Alex Henderson

The Girls                      Girl Talk   

Inspired by funk and soul on one hand and pop-rock and new wave on the other, Prince and his Minneapolis-based colleagues were responsible for some of the most exciting music of the 1980s. Prince, who was as much of a rock star as he was an R&B star, reigned supreme as the king of the Minneapolis sound. But many of the artists he influenced also burned up the R&B and pop charts during that decade, including The Time, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Morris Day, Jesse Johnson’s Revue, Ta Mara & the Seen and Sheila Escovedo, a.k.a. Sheila E.

However, the Minneapolis sound had its underexposed artists as well, and while The Girls—a female trio consisting of singers Germain Brooks, Sheila Rankin and Doris Ann Rhodes—didn’t enjoy the commercial success of The Time or Sheila E., they had the pleasure of working with one of Minneapolis’ most famous producer/songwriters: André Cymone.

Brooks, Rankin and Rhodes had all been active on the Minneapolis scene when they came together as a group in 1983.  Brooks and Rankin had performed together in a group called the Style Band (before that, Brooks was with a group called the Lewis Connection), and Rhodes had been a member of an all-female outfit called Fantasy (not to be confused with the Chic-influenced group that had a hit with “You’re Too Late” in 1981). Cymone, who was a member of Prince’s touring band in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was well aware of Brooks’ contributions to the Style Band and Rhodes’ contributions to Fantasy—and when Brooks suggested that the three of them (who were in their late teens at the time) form an all-female vocal trio, Cymone liked the idea a lot. United as The Girls, Brooks, Rankin and Rhodes landed a deal with Columbia Records and recorded their eclectic album, Girl Talk (which came out in 1984).

Cymone did a lot to shape the album creatively. In addition to producing Girl Talk, Cymone wrote or co-wrote all of the material—and that includes synth-funk grooves like “S-E-S-E-X,” “Don’t Waste My Time,” “What Do I See in You” and the title track as well as new wave-minded offerings such as “Nu Boy,” “Women and Men” and “My Man.” Meanwhile, the melancholy “Someone Shoulda Told Me” is a melancholy R&B slow jam with a rock edge.

“I was so intrigued with André at the time,” Brooks recalled in an April 2013 interview. “To this day, I admire the fact that André is the type of person who stands his ground and is who he is no matter what. I really respected André as a musician and as a producer.”

Girl Talk spawned two singles: “Don’t Waste My Time” and “S-E-S-E-X,” both of which live up to Minneapolis’ reputation for erotic lyrics. Brooks remembers: “Sexuality was a part of the Minneapolis sound, and in 1984, a lot of people identified with songs that were risqué. When I first heard the lyrics for ‘S-E-S-E-X,’ I was like, ‘Ooh, I have to say that?’ But then, I took it on and said, ‘OK, sex sells.’ And certainly in the ‘80s, sex was selling. ‘S-E-S-E-X’ was a little risqué and a little out there, but it worked.”

“My Man” was released as the b-side of “Don’t Waste My Time.” Heavily influenced by both 1980s new wave and the girl group sound of the early 1960s, “My Man” sounds like an infectious combination of the Shirelles, the Shangri-Las, Blondie and Sheila E. Blondie, the Go-Go’s, the B-52s and many other new wave stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s weren’t shy about expressing their fondness for classic early 1960s girl groups—and “My Man” fits right in with that new-wave-meets-the-‘60s aesthetic.

Girl Talk, however, wasn’t the hit Cymone and The Girls hoped it would be, and in 1985, the group broke up without ever recording a second album. “It’s always disappointing when you don’t get the recognition or the fame that you set out for, but you just have to keep it moving,” Brooks asserts. “We didn’t get the fame and the fortune that we had hoped for, which was a big disappointment. That was a really hard pill to swallow at that time because we were young, we wanted to be successful, we wanted to be in the business, and we definitely had the talent to do it. But for one reason or another, it didn’t happen. So like I said, you have to keep it moving.”

Cymone had no problem staying busy as a producer after Girl Talk; the long list of major artists he worked with in the mid- to late 1980s and 1990s included, among others, Jody Watley, Adam Ant, Jermaine Stewart, James Ingram, Tom Jones and Pebbles. Brooks, meanwhile, pursued a solo career and signed with Atlantic Records as a solo artist. In fact, Prince ally David Rivkin, a.k.a. David Z, produced a solo album for Brooks, but Atlantic never released it.

FunkyTownGrooves’ expanded CD edition of Girl Talk contains the eight tracks that appeared on the original 1984 LP as well as four bonus tracks, which include the single versions of “S-E-S-E-X,” “Don’t Waste My Time” and “My Man” along with an instrumental version of “S-E-S-E-X.” 

In 2013, Brooks (who is now 49) continues to sing and perform in and around Minneapolis but has a day job in the health care field. She has two daughters: the youngest is only 8, while the other—a 22-year-old college student—is slightly older than Brooks, Rhodes and Rankin were when they formed The Girls 30 years ago. Brooks loves the fact that she is not only hearing from people who are old enough to remember when Girl Talk was originally released in 1984, but also, from younger listeners who are exploring the music of that era.

“It’s moving to know that you still have fans from 29 years ago, and that you’re gaining new fans as well,” Brooks asserts. “It’s really gratifying to know that people are still enjoying Girl Talk 29 years later.”

—Alex Henderson, May 2013

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, AlterNet, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) has also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.