Twinkle

In the middle of the 1960s a British singer who never reached American listeners scored her lone major success when Twinkle reached number four on the U.K. chart in late 1964 with the self-written “Terry,” a somber single recounting the fatal crash of an imaginary motorcycle-riding boyfriend. Although the track lacked the dramatic punch of “Leader of the Pack,” its grim theme provoked public outcry and charges of poor taste that prompted a BBC ban, a move widely credited with accelerating its swift climb in popularity. Still only sixteen, Twinkle secured an immediate studio opportunity through a boyfriend then performing with the vocal ensemble the Bachelors, who forwarded her demo tape to his manager. Among the seasoned players hired for the session was guitarist Jimmy Page.

A slender, mod-styled blonde whose look invited comparisons with Marianne Faithfull, Twinkle issued a string of commercially quieter follow-ups throughout the mid-sixties, most of them understated attempts to echo the New York girl-group sound. Her vocal delivery carried echoes of Lesley Gore yet remained even more restrained, rendering Gore comparatively soulful by contrast. Born Lynn Ripley, she was no mere product of manufactured imagery; she composed the bulk of her own songs, among them “Golden Lights,” the sole later release to approach genuine chart traction. After issuing six singles on Decca she stepped away from recording in 1966, near her eighteenth birthday, although she did cut one additional single for Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate imprint in 1969. Her influence surfaced in unexpected quarters: both Elton John and Cat Stevens counted themselves admirers, and the Smiths revived “Golden Lights” in 1986.