#that melody is all her

[get-back-homeward]

This one record effectively launched the “girl-group sound”—R&B with beat, rhythm, melody and harmony—and no musical force beyond rock and roll was ever as crucial to the Beatles’ development. The Shirelles were four 19-year-old black girls from Passaic High School in New Jersey who came under the wing of Florence Greenberg, the mother of one of their school friends; Greenberg owned her own independent record label, Scepter, based ten miles from Passaic, in New York City. The tapestry of the American music business was already enhanced beyond measure by the creative partnership of blacks and Jews, and a bright new chapter opened with “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” the greatest teenage love song of the period and the first record by a black female group to top the US charts. Greenberg ran Scepter Records from an office at 1650 Broadway and West 51st Street. Her choice as Scepter’s in-house producer was Luther Dixon, 29, a black singer-songwriter-arranger; “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” was written by a composer partnership new to those who studied record labels: the husband-and-wife pairing of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, 21 and 18, words and music respectively. They numbered among an array of talented young songwriting teams who arrived each day at the same building to work for the publishing company Aldon Music. Each pairing, and a piano, were squeezed into neighboring cubicles in a modern Tin Pan Alley scenario—a Teen Pan Alley. Almost all the songs that lit up the first half of the twentieth century were written in similar circumstances twenty-three blocks south of here—tunes for musicals, films, dance fads and hits; now they were being written for seven-inch vinyl discs and the teenagers who bought them.

At 1650 Broadway, and in offices at the Brill Building across and farther down Broadway at 1619, it seemed everyone was the child or grandchild of European Jews.† There was Goffin and King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, and Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, writing songs for producers like Phil Spector and Jerry Wexler. Sedaka sang the numbers he and Greenfield wrote, but otherwise the pairings created a host of classy compositions for different performers. Often these were black girl-groups, urban teenagers who’d honed their voices and harmonies by singing gospel music in church. And they were girls singing to girls, a revolutionary departure in pop music.

Gender didn’t stop the Beatles (or other Liverpool groups) singing these numbers—a good song was a good song and that was enough for them. John grabbed “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and Paul and George took the backing vocals, and while there’s no recording of them doing it, several say it had extraordinary power and tenderness, like another “To Know Her Is to Love Her.” To the Beatles, to John and Paul especially, the composer credit Goffin-King would become nothing less than trademark of quality, sufficient in itself to make them listen to or buy a record, and rarely were they disappointed.

Then they flipped the record over and discovered the B-side, a song called “Boys.” This wasn’t Goffin and King’s work but almost entirely the creation of Luther Dixon, who cowrote, arranged and produced. Dixon was the creator of the Shirelles sound that the Beatles loved—another name for them to sleuth on record labels. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” works beautifully with strings, “Boys” is big-beat R&B, the backing singers up front. That’s how the Beatles did it. John sang lead and Paul and George gave full support, the two of them leaning in toward the microphone, laughing and harmonizing bop-shoo-op-abop-bop-shoo-op into each other’s faces, or sometimes, on appropriate occasions, bobwooler-abob-bobwooler. If they realized it was a girls’ song about boys, it didn’t matter. While several Liverpool groups did “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” the Beatles were one of only three to sing “Boys.” King-Size Taylor and the Dominoes did it, and so did Rory Storm and the Hurricanes: it became the latest specialty number in Ringo’s popular nightly Starrtime! spot—and he didn’t change the gender either.

—Tune In, Ch. 18 (January to March 1961)

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow | The Shirelles (1960)

[turtledotjpeg]

bloody requiem x hopeful requiem

[witchinatree]

so glad they made phoebe spengler queer purely because if she did all that over a MAN? i'd be so disappointed. for melody though? that's just an integral part of being a baby gay

[lastoneout]

Everyone always critiques country for all the songs being misogynistic and about trucks and beer but lemme fucking tell you, that's not nearly as prevalent as you would think. No the real plague in country music is songs about relationship trouble. And I don't mean "I hate my wife" stuff I mean a solid 50% of this genre, no matter the gender, sexuality, or race of the person writing/singing the songs, is about heartbreak or messy relationships or getting back together after shit's gone south and one night stands and yes also abusive relationships ending in fire and explosions and murder and like. Yes, this is good, I am a messy bitch who loves drama, but please can some of y'all write about literally anything else??

Like I keep finding artists I really like because they can sing super well and I like the general vibe of their music but then it turns out 99.9% of their entire discography is about their shitty exes and I'm just sdlkfjlkdsjf PLEASE sing about ANYTHING else ffs.

[DNI Banner: THIS POST WAS MADE BY SOMEONE WHO LOVES COUNTRY MUSIC. COUNTRY HATERS WHO CLOWN ON THIS POST WILL BE SENT TO THE FUCKING SHADOW REALM!!]

[springandchocolat-moved]

My collection of pink plushies! 🩷

[send-me-a-puffalope]

just watched the new ghostbusters movie with my friend and truly, awkward teenage lesbians will both end and save the world.

[two-entire-bits]

I have a confession. I do not care for the soc boys. I'm sure they have very interesting character traits and lore the actors and fandom have come up with and that is so fun and great and I know none of it and I am perfectly content with that. Shout out to all my mutuals who love the soc boys I hope you are having fun with your Ken dolls but I will not be joining you. keep slaying.

[sluckythewizard]

I LOVE QUEEN SOO MUCH I THINK THEYRE JUST SO SO NEAT AND SILLY... the best thing about a cute character is that u get to draw them all scared and bloody and crying and shaking and upset and you can also put a spider on them

[chroniclesmacaque]

Maria the witch

[Image id: Black and white digital pencil drawing on a grid sheet paper texture of Ushiromiya Maria. Maria's seen from a slightly top down angle, and she's hunched while looking up defiantly with a smirk and wide open eyes. Her eyes have a slight navy accent. The text on top and around her reads (in scribbly handwriting): "Kihihihihihihi. You guys think you're funny?! Beatrice-sama's about to be HILARIOUS. KIHIHIHIHIHIHI. HILARIOUS. KIHIHIHIHIHIHI.]

[thekingofspin]

After listening to the bekdel test for the 100th time I would like to formally ask the creators of Dr who to not only bring back missy and river BUT PLEASE HAVE THEM MEET ON SCREEN. PLEASE. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THE DESPERATION.

PLEASE. I COULD DIE HAPPY. PLEASE.

[demegod-dess]

I FINALLY FINISHED THESE TWO. AFTER TEN THOUSAND YEARS. In all seriousness idk why it took so long I just kinda took a break for a while mb. Also forgot to write it down on her thing but Meeshell is prob an ambulatory wheelchair user and otherwise would usually have some form of knee/leg support / mobility aid when on land :3

AS USUAL REMEMBER YOUR DAILY CLICKS: https://arab.org/

[amarguerite]

I don’t think I’ll ever get over how perfect “Maria” from West Side Story is as a love song.

[turtledotjpeg]

thinking about that "I don't have anyone close to me" line 🤔

[telecaster-g-girl]

doodling (KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM

[rainyheartscrown]

the launch event has been great so far!!

[skybristle]

since cheston druidshollow posted his species swap doodles i might as well

last time we were ill abt this it was like... early feb or something and thats before any of my ancient ocs existed! so now we can give them sibling issues up the wazoo

mainly thinking abt sparks rn. named her countless swirling sparks fleeing from the rising sun. swag!