Why girl groups? Why girl groups indeed. While looking up info for “Out In The Streets,” I came across this somewhat mysterious post about Pitchfork’s 200 Greatest Songs of the 60s list. I say the post is mysterious because it’s hard to pin down the credentials of the writer. We know what Pitchfork writers are like; is this guy just as young but far more knowledgable about motown and the British invasion, or was he (as is implied once or twice) an older person who actually listened to a bunch of these records when they first came out? Anyways, he remarks that the list is quite heavy on girl groups, and that in general we’ve suddenly become very good at digging up old classics from the period. Probably a lot of this has to do with Rhino’s giant compendium of all things girl group, a four disc box set compiling a huge amount of classics from the era. The author of the mysterious post approves of the girl group renaissance, though he does wonder about certain aspects of it:

more to the point: what the hell is up with the shangri-las? three songs!? “out in the streets” in the top 20!? not to mention the kinks’ “shangri-la” (#135), a mystifying selection that i really suspect might be the result of some kind of weird crossover sweep effect…. i guess i just don’t like the shangri-las as much as some people. or they’re somehow a lot more significant than i realized.

Nothing like using the words of a guy who’s probably much smarter than you to undercut your own post before you’ve even started. I happen to like “Out In The Streets,” though maybe it’s just because it’s one of the few songs whose lyrics I’ve actually paid attention to. “Out In The Streets” is basically the musical equivalent of “The Wild One,” the 1950s teen pulp classic with Marlon Brando as the leader of a biker gang who tears up a small town and almost hooks up with the innocent girl but drives off in the end. But on top of that, the Shangri-Las take the story of a guy who doesn’t belong in his girl’s world and turns it into a titanic (no pun intended) story of unrequited love and teenage heartbreak. When those strings kick in and Mary Weiss sings “I wish I didn’t care, I wish I never met him, they’re waiting out there, so I gotta set him free,” it’s like a tragedy for the ages. You wish your life was so deliciously melodramatic. Brilliant.