GIRLS GONE SINGING

With its chiming harmonies, sun-through-the-clouds sonic reveries, and pink-slippered emotional landscape, the girl-group sound of the early 60s was as innocent as rock 'n' roll has ever dared be. Maybe too innocent—because when the Brits invaded, pop went the bubblegum, its fans dropping the sound like a high-school crush on the first day of summer. This month brings the first boxed set ever devoted to the genre, the long-overdue and elaborately packaged One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds—Lost & Found (Rhino). Though the Phil Spector oeuvre is notably absent (his company refused to grant the rights), co-producers Sheryl Farber and Gary Stewart have unearthed a trove of finely cut gems, from shimmery originals later made into hits by other artists (the Velvelettes' "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'," P. P. Arnold's "The First Cut Is the Deepest") and youthful ventures by Cher and Dolly Parton to little-heard masterpieces like the Cookies' "I Never Dreamed." Innocent these 120 girl-pop confections may be, but they're "not for the faint of heart," notes Farber, who became steeped in the music while singing with the kitschy early-90s girl group the Pussywillows. "You've got to be prepared to feel."

AARON GELL