“It’s Different For Girls”, is the true story about one of England’s ‘rare’ 1960’s all female rock groups, ‘The Girlfriends’. Written by two of its members, Merle Phillips and Margaret Brown, along with the added shared memories of their band mates, it recounts in fine detail, what it was like to be young teenage girl musicians working in, what was then, predominantly, a man’s world. This band was one of only a handful of such all-girl vocal/instrumental groups in Britain during that decade.
The girls experienced sexism, male chauvinism and sexual harassment, on a scale that would be unthinkable and unlawful in today’s world, but endured and faced it with stoicism and humour. They wanted to work in the music business and dispel society’s, then current and misguided notion, that women were not and could never be real rock musicians. They didn’t believe that they were destined to get a ‘normal’ job, get married and have children in their late teens or early twenties, as was the norm for girls back then. Maybe this was how it was for their parents, but now it was the swinging sixties and they were part of the new, freethinking and free-living generation. These girls were singing along to a different tune to their forefathers. Music had progressed from dance-bands and skiffle groups. Now everyone danced to groups playing pop and rock music on their electric guitars and drums. Why shouldn’t girls start up their own pop groups? There were plenty of gigs around and money to be earned. Not content with being members of the audience, they decided that they would play and sing the songs themselves. Why? Their answer was, “Because it’s different for girls!”
This choice led to them experiencing the highs and lows and laughter and tears, of being young females in a male domain. It sent them on a journey around Great Britain and Germany, touring and playing to American troops and airmen who were stationed in the numerous US military bases, and where hunger, romance and drama became their travelling companions. They were young, teenage girls amongst thousands of young GIs, playing their music and doing their best to encourage the soldiers to keep up their spirits. All this was carried out against a background of the war raging in Vietnam and the constant threat of them being sent to fight there, in what the young men described as a “dirty war”.
With little money, the lodgings they endured are remembered and described from their typically humorous perspective There is a vivid and witty descriptive account of what it was like to record, what has now become a ‘cult’ album, in a seedy German recording studio.
This book also portrays what life was like performing within our own shores, particularly around the northern club scene. It took guts and a strong sense of humour to make the choice to follow this trail-blazing path, and that same jocularity, which they adopted back then, prevails throughout their account. Numerous photographs accompany this work.
First hand observations of life and social conditions in the 1950’s and 1960’s, leading up to their career choice, provide the reader with the truth about the ‘good old days’. They’ve worked alongside both the famous and the unknowns in their adventures. The authors finish the book with an update, describing how the friendship that was made between them and their fellow band mates has endured for nearly fifty years, how they can still draw the crowds when performing together and how they eventually gained the respect of their male counterparts and silenced the critics.
Many relevant photographs accompany this literary work. The book is peppered with numerous and appropriate 1950’s and 1960’s song titles, relevant to each adventure and event, reflecting the strong musical influence which dominated their lives and career choice, and which encouraged them to ‘live the dream’.
The girls experienced sexism, male chauvinism and sexual harassment, on a scale that would be unthinkable and unlawful in today’s world, but endured and faced it with stoicism and humour. They wanted to work in the music business and dispel society’s, then current and misguided notion, that women were not and could never be real rock musicians. They didn’t believe that they were destined to get a ‘normal’ job, get married and have children in their late teens or early twenties, as was the norm for girls back then. Maybe this was how it was for their parents, but now it was the swinging sixties and they were part of the new, freethinking and free-living generation. These girls were singing along to a different tune to their forefathers. Music had progressed from dance-bands and skiffle groups. Now everyone danced to groups playing pop and rock music on their electric guitars and drums. Why shouldn’t girls start up their own pop groups? There were plenty of gigs around and money to be earned. Not content with being members of the audience, they decided that they would play and sing the songs themselves. Why? Their answer was, “Because it’s different for girls!”
This choice led to them experiencing the highs and lows and laughter and tears, of being young females in a male domain. It sent them on a journey around Great Britain and Germany, touring and playing to American troops and airmen who were stationed in the numerous US military bases, and where hunger, romance and drama became their travelling companions. They were young, teenage girls amongst thousands of young GIs, playing their music and doing their best to encourage the soldiers to keep up their spirits. All this was carried out against a background of the war raging in Vietnam and the constant threat of them being sent to fight there, in what the young men described as a “dirty war”.
With little money, the lodgings they endured are remembered and described from their typically humorous perspective There is a vivid and witty descriptive account of what it was like to record, what has now become a ‘cult’ album, in a seedy German recording studio.
This book also portrays what life was like performing within our own shores, particularly around the northern club scene. It took guts and a strong sense of humour to make the choice to follow this trail-blazing path, and that same jocularity, which they adopted back then, prevails throughout their account. Numerous photographs accompany this work.
First hand observations of life and social conditions in the 1950’s and 1960’s, leading up to their career choice, provide the reader with the truth about the ‘good old days’. They’ve worked alongside both the famous and the unknowns in their adventures. The authors finish the book with an update, describing how the friendship that was made between them and their fellow band mates has endured for nearly fifty years, how they can still draw the crowds when performing together and how they eventually gained the respect of their male counterparts and silenced the critics.
Many relevant photographs accompany this literary work. The book is peppered with numerous and appropriate 1950’s and 1960’s song titles, relevant to each adventure and event, reflecting the strong musical influence which dominated their lives and career choice, and which encouraged them to ‘live the dream’.
