Dear listeners,
This is not exactly a boom time for American girl groups*. The last high-profile one to have any chart success was Fifth Harmony, who formed on the 2012 season of “The X Factor” and went on an indefinite hiatus in 2018. I bring this up because, strikingly, two former members of Fifth Harmony have released solo albums in the past two weeks: The R&B chanteuse Normani put out her long-gestating “Dopamine” on June 14, and today the Cuban-born pop star Camila Cabello is unleashing her bold, outré fourth solo album, “C, XOXO.”
In honor of this rare phenomenon in the pop cosmos, I thought it would be fun to put together a playlist of songs by former members of all-female vocal groups — past and present — who flew the coop and went solo. Yes, this mix features Beyoncé. And Kelly Rowland too! It also includes tracks from the Supreme Ms. Diana Ross, the multitalented Dawn Richard and the eternally cool Ronnie Spector, among others.
Also, a programming note: I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, but as always I’ll be leaving you in good hands. Expect a fresh Amplifier written by a very special guest to arrive in your inbox each Tuesday while I’m gone, and get ready for an especially eclectic record haul playlist when I return from my travels. Til then!
Respectfully I say to thee,
Lindsay
*The girl group is, of course, still alive and well in the K-pop world. If I had to guess, I’d predict that the next major, global, post-girl-group superstar will come from South Korea.
Listen along while you read.
1. Diana Ross: “Upside Down”
One of the original girl group members to strike out on her own, Diana Ross released her first solo album in 1970. A decade later, she hit her commercial peak with the sleek, disco-inflected album “Diana,” written entirely by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic. This slinky hit topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in the summer of 1980.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Beyoncé: “Me, Myself and I”
A veteran of both Destiny’s Child and [Ed McMahon voice] the hip-hop rappin’ Girls Tyme, Beyoncé stepped into the spotlight in 2003 with her six-times platinum smash “Dangerously in Love.” Though the album contained plenty of upbeat bangers like “Crazy in Love,” “Naughty Girl” and “Baby Boy,” this memorable ballad is an assertion of strength in the face of a breakup that could also double as a solo artist’s manifesto: “I realized I’ve got me, myself and I/That’s all I got in the end, that’s what I found out.”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Normani: “Take My Time”
As I mentioned on a recent playlist, fans had been waiting a long, long time for the former Fifth Harmony member Normani to release her debut solo album, “Dopamine,” which finally dropped two weeks ago. This fun “Dopamine” highlight certainly sounds like a playful wink at the album’s endless delays: “I want you to take my time,” she sings on the chorus. “Just don’t take forever.”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug: “Havana”
I’ll be honest with you: I personally am not feeling the faux-subversive, macro-budget hyperpop left turn Camila Cabello is attempting to pull off on “C, XOXO.” So let’s instead return to a simpler time, specifically 2018, when this sweat-kissed and relentlessly catchy earworm ruled the airwaves. It still sounds like summer.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Geri Halliwell: “Look at Me”
If you were not, say, an impressionable 11-year-old girl when it happened, it might be difficult to fully understand the cataclysmic shock waves that rippled through the Earth’s atmosphere on May 31, 1998, when Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) announced that she was leaving the Spice Girls. And though Melanie C’s “Sandstorm”-esque hit “I Turn to You” is certainly the better song, I would argue that this hammy Shirley Bassey rip-off is the definitive Spice Girls solo single, for all its bonkers, you-had-to-be-there inanity. Look at her indeed!
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Dawn Richard: “Bussifame”
Sometimes the confines of a prefabricated girl group start to inhibit its more sonically adventurous members. Such is the case of Dawn Richard, who began her career as a member of Danity Kane, a girl group assembled on the third season of MTV’s “Making the Band.” Richard has spread her wings throughout an impressive but still underrated solo run; she first came to my attention with her acclaimed 2013 album “Goldenheart.” Her most recent solo album, “Second Line,” an inventive, retro-futuristic tribute to the music of New Orleans, featured this fluid and funky highlight.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
7. Jennie: “Solo”
Though the K-pop juggernaut Blackpink is still together, all four of its current members have released solo material. The cheeky title of this 2018 single from Jennie — who last year made her acting debut on the HBO series “The Idol” — makes it an obvious choice for this playlist.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
8. Kelly Rowland: “Dirty Laundry”
The former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland exposes the darker side of the girl-group-to-solo-star trajectory on this remarkably candid 2013 ballad. “Bittersweet, she was up, I was down,” Rowland sings, clearly referencing her former bandmate and longtime friend Beyoncé. “No lie, I feel good for her, but what do I do now?”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
9. Ronnie Spector featuring Joey Ramone: “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory”
And finally, the iconic and resilient Ronette Ronnie Spector reclaimed her autonomy with a solo career, which includes the spirited 2006 album “The Last of the Rock Stars.” That LP featured some impressive guests, like Patti Smith and Keith Richards, but its high point is probably this collaboration with Joey Ramone. Spector’s wistful, weathered wail reanimates this soulful Johnny Thunders tune.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“Girl Groupers Gone (Successfully!) Solo” track list
Track 1: Diana Ross, “Upside Down”
Track 2: Beyoncé, “Me, Myself and I”
Track 3: Normani, “Take My Time”
Track 4: Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, “Havana”
Track 5: Geri Halliwell, “Look at Me”
Track 6: Dawn Richard, “Bussifame”
Track 7: Jennie, “Solo”
Track 8: Kelly Rowland, “Dirty Laundry”
Track 9: Ronnie Spector featuring Joey Ramone, “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory”
Bonus Tracks
Camila Cabello appears on this week’s Friday Playlist, which also features new music from Wilco, Towa Bird and Pom Pom Squad. Listen here.
Though it’s not a solo release, my favorite thing Dawn Richard has ever done is probably “Pigments,” a beautiful album-length collaboration with the composer Spencer Zahn. Highly recommended!
If you happen to be a Slate Plus member, you can listen to me talk more about girl groups on a subscriber-only bonus episode of the “Hit Parade” podcast from the loyal Amplifier reader Chris Molanphy.
Also, I will send you off into this weekend and beyond with some very good vibes. Mets infielder José Iglesias just released his latest single, “OMG,” under the name Candelita. Once in the gutter, the 2024 Mets have won 11 of their last 13 games (as of this writing), putting them right back in contention for a wild-card spot. Several factors have likely played a part in the Mets’ recent improbable turnaround: the return of catcher Francisco Alvarez, the emergence of Francisco Lindor as a consistent leadoff hitter and of course the potent magic of Grimace. But the team has also reportedly been playing this bouncy and jubilant tune in the clubhouse after every win, and I have to believe it has made all the difference. Honestly? It’s a bop, destined to become the Song of the Summer — at least in Flushing, Queens.
The post Girl Groupers Gone (Successfully!) Solo appeared first on New York Times.