Beat Girls Español! 1960s She-Pop From Spain

Having already put out collections spotlighting the girl singers of 1960s Japan, France, Italy and Sweden, Ace now turn their attention to sunny Spain. The influence of hit records from the USA and the UK in the early 60s had resulted in a musical style the French called yé-yé. Spain also adopted the term to describe this new type of beat-oriented pop, while maintaining its own musical identity via sexy rhythms and an underlying current of drama and flamenco, as evidenced in this predominantly uptempo all-female compilation. The aptly named Hispavox was considered the most important Spanish record label, mainly because they had a talented team of producers, arrangers and studio musicians who between them created the Torrelaa sound . Furthermore, they had Karina, who was known as the queen of Spanish yé-yé with her angelic looks and voice. Zafiro entered the market with a series of girl singers, including the dynamic Marisol, a child actress turned pop singer who spent much of the 60s on the silver screen. The Belter label also recorded many young female singers, among them screen siren Soledad Miranda, star of several horror films, and Sonia, who recorded a girlish rendition of the Rolling Stones Get Off Of My Cloud. Other noteworthy artists include Novola Records Massiel, who differed from her peers by writing many of her own songs and, after winning the Eurovision Song Contest, became a national icon. All these and more feature on this winning compilation of the choicest female artists active in 1960s Spain. Compiled by Ace's in-house international girl-pop buff Mick Patrick, Beat Girls Español! is available in 14-track LP and 24-track CD formats. The CD edition comes with a bumper booklet containing expanded notes and extra illustrations.