Despite the great work of many excellent reissue labels, there remain hundreds of sides from the rock & roll era that are unheard outside of a small coterie. The German Buffalo Bop label isn't the heaviest hitter, but it knows its way around an appealing thematic compilation, and
Sugar Doll unearths no less than 30 interesting sides from female rocksters and popsters. This is seriously obscure music, the area where chart positions are virtually nonexistent and knowledge of the songs known only to those who collect 45s. (For a good gauge, consider that the most famous name here is
Linda Scott, who barely cracked the Top 40.) As could be expected from the obscurity of the material, these are not well-recorded songs, and the arrangements are rudimentary, even compared to the standards of the time. (Plenty of the songs are light novelty fare, and listeners will know the drill as soon as they hear titles like "Rockin' in the Nursery" and "Ring a Ding Dong Dandy.") Still, the singers are sincere, and the songs chart an interesting variety from Brill Building pop to sock-hop rock & roll to country crossover. For that certain segment of music fandom interested in historical patterns, second-rank material like this is just as interesting as (and occasionally more revealing than) songs by
Connie Francis or
Wanda Jackson.