Glenda Collins

Glenda Collins emerged as an English singer whose commanding delivery reshaped the girl-group aesthetic under the guidance of producer Joe Meek. Throughout the mid-1960s the duo issued a run of singles that warped that style into something stranger, setting her piercing vocals against wheezing keyboards, biting guitars, and cavernous layers of echo. Those sides elevated her to cult status, prompting repeated calls for new material long after she stepped away from performing at the end of the decade. Occasional later sessions culminated in the long-delayed arrival of her first album, Second Chance, in 2022.

Her path began early with appearances on assorted radio programs and in cabaret venues. Talent scout Carroll Levis noticed her and arranged an agreement with Decca Records. Three singles followed on that imprint, beginning with the 1960 release “Take a Chance.” String-laden pop numbers in the same mold came next: 1961’s “Oh, How I Miss Tonight!” and 1962’s “Find Another Fool.” Once the contract lapsed, a demo reached Joe Meek, who became enamored of her voice and took her under his wing. Their initial collaboration, 1963’s “I Lost My Heart at the Fairground,” unfolded as a miniature epic dense with sound effects, Telstar-style keyboards, and her theatrical phrasing. Later that year the rockabilly-tinged “If You’ve Gotta Pick a Baby” revealed a harder-edged vocal approach, supported by the Ritchie Blackmore-led Outlaws.

Over the ensuing three years Meek and Collins kept issuing 45s on HMV and Pye—“Baby It Hurts” and “Lollipop” in 1964, “Thou Shalt Not Steal” and “Johnny Loves Me” in 1965, “Something I’ve Got to Tell You” and “It’s Hard to Believe It” in 1966—maintaining their echo-drenched, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach even while the Beatles and subsequent bands dominated radio. Meek’s death abruptly halted the partnership. Collins attempted to secure a fresh deal with a demo cut alongside her father, yet no label expressed interest. She remained absent from the spotlight until 1989, when she sang at a gathering marking the publication of a book about Meek. Two compilations of her Meek-era singles appeared during the following decade: 1990’s Been Invited to a Party: The Singles 1963-1966 and 1997’s This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’. Two years after the second collection, producer Russel Brennan reached out and persuaded her to emerge from retirement to record a vocal for a version of the theme from the television series The Protectors. Though she found the session rewarding, another decade passed before Brennan enticed her back into the studio. She tackled the theme from Budgie, after which the pair continued collaborating. An EP titled The Long Drop appeared, its title track featuring new lyrics sung by Collins over an unused Meek backing track; that project led directly to the 2022 full-length Second Chance. The next year Cherry Red assembled the three-disc anthology Baby It Hurts: The Holloway Road Sessions 1963-1966, drawing on previously unreleased material from Meek’s extensive tape archive.