VA - Dream Babes Volume Seven - Beat Chic (2007)

By the time of this 2007 release, the Dream Babes series had developed into a surprisingly extensive one, testifying to the existence of much more female-sung 1960s British pop/rock than even most British rock experts realized. Like any genre series that digs up a seemingly endless mountain of obscurities, it's more impressive for its quantity than its quality. Still, like its predecessors, Beat Chic: Dream Babes, Vol. 7 offers a wide assortment of material from the '60s (from 1962-1967 in this CD's case), drawing from the girl group, soul-pop, and pop/rock styles, only occasionally taking in influences from the guitar-oriented British Invasion sound. Certainly the 22 tracks aren't safe choices; Billie Davis and Goldie & the Gingerbreads are the only artists who will be fairly recognizable to collectors, and even those acts aren't exactly automatically familiar ones to most vintage rock fans. Fans of the mainstream mid-'60s British pop/rock sound will enjoy this material for the production values it typifies, but there's really not much in the way of gripping performances or songs. Some of the more notable items include Polly Perkins' energetic novelty "You Too Can Be a Beatle"; Goldie & the Gingerbreads' rather disappointingly mild "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," which Herman's Hermits nabbed the hit with in the U.S.; and Dani Sheridan's quite good interpretation of "Guess I'm Dumb," co-written by Brian Wilson and originally recorded by Glen Campbell in the U.S. Honeybus fans will also want to note the inclusion of three previously unreleased Christine Holmes tracks co-written by Pete Dello and Ray Cane, the best of which ("Here Comes My Baby") is a competent American girl group-like effort with Beatlesque touches.