2 Iconic 1960s Girl Groups That Helped Inspire Punk Rock

In 1965, The Shangri-Las booked a gig at Club Ponytail in Harbor Springs, Michigan. The trio was backed at the Michigan show by a group of musicians calling themselves The Iguanas. The Iguanas had a drummer nicknamed “Iggy.” Three years later, this drummer, now a singer, debuted his new band, The Stooges.

Videos by American Songwriter

As garage rock became louder and faster in New York and London, bands like New York Dolls, Ramones, Blondie, and The Damned drew inspiration from two 1960s girl groups that seemed to share a similar anti-establishment instinct.

Let’s begin with the group that Iggy Pop briefly backed as a drummer.

The Shangri-Las

When The Shangri-Las performed a one-off reunion show at CBGB in 1977, singer Mary Weiss witnessed firsthand her group’s influence on punk rock: She spotted Shangri-Las tunes inside the jukebox at the legendary New York club. Also, Joey Ramone told Weiss, “Without The Shangri-Las, there would have been no Ramones.” To which she later added, “The Shangri-Las were punk before punk existed.”

But it wasn’t just the Ramones. The New York Dolls were fans, too. The Dolls hired George “Shadow” Morton to produce their second album, Too Much Too Soon. Morton was involved as a writer and producer on The Shangri-Las’ biggest hits, “Remember (Walking In The Sand)” and “Leader Of The Pack”. Before “Leader Of The Pack” reached number one, the BBC had banned the single for being too violent. (In the song, Jimmy dies while speeding away on his motorcycle following his breakup with Betty.) Like the Sex Pistols, the teenage girls must have been too punk for Britain.

But The Shangri-Las’ influence didn’t end with punk’s first wave. Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, writing in her memoir Girl In A Band, credited the group for her speak-singing style. On “Little Trouble Girl”, Sonic Youth’s duet with Kim Deal, you can hear how the group’s short career shaped generations of independent-minded musicians.

The Ronettes

Few songs have had a more profound impact on rock history than The Ronettes’ 1963 hit “Be My Baby”. Phil Spector’s production forced Brian Wilson to pull his car over to the side of the road upon hearing it. Wilson answered with “Don’t Worry Baby” and eventually Pet Sounds. Spector’s track also sent Bruce Springsteen searching for a New Jersey Wall of Sound on “Born To Run”.

However, when the Ramones emerged from a Queens neighborhood in 1974, the band helped pioneer a new movement with fast tempos and noisy power chords. The singalong hooks that define the band’s most iconic songs share DNA with the pop melodies of 1960s girl groups. Ramones’ cover of The Ronettes’ “Baby, I Love You” became a U.K. hit in 1980. And you can imagine what Phil Spector might have done with “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”.

Also in 1980, Ronnie Spector released her solo debut, Siren, featuring members of Johnny Thunders’ post-New York Dolls band The Heartbreakers as well as Cleveland punk band The Dead Boys. Siren opens with Ronnie covering the Ramones’ “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow”.

The Ronettes’ commercial peak in the mid-60s lasted only a few years. Short and deeply influential, just like punk’s first wave.

Photo by Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images