Unless you're a rabid fan of The Smiths you probably havn't heard of Twinkle (born Lynn Ripley, 1948). A one-time girlfriend of Dubliner Dec Clusky (of The Bachelors – ask your granddad), Twinkle was most unusual of the 1960s so-termed "dolly birds" in that she wrote her own material, and songs such as Terry (a UK Top 5 hit in 1964) and its follow- up, Golden Lights – which failed to make the Top 20, but clearly impressed a young Steven Patrick Morrissey, as The Smiths covered it over 20 years later on the B-side of their 12-inch vinyl single, Ask – showcased a talent that was inevitably diluted by her record company's insistence for smash hit singles, no matter what the price. This collection, boasting incisive liner notes by St Etienne's Bob Stanley, tells the Twinkle story well. Definitely worth a punt. readysteadgirls.eu/twinkle