The best mixtape ever: girl groups from the 50s and 60s (thank you Calvin Johnson)

A few weeks ago I picked up this really awesome tape from Other Music titled Tomorrow I'll Be Sixteen - Girl Groups and Sounds, 50s and 60s. The mix was put together by Calvin Johnson, founder of K Records and former member of Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and The Halo Benders. It features The Chantels, the Shangri-Las, Candy and the Kisses, and lots of other groups.

I hadn't listened to very many '60s girls groups before but this is providing excellent context for some of my new favorite girl groups like Vivian Girls, Best Coast, Girls at Dawn, and Dum Dum Girls. I totally recommend checking out some of the last.fm & wikipedia pages I've linked below with the tracklist, and if you're in NY I recommend seeing if Other Music has any of these tapes left!

The guys at the store told me the tapes are part of a small collection made by Johnson, and that they're super hard to find on the East Coast. (I can't find information online about where else to find these, but the Yarn Lazer site has the track lists for all of the "Calvin Tapes", which include other fun themes like "GIRLS: INTERNATIONALE
'60s Female Artists from Foreign Lands", "THE CAVERN STOMP! British Beat and R&B 45s, 1963-'65", and lots of others.)

MP3: The Girls at Dawn - It's the Only Time
MP3: Best Coast - This Is Real

Tracklist & fun links after the jump!

"TOMORROW I’LL BE SIXTEEN" tracklist
side a:
the Shangri-Las - Train from Kansas City
Sylvie Vartan - C’ette Lettre La
Candy & the Kisses - The 81
Darlene McCrea - Don’t Worry Baby
Janice Grant - Triangle
Ann-Margaret - Someday Soon
the Bobettes - Mr. Johnny Q
the Candy Girls - Run
Skeeter Davis - That Summer Sunset
Chantels - Congratulations (psst the Vivian Girls are covering this band on their next 7"! it's streaming on their myspace.
the Girlfriends - My One and Only
Gail Dye - Tomorrow I’ll Be Sixteen

side b:
Little Eva - Keep Your Hands off My Baby
Bernadette Castro - His Lips Got in the Way
Annette - Pajama Party
Sandie Shaw - I’ll Stop at Nothing
the Lollipops - Billy, Billy, Baby
the Pixies - Three Birthday Party
Earl-Jean - I’m into Something Good
Lesley Gore - I’m Coolin’ No Foolin’
Gail Harris - Be My Baby
Toni Wine - A Boy Like You
Dee Dee Sharp - Why Don’t You Ask Me
Little Peggy March - Only You Could Do That to My Heart