Girl Talk with Bonus Tracks

The album's original liner notes mourn the influx of ''twanging guitars, psychedelic sounds and moaning voices'' and hail Lesley for ''singing in tune'' and ''pronouncing the lyrics of a song so they are understandable''; the USA was smack in the midst of Beatlemania at the time. Lesley Gore, like so many American artists navigating the music scene, had to contend with the British Invasion, but she managed to weather the changing climate and remain in the Top 20 from It's My Party in 1963 through to California Nights in '67.

Girl Talk hinted of an artist moving beyond her teenybopper years and eager to expand her musical palette. Album opener Hey Now was risky - far more feisty and rhythmic than her usual material. Maybe I Know and Look Of Love, proved that teenage pop could be smart and gimmick-free, and established a relationship between Lesley and songwriter Ellie Greenwich, who penned the songs with her husband Jeff Barry. Ellie, along with singers Jean Thomas and Mikie Harris, were integral to the making of the album, providing its lush tones and girl group feel.

In addition to the 12 titles on the original album, our CD includes 13 hand-picked bonus tracks from the same timeframe, including three recorded in Hollywood with arranger Jack Nitzsche, and four others which first surfaced from the Mercury tape vaults in 1994.

The booklet features an essay by noted girl pop authority Sheila Burgel, based on a new interview with Lesley Gore conducted exclusively for this project.