A doe-eyed, bleach-blonde early 60's Brit warbler who specialized in seriously depressing songs about her imaginary (and often dead) ex-boyfriends, Twinkle subverted the chirpy dollybird image enjoyed by her peers (Lulu, Petula, Dusty), finding more in common, thematically, with death-song enthusiasts the Shangri-Las. Her biggest hit was one such bad-ender, 1964's motorcycle crash epic, "Terry". It's awesomely bleak, as is this endearingly low-rent live clip of her performing it.
Imagine if it really was about her boyfriend, who died in a fiery bike wreck, and she was forced to dredge up those memories every performance? What a nightmare. Anyway, Terry's just the tip of the iceberg. She's got a million of 'em. Do yourself a favor, pick up the definitive Twinkle collection, Golden Lights. It's the most fun you can have in the company of a teary-eyed adolescent*.
- Ken
* I realize there's a joke there, but I'm not evil enough to tell it.
