Twinkle - Golden Lights (2001)

A brief but dazzling pop career
Twinkle actually had two British hits - Terry and Golden lights - but Terry is the only song anybody ever remembers, unless they own any of her other music. Terry is a song about a motorbike rider who commits suicide, so there are inevitable comparisons with Leader of the pack by the Shangri-las. Actually, they are completely different songs. Golden lights, the follow-up, was a brilliant song about a lost boyfriend, but it was only a minor hit, just making the British top 20.
With those two hits behind her, Twinkle (real name Lynn Ripley) looked set for a glittering career, especially as she wrote many of her own songs. It was not to be, but this collection of Twinkle's music is well worth listening to. Twinkle did record a cover of The end of the world, which she doesn't like at all, but I think it is OK, if unexceptional. Perhaps the best of the other tracks is What am I doing here with you.
This is a re-packaging of an earlier Twinkle compilation, with more tracks, including a German version of Tommy, five tracks from an aborted 1973 album and her 1984 single, For sale.
When I listen to this collection, I wonder just what Twinkle might have achieved. Many less talented people have achieved far longer lasting success. Twinkle was never short of money and seems happy with her life, so it may be that she lacked ambition. Nevertheless, she made some great music and everything that the record company could find has been included on this CD.