This was written by the legendary songwriting duo of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich shortly after they were married. In 1991, Greenwich and Barry were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest rock songs included six Greenwich-Barry compositions, more than any other non-performing songwriting team. In 1964 alone, the duo were responsible for writing 17 singles that reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Phil Spector produced this using his "Wall Of Sound" technique, which meant long hours in the studio for the musicians, usually the famous Wrecking Crew, as Spector was notoriously stingy allowing breaks. His engineer Larry Levine recalled: "He didn’t want to give them a bathroom break. Not because he wanted to work them to death, but because he didn’t want them to move microphones or bodies or anything. He wanted everything to stay as it was in the studio. But he would work for three hours or more before we ever put anything on tape. And I think the reason was he wanted to tire these great musicians so that they weren’t playing individualistic; they were too tired. And so they just melded into this wall of sound."
Dolores "La La" Brooks is the only Crystal to perform on this song. Brooks was just 15 when she recorded this song. Had she ever been kissed? "Yeah," she replied when we asked her. "My little boyfriend at 13 years kissed me on my mouth at the door. But not kiss kiss - you know what I'm saying?"
Spector recorded the group's first recordings in New York City, where they were from. When he relocated to Los Angeles, he had a group called The Blossoms (with Darlene Love singing lead) record the songs "He's A Rebel" and "He's Sure the Boy I Love," which he issued as The Crystals. On all subsequent Crystals recordings, Spector flew Brooks from New York to Los Angeles to perform the lead vocals, but the other Crystals never made the trip, as Spector preferred to use local backup singers. This was also around the time when the group shrunk from five members to four, losing Mary Thomas, who left to get married.
In 2004, this song was #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Pitchfork placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". Billboard named the song #8 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
This was written by the legendary songwriting duo of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich shortly after they were married. In 1991, Greenwich and Barry were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest rock songs included six Greenwich-Barry compositions, more than any other non-performing songwriting team. In 1964 alone, the duo were responsible for writing 17 singles that reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Phil Spector produced this using his "Wall Of Sound" technique, which meant long hours in the studio for the musicians, usually the famous Wrecking Crew, as Spector was notoriously stingy allowing breaks. His engineer Larry Levine recalled: "He didn’t want to give them a bathroom break. Not because he wanted to work them to death, but because he didn’t want them to move microphones or bodies or anything. He wanted everything to stay as it was in the studio. But he would work for three hours or more before we ever put anything on tape. And I think the reason was he wanted to tire these great musicians so that they weren’t playing individualistic; they were too tired. And so they just melded into this wall of sound."
Dolores "La La" Brooks is the only Crystal to perform on this song. Brooks was just 15 when she recorded this song. Had she ever been kissed? "Yeah," she replied when we asked her. "My little boyfriend at 13 years kissed me on my mouth at the door. But not kiss kiss - you know what I'm saying?"
Spector recorded the group's first recordings in New York City, where they were from. When he relocated to Los Angeles, he had a group called The Blossoms (with Darlene Love singing lead) record the songs "He's A Rebel" and "He's Sure the Boy I Love," which he issued as The Crystals. On all subsequent Crystals recordings, Spector flew Brooks from New York to Los Angeles to perform the lead vocals, but the other Crystals never made the trip, as Spector preferred to use local backup singers. This was also around the time when the group shrunk from five members to four, losing Mary Thomas, who left to get married.
In 2004, this song was #493 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Pitchfork placed it at number 18 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". Billboard named the song #8 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
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