VA - More Lipstick, Powder and Paint: A decade of girls 1953-1962 (2015)

No girl singer achieved the world wide star status of an Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra and no girl group had anything like as sustained a run of hits as a Drifters or Four Tops. But in that heady decade between 1953 and 1962, the girl singers were no less important in the world of entertainment. Country music was full of girl singers, girls could handle a ballad just as well as the boys and many were recipients of songs by some of pop music’s legendary songsmiths of the day. On More Lipstick, Powder & Paint (sequel to Lipstick, Powder & Paint FVTD194), you’ll find classic songs, readily recognisable names, as well as lost gems from country, pop and R&B and a few that we hope will be a revelation for you. Prepare to step back in time…and be royally entertained.

Compiled by Austin Powell, the 90-track 3CD set More Lipstick, Powder & Paint salutes a decade of girls 1953-1962, and runs the gamut of country, R&B and easy listening, but is primarily pop music with chart appeal. Big-name solo artists from Shirley Bassey, Doris Day, Brenda Lee, Jo Stafford, Aretha Franklin and Connie Francis, to Alma Cogan, Helen Shapiro, Jackie De Shannon, Dionne Warwick, and Freda Payne are present, as are stellar groups like The Chordettes, The Andrews Sisters, The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Paris Sisters and Martha & The Vandellas. With no shortage of lesser-known artists like Mary Jo Chelette, Ginny Wright, Evelyn Kingsley, Jamie Horton, Arlene Smith, Patti Brook, Donna Douglas and Amelia, More Lipstick, Powder & Paint presents a rounded picture of a remarkable decade for female artists.