Beautiful

The only info I've been able to dig up about Margaret Mandolph (via the wonderful Cha Cha Charming site) is the rather amazing fact that she was only 13 years old. I imagine that after cutting this sublime slice of pop-soul she began the usual child performer's descent into booze and drugs and was never heard from again. What's also interesting about this is that it was produced by none other than David Gates. The very same David Gates who ruled the soft pop roost in the 1970s as the lead singer of Bread. Apparently he produced and wrote several girly pop tunes in the 60s, none of which were that successful (which is why he formed Bread, I guess) except for "Popsicles And Icicles" which was a hit for The Murmaids in 1963.

"Something Beautiful" was the b-side of young Margaret's 1965 single "I Wanna Make You Happy" which was her second (and last, I think) release on the small Planetary label. The a-side wasn't a hit but the other side became popular in Northern Soul clubs where I imagine they dug it's pumping beat - though it's more of an elegant floater than a floorshaker, with a Wall of Sound-style production that owes a huge amount to Phil Spector. At only 1:59 long it's short but very sweet. You can get it on the compilation Floorpackin'

PS: I assume you all know that's Twiggy and not Margaret Mandolph in the photo above. There's no connection between her and this record, other than she was a beautiful 60s chick. If you'd like a desktop wallpaper version of the photo, I have one for download here.

[Download]
Something Beautiful - Margaret Mandolph