The Shirelles were still in their teens, fresh out of Passaic High School in New Jersey, when they became the first black girl group to top the US charts in 1960.

Blending doo-wop and pop, they may not have been the first black girl group (The Chantels were a big influence on them) but their success went a long way towards integrating black and white music.

Arriving just as the Civil Rights movement was gathering momentum, they also inspired a new wave of black girl groups like The Marvelettes and The Velvelettes, Motown groups like The Supremes and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, and Phil Spector’s stable of girl groups The Ronettes and The Blossoms, The Chiffons and The Crystals and, as well as The Shangri-Las.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow was written by husband-and-wife songwriting team Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and proved quite controversial at the time, its lyrics (by Goffin) leading to a ban by several radio stations.

In 1960, an era before the Pill, it was raunchy stuff for a girl (and her girlfriends) to sing about whether she might lose her reputation if she were to sleep with her boyfriend.

Goffin and King were commissioned to write the song by impresario Don Kirshner, who created the hugely successful songwriting team at Aldon Music – part of the famous “Brill Building” hit factory.

He initially offered it to Johnny Matthis in the hope of getting his foot in the door of Columbia Records. In one of those legendarily bad business decisions, thelabel turned it down and, despite the reservations of lead singer Shirley Owens (she thought it was “too country”), The Shirelles recorded it instead – and got their biggest hit.

There were plenty more, of which one was It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963, though I prefer the B-side, 31 Flavors.