(This feature originally appeared in issue #57 of Shindig! Magazine. To read the full interview click over the jump.)
DJ
Sheila Burgel talks about the enduring appeal of
'60s girl-pop.
One
point missed by many commentators on Prince's recent death was how
much he championed female singers and musicians. A point not missed
by DJ Sheila Burgel who dedicated part of her Sophisticated Boom
Boom show on WFMU to highlight some of Prince's lesser known
girl-pop moments. It was an affecting and insightful tribute, put
together by someone who knows a thing or two about female-fronted
music.
“When
I first heard British singer Maxine Darren’s “How Can I Hide It
From My Heart?” off the first Here Come the Girls
compilation in 1995,” says Sheila explaining her eureka moment.
“That shrill vocal! Those melodies! That bizarre arrangement! It
completely floored me. Soon after the gates to girl-pop heaven
opened, Francoise Hardy, France Gall, Sandie Shaw, the Cookies,
Billie Davis, Twinkle, the Exciters, Dorothy Berry poured in….and
my life was forever changed.”
Sophisticated
Boom Boom features an eclectic mix
of predominately female-fronted sounds and airs on WFMU out of New
Jersey each Friday afternoon. When asked for a mission statement for
the show Sheila says it's “restoring gender equality with the
toughest, dreamiest, sweetest, sassiest, most infectious,
hook-filled, girl-fronted pop from yesterday and today, and from all
over the world!” Don't be surprised to hear '60s beat, yé-yé
, Brill Building sounds and Japanese Pinky records alongside
shoegaze, metal and gritty R&B. “Melody. Hooks. Magic,” says
Burgel explaining what holds it all together, ”which is why I can
love the Shangri Las, Alan Parsons Project, Janelle Monae, Megadeth,
Lou Christie, Big Maybelle, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, the Orlons,
Slowdive, and so many more. It’s what they all have in common.”
WFMU
is a beacon of music-led FM broadcasting, whose ad-free stance
has
gained the station a worldwide audience. Its commitment to specialist
knowledge and passion also gives its presenters the chance to share
their vision with that audience. “With Sophisticated
Boom Boom and all that I do, I am
showing that female-fronted pop music is as valid, worthy, important,
and enjoyable as many of the (mainly male) acts that are so fawned
over by the rock establishment. Long ago, the rock critics somehow
decided that Led Zeppelin are extremely important and worthy of our
respect and that the Shangri Las are not, and I have a problem with
that judgement.”
Aside
from the radio show Sheila can be found DJing every third Friday at
Our Wicked Lady Club in Brooklyn. Europeans will also get a chance to
hear her club selections as she undertakes a two-week European DJ
tour in August with dates in Helsinki, Copenhagen, London, Paris, and
Montenegro.
Having
put together the Nippon Girls and Love Hit Me
compilations on Ace Records, Sheila's quest to bring us the best in
rare records shows no sign of letting up. “I just took on an
enormous compilation project producing four volumes of '60s girl-pop.
The access I get to photos, master tapes, and recording information
is just unbelievable. And I get to select and sequence the tracks,
write the liner notes, and art direct, so it’s a dream job,
really.”
Sophisticated
Boom Boom airs each Friday 3pm – 6pm (EST) on WFMU with shows
archived at www.wfmu.org
Nippon
Girls Vol 1 & 2 and Love Hit Me: Decca Girls 1962-66
are available from Ace Records.
