Search - Spanky and Our Gang, Harpers Bizarre, Four Jacks and a Jill :: Lost Hits of the '60s: 40 Solid Gold AM Radio Classics

Surprising collection

Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 01/01/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an import version of a set that was originally available from Sound Exchange, a Time Warner direct marketing music operation that has since folded. Though, since its original issue, some of these tracks have become available on CD elsewhere, there are several here that made their CD debut with this set and are still hard-to-find. Four Jacks and a Jill's "Master Jack", the Association's song from the movie, "Goodbye Columbus", Leapy Lee's "Little Arrows" and "Don't Just Stand There" by Patty Duke are among the rarities found here. Sound quality is quite good overall with all tracks except disc 1, tracks 4,14,16,17,19 and 20 and disc 2 tracks 7 and 20 appearing in their stereo version. While it may seem a bit pricey, with 40 tracks on two discs, it represents a reasonably good value. This is a surprisingly interesting collection of mostly substantially charting, yet seldom-found 45's from the later 60s. Since track listings are not supplied at the time of this review, they are as follows:
DISC ONE: Lazy Day - Spanky and Our Gang; The 59th Street Bridge Song - Harpers Bizarre; Master Jack - Four Jacks and a Jill; Western Union - Five Americans; Morning Girl - Neon Philharmonic; Brand New Me - Dusty Springfield; Turn Down Day - Cyrkle; Shame, Shame - Magic Lanterns; Baby, I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis; I Got Rhythm - Happenings; Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield; Bowling Green - Everly Bros.; Don't Just Stand There - Patty Duke; Sweet Inspiration - Sweet Inspirations; Goodbye Columbus - Association; Pied Piper - Crispian St. Peters; Best Of Both Worlds - Lulu; Will You Be Staying After Sunday - Peppermint Rainbow; Next Plane To London - Rose Garden; Bottle Of Wine - Fireballs. DISC TWO: Games People Play - Joe South; Baby The Rain Must Fall - Glenn Yarbrough; I'm A Fool - Dino, Desi and Billy; Apricot Brandy - Rhinoceros; Crying Game - Brenda Lee; And Suddenly - Cherry People; Malibu U - Harpers Bizarre; Alice's Rock and Roll Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie; D.W. Washburn - Monkees; Classical Gas - Mason Williams; Indian Lake - Cowsills; Action - Freddy Cannon; Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker; Nashville Cats - Lovin' Spoonful; Come On Down To My Boat - Every Mother's Son; I Love You - People; Little Arrows - Leapy Lee; Mr. Dieingly Sad - Critters; Long Lonesome Highway - Michael Parks; Let It Out - Hombres."

This Filled Several Of My "Needs" At The Time Of Its Release

Zub | 10/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is little I can add to Zub's excellent overview except to say that the AAD sound quality is excellent and that, in the large fold-open insert are track-by-track comments written by Joe Knoche (which appear in alphabetical order based on the song's title rather than in their track order), who also compiled the album for Warner Special Products/Echo Records.



In those notes he lets you know the year the song charted and the highest position reached on the Billboard Pop Hot 100. But several also did well on other charts: Baby, I'm Yours and Sweet Inspiration both made it to # 5 R&B, while the following also made impacts on the Adult Contemporary (or Easy Listening) charts after their introduction in 1961: Baby, The Rain Must Fall (# 2); Brand New Me (# 3); Classical Gas (# 1); 59th Street Bridge Song (# 4); Goodbye Columbus (# 22); Indian Lake (# 17); Lazy Day (# 24); Little Arrows (# 38); Long Lonsesome Highway (# 5); Master Jack (# 3); Mr. Bojangles (# 28); and Will You Be Staying After Sunday (# 22).



Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Rock & Roll Restaurant is the 4:44 45 rpm version which reached # 98 Hot 100 in December 1969. The 18-minute LP version remains a classic that should be sought out."

Great collection of hard-to-find 45s

Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 11/29/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Compilations from the major labels are often skimpy collections of the same old recycled oldies tunes. Refreshingly, this piece from EMI-Capitol Special Markets breaks that mold and offers a generous collection of seldom-found charting tunes from the 1960s. While only one of these cuts made top-10 (Troy Shondell's "This Time"), all save one were top-100 with six cracking the top-20. Three of the included tracks were the artists' only chart success and can be considered one-hit wonders. Some of the standout rarities here include Jerry Jaye's "My Girl Josephine", the Exciters' (of "Tell Him" fame) "He's Got The Power" and "Back On The Street Again" from the Sunshine Company which was actually their highest charting single though they were better known for their first charter, "Happy". Other interesting cuts included here are the so-bad-it's-good perversion of "Downtown" by tone-deaf Mrs. Miller, forgotten words and all, and Glen Campbell's "Universal Soldier", the Buffy St. Marie-penned tune that may be a bit to "relevant" for reissues of Campbell's repetoire. While there are no sonic relevations here, sound quality is reasonably competent with tracks 2,9,12,14-17,19 and 20 in true stereo with the remainder in mono. The only notable shortfall here is the complete lack of any liner notes to accompany the included tracks. Even the track listing provided is totally spartan with no information other than the title and artist. Lack of documentation aside, this is a surprising little piece of welcome 60s pop rarities and is a valuable addition to any collectors CD library as well as being of interest to the casual listener looking for more than just the same omnipresent oldies from the era."