Search - Helen Shapiro :: The E.P. EP Collection - Helen Shapiro

An excellent buy for fans of early 60s

john@longevb.demon.co.uk | Cornwall, UK | 12/30/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As one of those typically British middle class teenagers who had his last girlfriends at kindergarten and never spoke to a woman socially during 10 years of boarding school late 1950s to early 1960s, the popular singer and entertainer Helen Shapiro has a special place in my youth. She was one of very few women in the male dominated Hit Parade of the time, and as I recall, the only one in my age group. Her rebellious songs may seem tame by present day standards, but then they were highly unusual, especially from a young woman.The cover notes say that if today a music publisher were to present a young girl dressed in a school gymnslip singing about passionate love affairs it "must at least raise a few eyebrows". But to myself and the teenagers of the day it meant a lot more than the works of Vera Lynn or Anne Shelton, who seemed to be positively ancient, as did anyone over 20 - wasn't Vera Lynn the old Roman name for St Albans - no, perhaps not:-).These are uncomplicated tunes with an elementary uncluttered backing. If you are of a later generation you may find them refreshingly simple. However most modern pop music has many roots in this time, and the large number of women that now adorn The Charts owe their place to the pioneering work by Helen Shapiro and those who followed her in the 1960s. This compilation is not to be missed by anyone seriously interested in the evolution of popular music or who just wants a bit of nostalgia after half a nearly century."