“Foolish Little Girl” (The Shirelles)

Our last classic Girl Group song of the week is also the last Top 10 hit by the Shirelles, perhaps the most popular group of the Girl Group era. “Foolish Little Girl,” released in March of 1963, peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart.

“Foolish Little Girl” was written by Helen Miller (music) and Howard Greenfield (words). You probably know Howie for his songs written with partner Neil Sedaka, including “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Little Devil,” and “Next Door to an Angel” for Neil Sedaka himself; “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are” for Connie Francis; “Puppet Man” and “Workin’ on a Groovy Thing” for the 5th Dimension; “Solitaire” for the Carpenters; and “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “You Never Done It Like That” for the Captain & Tennille. Helen Miller was also a successful songwriter, with songs for Barbara Lewis, Gene Pitney, Lesley Gore, and Sarah Vaughn under her belt.

The Shirelles were the hottest thing going during the Girl Group era. From 1960 to 1963 the group ruled the charts with 12 singles in the Top 40, 6 in the Top 10, and two songs (“Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “Soldier Boy”) reaching the #1 slot. Their other Top 10 songs were “Dedicated to the One I Love,” “Mama Said,” “Baby It’s You,” and today’s classic song of the day, “Foolish Little Girl.” That’s a strong run.

The group was formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957, when four schoolmates decided to sing for a high school talent show. Those four young schoolgirls were Shirley Owens, Doris Coley, Addie “Micki” Harris, and Beverly Lee. They named themselves after Shirley, who sang lead.

Industry legend Florence Greenberg heard the girls sing, liked what she heard, and signed them to her Tiara Records label. The Shirelles’ first single for Flo, “I Met Him on a Sunday,” didn’t hit big (only #49 on the Hot 100) but was a notable debut—and the song itself went on to become a classic. That single was released on Decca Records after that label bought Tiara Records. Shortly after, the girls followed Flo Greenberg to her new label, Scepter Records.

It was at Scepter that the Shirelles had their biggest hits, starting with 1960’s “Tonight’s the Night” and steamrolling from there. Their first #1 was “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” one of Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s best songs. Luther Dixon produced the group while they were at Sceptor and co-wrote many of their biggest hits, including “Tonight’s the Night” (with Shirley Owens), “Mama Said” (with Willie Denson), and “Soldier Boy” (with Florence Greenberg).

Some critics of the day described the group as having a “naïve schoolgirl sound” while singing frankly about adult topics. It’s true that the Shirelles, along with producer Luther Dixon, helped define the Girl Group genre by mixing a little doo wop with a lot of R&B, with a dollop of slick big city New York pop on top. That sound was appealing to both black and white audiences at a time when the music industry was still rather segregated, which helped them sell a ton of records.

The Shirelles’ groundbreaking sound won the group multiple honors. They were given the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and named one of Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They were induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and their debut album, Tonight’s the Night, was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” That’s heady stuff for a quartet of high school girls from New Jersey.

Unfortunately, the Girl Group sound, along with the Shirelles, were sidelined by the Beatles and the British Invasion. They also got pushed aside by the next generation of Motown girl groups from Detroit, most notably the Supremes. “Foolish Little Girl” was their last big hit and they were let go by Scepter Records in 1966 when their contract expired.

Doris Coley left the group in 1968 to focus on her family. The other three Shirelles soldiered on as a trio and recorded for a variety of labels, including Bell Records, United Artists, and RCA. They released their last album in 1971 but continued to perform on the burgeoning oldies circuit. Shirley Owens left the group in 1975 to pursue a solo career; she was replaced as lead singer by the returning Doris Coley.

Unfortunately, Micki Harris passed away in 1982 of a heart attack; she was just 42 years old. Doris Coley died of breast cancer in 2000, aged 58. Shirley Owens retired from performing in 2020; she’s currently 82 years old. Beverley Lee, however, is still out there performing on the oldies circuit, with three new members, still billed as the Shirelles.