You Got Me Hooked! More Marylebone Beat Girls

You Got Me Hooked! is the latest instalment in Ace Records’ ongoing survey of British girl singers of the 1960s. Recent volumes in the series focused on the catalogues of Decca (Don’t Blow Your Cool!), Pye (She Wants You!) and Philips/ Fontana/ Mercury (Live It Up!). This new edition comprises a cherry-picked collection of cool she-pop from the EMI family of labels: Parlophone, Columbia and HMV. Most of the tracks were recorded at Abbey Road, a short tube ride from EMI HQ in Marylebone, hence the Marylebone Beat Girls subtitle.

Of the 26 tracks, a generous half are new to CD. These include ‘Too Late To Say You’re Sorry’ by the aptly named Soulmates featuring lead vocals by Liza Strike, which garnered a USA cover by Darlene Love, no less; Friday Browne’s fabulous recording of ‘Getting Nowhere’, a great Graham Gouldman song later popularised as ‘I’m 28’ by both P.J. Proby and Toni Basil; a spunky version of Ben E. King’s ‘Cry No More’ by Liverpool sister act the Three Bells; and ‘Don’t Let It Rain’ by Kathy Kissoon, the girl formerly known as series favourite Peanut.

Among the many other highlights are Helen Shapiro’s soulful rendition of Lesley Gore’s ‘I’m Going Out (The Same Way I Came In)’; Jackie Lee’s ne-plus-ultra ‘The Town I Live In’; Alma Cogan’s ‘Snakes And Snails’, a beat group-style nugget written and produced by Chris Curtis of the Searchers; Millicent Martin’s feisty ‘Get Lost My Love’, a vocal version of Quincy Jones’ classic instrumental ‘Soul Bossa Nova’; and cover girl Vashti Bunyan’s blissfully delicate ‘Train Song’. As usual with this series, the disc comes with a swish 24-page booklet packed with pictures and a 7,000-word track commentary by compiler Mick Patrick and genre expert Ian Chapman.

1. SNAKES AND SNAILS - Alma Cogan

2. I'M GOING OUT (THE SAME WAY I CAME IN) – Helen Shapiro

3. DON'T LET IT RAIN - Kathy Kissoon *

4. TOO LATE TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY - The Soulmates

5. GETTING NOWHERE - Friday Browne

6. THE TOWN I LIVE IN - Jackie Lee

7. FROM NOW ON - Cilla Black

8. CRY NO MORE - The Three Bells

9. HE'S GOTTA LOVE ME - Elkie Brooks

10. HOW CAN I KNOW - Liza & The Jet Set

11. YOU CAN GO - Valerie Mitchell

12. JUST LIKE A MAN - Emma Rede

13. BABY IT HURTS - Glenda Collins

14. STOP THE MUSIC - Elkie Brooks

15. HE DOESN'T LOVE ME - The Three Bells

16. I KNOW - Tiffany

17. BABY PLEASE DON'T GO - Ottilie Patterson accompanied by Sonny Boy Williamson

18. GET LOST MY LOVE - Millicent Martin

19. TAKE ME AWAY - Jane Hillery

20. WILL I NEVER SEE THE SUN - Kathy Kissoon

21. COME IN TO MY ARMS AGAIN - Barbara Ruskin

22. TRAIN SONG - Vashti

23. YOU KISSED ME BOY - Lesley Duncan

24. AND (TO ME HE MEANT EVERYTHING) – Friday Browne

25. YOU GOT ME HOOKED - The Jet Set

26. LOVE SONG - Vashti