Little Girl (Syndicate of Sound song)

"Little Girl"
Single by Syndicate of Sound
from the album Little Girl
B-side	"You"
Released	April 1966 (1966-04)
Recorded	January 9, 1966 (1966-01-09)
Studio	Golden State, San Francisco
Genre	Garage rock[1][2] pop rock[3]
Length	2:25
Label	Hush, Bell
Songwriter(s)	Don Baskin Bob Gonzalez
Producer(s)	Garrie Thompson
Syndicate of Sound singles chronology
"Prepare for Love" (1966) "Little Girl" (1966) "Rumors" (1966)

"Little Girl" is a song recorded by the California garage rock group the Syndicate of Sound, and written by Don Baskin and Bob Gonzalez of the band. It reached the US national pop charts in June 1966, peaking at #5 on Cash Box and #8 on Billboard.

Background

After winning a Bay Area "Battle of the Bands" contest in 1965, the Syndicate of Sound recorded a single "Prepare For Love", which was ultimately unsuccessful.^[citation needed] Don Baskin and Bob Gonzales then wrote "Little Girl", which the band recorded at Golden State Recorders in San Francisco on January 9, 1966.[4][5] Hush Records released the single in April 1966.[6] After becoming a regional hit around the San Jose, California area, Bell Records picked it up for national distribution, the label then offered them an album contract. Prior to going into the studio, Larry Ray was replaced on lead guitar by Jim Sawyers. The album was recorded in three weeks, after which the band embarked on a nationwide tour supporting among others, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Young Rascals and the Yardbirds.

Chart history

Chart (1966)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7]	8

Other recordings

• The Residents as part of their Third Reich 'n Roll album of 1976.[8]
• British group The Banned had a UK hit with it in 1977, reaching #36 in December.[9][10]
• The Dead Boys on their first album Young, Loud and Snotty, released in 1977.[11]
• Australian group Divinyls released their own version of the song titled "Hey Little Boy" in 1988. It went to #23 on the Australian charts.[12]
• R.E.M. played the song in their very early shows.

Personnel

• Don Baskin – vocals, guitar
• Bob Gonzalez – bass guitar
• John Sharkey – keyboards
• Larry Ray – lead guitar
• John Duckworth – drums

See also

• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States

References

1. Harry Sumrall (May 1994). Pioneers of Rock and Roll: 100 Artists Who Changed the Face of Rock. Billboard Books. p. 51. ISBN 9780823076284.
2. Fontenot, Robert. "Garage Rock's 10 Biggest Hits of All Time". About.com. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
3. Seward, Scott (2004). "Nuggets". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 918–919. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
4. Cost 1997.
5. Skelly, Richard. "The Syndicate of Sound biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
6. Savage 2015, p. 556.
7. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 824.
8. The Third Reich 'N' Roll (1976) - (web.archive.org), The Third Reich 'N' Roll 1.Swastikas On Parade (17:30)
9. Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 11
10. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 42. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
11. AllMusic - Dead Boys, Young Loud and Snotty, AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett
12. Steffen Hung. "Divinyls - Hey Little Boy". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2017-01-31.

Sources

• Cost, Jud (1997). Little Girl (Liner notes). Syndicate of Sound. Sundazed. SC 6120.
• Savage, Jon (2015). 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27762-9 – via the Internet Archive.

External links

• Syndicate of Sound website