To ‘her’ with love: A night of British Invasion girl power brings ’60s music magic back to Manhattan

There’s plenty to enjoy in Amber Martin and Shannon Conley’s production of “The Carnaby Street Girls” — regardless of whether you’re old enough to remember the British Invasion or just discovering that there was a whole lot of great music that came out of England in the ’60s.

Playing last weekend at The Cutting Room in Kips Bay, the two powerful singers had a great time, singing together and separately, with a repertoire of fab tunes that were hits for a number of swinging British gals.

The show originated with Steve Walter, the owner of the venue. He suggested the concept back in 2016, and the girls loved it.

“They’re too young to know that music, but they researched it,” he recalls. “Their voices were just so good. We were thinking that Amber should do a Dusty Springfield song, and then one thing led to another. Why don’t we do a whole British Invasion girls thing? Nobody’s doing it.”

Conley notes that “once we started doing the deep dive, we were like, this stuff is great! Let’s, let’s do this! So it was kind of a no-brainer once we realized there was a whole world of music that we had yet to discover.”

Martin was also on board immediately. “I love Steve’s musical taste,” she says. “When he came up with the idea, I didn’t even have to think about it.”

“The Carnaby Street Girls” at The Cutting Room: Bottom row, L-R: Tracy Stark (piano/vocals), Heather Litteer (special guest vocal), NathAnn Carrera (dancer/ guest vocal) , Mademoiselle Estelle (dancer/aerialist) , Anna CopaCabana (dancer/guest vocal) .
Back row, L-R: Mike Fornatale (guitar/vocals), Mike Maenza (drums), Amber Martin (vocals) , Jesse Krakow (musical director/bass), Shannon Conley (vocals) , Darren Denman (keyboards), Steve Walter (guitar)Photo by Bob Krasner

NathAnn Carrera stepped away from their go-go dancing to share the vocals with Amber Martin on “Georgie Girl”Photo by Bob Krasner

Shannon Conley takes a soloPhoto by Bob Krasner

Heather Litteer channels her inner Ann-Margret for “The Swinger”Photo by Bob Krasner

Amber Martin savoring the momentPhoto by Bob Krasner

Anna CopaCabana took on “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” in between go-go dancing dutiesPhoto by Bob Krasner

Many, but not all, of the tunes made the AM radio Top Ten lists in the U.S. Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want To Be With You” is a welcome blast from the past, as is Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” but Cilla Black is a name that never managed to crack the US charts although she had a string of hits in the UK.

Conley and Martin share the stage with an excellent band that consists of musical director Jesse Krakow (bass), Mike Fornatale (guitar/vocals), Mike Maenza (drums), Darren Denman (keys), and Tracy Stark (piano/vocals). Adding to the fabulousness is special guest singer Heather Litteer (who superbly channeled her inner Ann-Margret) as well as go-go dancers NathAnn Carrera and Anna CopaCabana, who each had their own turn at the mic.

Steve Walter had his time on stage also, adding his guitar to Fornatale’s “To Sir With Love” (sung in his most endearing falsetto) and Conley’s “As Tears Go By,” which also included some wonderful spinning in the sky by aerialist Mademoiselle Estelle.

The musical experience was heightened by the fact that everyone onstage just seemed to be having a great time.

Cutting Room owner – and founder of “The Carnaby Street Girls” show – accompanied Shannon Conley on “As Tears Go By”Photo by Bob Krasner

Mike Fornatale, accompanied by Steve Walter, got two thumbs up from Paul Shaffer for his fabulous falsetto version of “To Sir With Love”Photo by Bob Krasner

Mademoiselle Estelle lent her aerial expertise to a number of songsPhoto by Bob Krasner

The cast basks in the exuberant applausePhoto by Bob Krasner

Amber Martin, Paul Shaffer, Cathy Shaffer, Shannon ConleyPhoto by Bob Krasner

Conley, whose performing range goes from fronting the Jimmy Page-endorsed tribute band Lez Zeppelin to Broadway to voicing Nickelodeon cartoon characters, notes that “it’s so fun to do those ballads. Oh my gosh, it’s almost out of body getting to, you know, the way they built those ballads back then.”

Martin, who has collaborated with Rufus Wainwright and John Cameron Mitchell, among others, and is currently a member of the Scissor Sisters, mentions that “working with Shannon is is one of the top highlights for me because she’s so easy to work with and she’s so calm and peaceful. I love working with Shannon on this in particular because I can say girl, I need you to help me with this part, you know? And she’s always right there with it.”

Although the pair had known each other for years prior to this show, they had never worked together, and it worked out because, Conley says, “We have so much fun! We enjoy each other’s talent so much.”

Another plus for Martin is that, unlike her Janis Joplin tribute, there’s not much strain on her vocal cords.

“I could sing this whole show two or three nights in a row, and I’d be fine, you know?” she notes. “But when I do my Janis show, I can’t talk for two weeks after!”

Litteer notes that the success of the show lies in the fact that “we all have our own special sauce and our own special talents, and we each bring a different energy to the show to make it thrive and to make it fun. We make each other laugh and entertain people, which is what we need here in the society that we’re living in today with everything that’s happening in America and all over the world. So let’s get together and make a show and have some joy and laughter and some sexy ’60s glamour.”

Conley finds that she was “pleased at the amount of exuberance from the audience and how much people enjoyed it who were not from that generation.”

“We knew that those that came that had lived through it, it was their music and that they were going to love it. And we hoped that they would feel we honored it, of course,” she says.

Which turns out to be true, as music aficionados such as Lenny Kaye and Paul Shaffer are both fans.

“Lenny Kaye loved it!” Martin says. “He said, ‘You know, this show is so punk. These girls were so punk before punk. They’re pre-punk!”

Shaffer, who was at Friday’s show, told us that “this show had everything! These kids are much too young to know this music so well, but they really do. They’ve totally captured the era, and I can’t wait to see it again.”

Walter, who’s been running The Cutting Room for some 25 years, knows how to read the room.

“Oh yeah, everybody just loves it,” he says. “They’re so happy. And in these s#!tty times, to have some light, fun music just makes people feel good. The show on Friday, everybody hung out in the front room drinking, just like the old days. It just leaves people really happy because they’re such great songs and the girls have such a fun way of presenting them – it’s contagious.”

For further info, visit shannonconley.com, ambermartin.org and follow them on Instagram at @shannonconleynyc and @msambermartin, where future shows will be announced.