Take" = stalker's anthem.

Heh. I remember Mike Mills of R.E.M. talking about "Every Breath You Take" and "With Or Without You" - U2, and "The One I Love" - R.E.M. as being on K-Tel's "Fucked Up Misunderstood Lovesongs Of The 80s."

Spector=crazy so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

After he married Ronnie from the Ronettes, he made her drive around in her sports car with an inflatable doll dressed like himself so people wouldn't think she was alone or available. Hardcore Hollywood Gothic.

"The One I Love"

IIRC, Stipe set out to write the most anti-love love song he possibly could, and "The One I Love" was the result.

Four years later, "Shiny Happy People" proved they should stay as far away from love songs as possible.

Hmm, Disturbing Pop... all I can think of is "Pass The Dutchie," mainly for having a 10 year old singing the euphemistic praises of ganja.

Beautiful South have done tons of Disturbing Pop. My personal favorite would have to be Woman in the Wall:

He was just a social drinker but social every night
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
He'd enjoy the thought of killing her before

Then at last it seemed that he was really winning
He felt that he had some sort of grip
But all of his new life was sent a-spinning
When the rotting wall began to drip

Four years later, "Shiny Happy People" proved they should stay as far away from love songs as possible.

Redeemed somewhat by R.E.M. playing it on Sesame Street as "Shiny Happy Monsters."