Reparata and the Delrons, Captain Of Your Ship, 1968

The first half of the 1960s was a golden period for girl groups; the second half rather less so. As pop became increasingly sophisticated, the girl groups appeared rather anachronistic and even kitsch - the only group that managed to continue selling records were Diana Ross and the Supremes, who tried to remain contemporary by performing 'socially conscious' numbers and cover versions of Dylan and Sly Stone tunes.

Reparata and the Delrons were not a terribly successful girl group; their biggest hit in the USA, making No. 60 in the pop charts, was Whenever a Teenager Cries, released in late 1964, and bearing more than a passing resemblence to the Dixie Cups' Chapel of Love, a US No. 1 earlier in the year.

That should have been it for the group; certainly by 1968 they should have been dead in the water. But that year they managed one final hit single, which only made No. 127 in the USA, but was a top 20 hit in the UK, making No. 13.

Captain Of Your Ship has a very stripped down, predominantly acoustic feel considering its genre, with a definite Beach Boys influence, especially in the throbbing bass and swelling keyboards at the end of the verses and the use of sound of effects, in particluar the 'Morse Code' on the bridge before the chorus, which was a gloriously dated pat-a-cake affair.

The video here is from German televison, and features some wonderfully period special effects, while the group perform dated dance moves in their Quant like mini dresses.

Some of the song will sound familiar to any British person who was aware of the pop charts at the turn of the 1990s; the bridge was sampled by cheeky pop minx and early advocate of retro style Betty Boo, for her first solo hit, Doin' The Do.

Reparata and the Delrons on Amazon UK

Reparata and the Delrons on Amazon USA