#1 for weeks of January 30th and February 6th, 1961.
If this song didn't make this list, I would have been rather shocked. Few songs from this time period, and genre, have aged as well as "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" performed by The Shirelles. It can be considered the song that ignited the 1960's girl group sound.
The idea of "Girl Groups" was certainly not anything new. However, many of these earlier examples of the genre were more based in jazz or 1940's/1950's pop music such as The Andrews Sisters. Due to the songwriting teams of Brill Building songwriters in New York, and an ever-growing integration of styles on the pop charts, the newer 1960's girl group sound changed all of that.
The 1960's girl group era started to make headway in 1961, peaked in 1963, and declined by 1966. That's not to say that all girl vocal groups didn't produce music past then. One singing trio called "The Cake" were a legitimately baroque-psychedelic girl group who wrote their own songs and released their debut in 1967, effectively bridging the gap between the innocent girl group era and the more creative and feminist all female bands which were more underground in the 1960's, but became more pronounced starting in the 1970's.
One important factor is that most of these "groups" did not write their own songs. In the case of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", the brill building songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King composed the tune.
There were different types of sounds and styles when it came to 1960's girl groups. On one side, the lyrics of the songs could aimed squarely at teenage girls and the music could border on bubblegum. However, then there's the other side of the coin where the lyrics could be universal to all listeners and the phenomenal musical arrangement - be it minimalist or a wall of sound - was the real draw to the song. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" more than meets the latter side of the coin's criteria.
Featuring a stellar music arrangement with just the right amount of strings, the listener is instantly captivated before the vocals even come in. Shirley Owens' lead vocals sound absolutely timeless and the rest of The Shirelles compliment her vocals with a hypnotizing, yet never obtrusive, backing vocal part.
What makes this song so special, besides its wonderful music melody, is that the lyrics are relatable to everybody and can be aimed at any gender or age group. From love-struck teens to septuagenarians who were in college when this song came out, there is so much reason to still treasure this song today. Luckily, The Shirelles would continue to find chart success throughout the early 1960's. "Boys", "Baby It's You", and "Soldier Boy" would prove that the group were not just one hit wonders.
Final Verdict - One of the best aged songs on this list which still is a wonderful listen to this day. Very relatable lyrics, beautifully sung, fantastic music, and written by two of the greatest songwriters of the Brill Building era. What's not to love?
Coming Up Next - "Calcutta" by Lawrence Welk.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock, hoping you'll still love me tomorrow.
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