Early, early rythm and blues (nothing to do with today's r'n'b; in the 50s-60s it meant rock'n'roll-like soul music), rock'n'roll, doo-wop.
For naïve, sweet schoolgirl hopes, dreams and despair, The Shirelles are the best! They found the formula to make everybody, and I mean everybody, like their association of slow, melodious, nostalgic sounds with upbeat, doo-wop harmonies. They had a lot of influences on countless artists so this is definitely one you've got to know (and you probably already do without knowing it!). Now be aware that you enter a dream world: you listen to this, you think life in the 60s was definitely simpler! Then you listen to some soul sisters and their predecessors, the lady blues, and you get that The Shirelles only adopted a "let's forget our real despair and dwell in white middle-class suburbian utopia" attitude. Still today, though, we all sometimes need a little of that attitude.
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