THE SHIRELLES: A `GIRL GROUP' THAT GREW UP

NEW YORK CITY -- Beverly Lee of the Shirelles is bothered that female performing units from the '60s still are called "girl groups."

"They don't identify the guys from that era as `boy groups,'" she observes.

Girl group or not, the Shirelles will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at Shryock Auditorium. Tickets are available by calling (618) 453-ARTS.

Known for the hits "Soldier Boy," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," "Dedicated to the One I Love" and "Mama Said," the Shirelles are considered one of the prototypes for later groups like the Supremes and even today's En Vogue and TLC.

The Shirelles were the first female group to sell a million records, the first to write some of their own music. "The Shirelles Greatest Hits" is considered essential for any rock 'n' roll record collection.

Last month, they were named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"I feel honored and I feel it is overdue," Lee said.

The Shirelles started out as three New Jersey high school students who just liked to sing. "In those days there were a lot of guy groups and we'd hear them singing in the basement, getting that wonderful echo sound," Lee said. "They'd be in one basement in the projects and we'd be in the next."

The woman who became their agent heard them sing and pursued them. "She would chase us after school," Lee said. "...But our parents didn't want us to do it."

After all, Lee was a high school pompon girl and another of the singers was a twirler in the high school band. In a word, Lee said, "We were green."

When they gave in 1958, they debuted at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. "I Met Him on Sunday" became their first release, and "Dedicated to the One I Love" was the first record to make some noise.

The Shirelles headlined the first integrated show in Alabama. "We broke a lot of barriers for a lot of artists," Lee says.

In some places, they played one show for the white audience and one for the black audience. Or the white audience would be seated downstairs and the blacks in the balcony.

Lee said there was no rivalry among the "girl groups." The Shirelles toured with the Supremes, the Dixie Cups and the Crystals. She remembers the Supremes asking what it was like to be big stars.

"I said, `Your turn is going to come.' A week later I heard screaming in they hall. They'd just found out that "Where Did Your Love Go" was No. 1."

Lee said the Shirelles never quit touring, even though the British invasion curtailed their recording career. "God is so good and we're very blessed," she said.