VA: It's So Fine - Pye Girls Are Go! (2005)

For connoisseurs of obscure girl group pop, the ten-volume Here Come the Girls series remains a landmark. Focusing largely on the oft-overlooked work of British producer Tony Hatch, best known for his hits with singer Petula Clark, the series unearthed a staggering number of lost classics from otherwise forgotten acts like Val McKenna, Lorraine Silver, Tammy St. John and Tawney Reed, proving the London girl-pop scene just as fertile, breathlessly romantic, and enduring as the American classics created under the supervision of Phil Spector and Shadow Morton. Most if not all of the original Here Come the Girls discs are now out of print, but many of their best tracks have been revived for It's So Fine: Pye Girls Are Go!, a 51-track extravaganza that also picks up where HCTG left off, with dozens of singles making their debut. Petula Clark performs two tracks here (‘Gotta Tell the World’, ‘Life and Soul of the Party’), while one of her hits (‘Color My World’) is here via a cover by Two of Each, a four-member group that included Mally Page, sister of Jackie Trent. Mally is represented via a solo recording (‘You Can Be Wrong About Boys’) while her more famous sister is here on two tracks (‘Only One Such As You’, ‘Such a Small Love’). Another song first recorded by Petula (‘Have Another Dream on Me’) is here covered by Dilys Watling. Of the other artists featured, the most famous among them are Helen Shapiro (‘Silly Boy I Love You’, ‘Take Me for Awhile’), Anita Harris (‘London Life’), Billie Davis (‘Ev'ry Day’, ‘Last One to Be Loved’), Pickettywitch (‘You Got Me So I Don’t Know’), the Paper Dolls (‘Something Here in My Heart Keeps a-Telling Me No’) and Jackie Lee (‘Everybody Needs a Little Loving’). Songs you might have heard before include ‘Pay You Back With Interest’ (originally by the Hollies, here covered by Dana Gillespie), ‘B-A-B-Y’ (originally by Carla Thomas, here covered by Ferris Wheel), ‘Take Away the Emptiness Too’ (also recorded by the Foundations, but here sung by Tina Tott) and ‘L David Sloane’ (a top ten American hit for Michele Lee, here covered by Kay Garner). You probably haven't heard ‘Words Written on Water’ (here performed by the Baker Twins) as the original was also an obscure track by the Avons. If you enjoy music by female singers of the ’60s and you are not preoccupied with charts, you will surely love this. http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.allmusic.com/
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A teenager Tawney Reed singing, with her energetic vocal style, the Velvelettes hit 'Needle in a Haystack', 1966:

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The Breakaways not only backed most of Pye Records artists, but also made some great records themselves, like 'That Boy of Mine', 1963:

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