People ask me all the time, "what are your favorite girl group songs?" Having been an active, manic collector since 1970, a proud possessor in mint of practically everything Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, and Shadow Morton waxed, including all the albums, I think I'm able to come up with a Top Ten list. At first I thought it would be impossible, but then I realized that the first ten songs to pop into my head would no doubt be my favorites ... right? Yeah, right. But the list is pretty accurate, actually. After 35 years, I don't have to be concerned with what I'm currently jamming into my car CD player. My Top Ten is a TRUE Top Ten. I'm also appending a short list of items that fall outside the Top Ten, but that I still play a lot.

In no particular order, except for #1, here they are:

THE CRYSTALS: Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home). I love everything about this sonic stormer: it's simple and complex all at once, and I never tire of hearing it, ever. I still get chills when I hear La La Brooks attaining vocal heights which equal or surpass Darlene Love, who is, as we all know, placed prominently in the background with Sonny and Cher and all the Gold Star gang. If you listen hard, you can even hear Darlene's original lead peeping out here and there, but this is La La's paean to teenage love. The perfect record.

THE ORCHIDS: Ooh Chang-A-Lang. England's answer to the Phil and the Crystals, producer Shel Talmy gives Gold Star a run for its money with this roaring, stomping locomotive of a song, which leaves me crying for more when I hear the outstanding chord change in the fade. The three schoolgirls, famously enshrined in group shots featuring them in plaid skirts sucking on sticky sweets, easily face up to Shel's army of instruments.

THE HONEYS: Raindrops. I only recently heard this, but its updated Lollipop riff--updated for 1963, that isัis one of THE perfect songs from 1963, the golden year. Steve Venet (or Brian Wilson, take your pick), sends the girls on a galloping romp through the studio, its majestic chords foaming with surf drums and huge smiles. Why were the Honeys not chart-toppers? This I will never understand.

SHARON MARIE: Run-Around Lover. She of the big hair and bigger voice, apparently Beach Boy Mike Love's honey, graces us with a Wilson-produced anthem which fairly screams from my speakers. Sharon Marie's confident, bold lead tosses this number around like a rag doll, and leaves me breathless. And who's that in the background? The Blossoms, with Darlene's easily-identifiable wail leading our favorite West Coast session sisters into musical history.

THE RAINDROPS: That Boy John. A fabulous fusion of girl group sugar and jazzy spice, this deserved to be Number One for all of the winter of 1963: legend has it that John Kennedy's murder stopped deejays from playing it. I think Jeff and Ellie worked harder on this than on any other Raindrops song and, when it didn't catch fire, well: that was basically it for the "group." But what a song! Instantly catchy, it soars and climbs until the closing fade, Ellie riffing like the angel she is, and you wish the whole thing was ten minutes longer. I do, anyway!

DARLENE LOVE: (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry. "Stately" is the word I use to describe this beautiful collaboration between Ellie, Phil, and Darlene. This will always hold a special place in my heart, especially when I recall a dee jay identifying it as "by Darlene Love and all the Blossoms."

THE SECRETS: Oh, Donnie (He Ain't Got No Money). Wow. THIS is a group! Their big, raucous sound is matched easily by big, raucous hair--witness the double bouffant with cantilevered side panels proudly worn by Jackie Allen. Oh, Donnie stomps along majestically, the whole backing orchestra jumping and skipping effortlessly as the girls engage in some very, very beautiful harmonies. Jazzy to the max, it features one of the best sax solos ever. (The best ever? The solo in Donna Loren's Muscle Bustle.)

THE CHIFFONS: I Wonder Why. This song has stayed with me ever since I first heard it on their One Fine Day album, which I bought for like $5.00, mint, in 1971. This classic group triumphs with their seamless harmonies, hardly better than on this little album filler. And lead singer Judy Craig is right up there in the top three voices with that unforgettable, love-caught voice.

THE RONETTES: Walking In the Rain. A sentimental favorite, I first heard this by my cousin Johnny' spool in the summer of 1970, and thought it was a new song (I was only 14 that summer, and "missed" the golden years): I searched all over for it until my Dad found it at Bleecker Street's House of Oldies--and paid $7.00 for it. Outrageous! But I still have it. It's a beauty, and should have been a Number One record.

ALDER RAY: A Little Love (Will Go A Long Way). Sounds like a combination of girl group tossed into a blender with an uptown gospel revival, layered with the cream of Gold Star session singers. Fabulous! Just when you think it's going to wind down, it catches fire again and heads toward its mighty fade out. Remarkable: a classic!