Search - Various Artists :: Billboard Top Hits: 1960

A good CD despite having only 10 songs - but BUYER BEWARE!

Lord Hasenpfeffer | Red Pill, Rabbit Hole | 01/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 1988/9 Rhino introduced its superb "Top Rock'n'Roll Hits" (1955-1974) series featuring 20 years of music on 20 CDs at 10 songs per year / per disc. (Hey, neat-o!)



Then in 1993 Rhino reissued the discs in the subset spanning 1960-1969 thus creating two different versions of each in the process. Because these discs are available via Amazon Marketplace, who knows which ones you'll get if you buy them used! If this is important to you, be sure to ask the seller(s) before placing your order(s).



The most obvious visual differences between the two editions are the song titles on both the front covers and the actual CDs. The 1988/9 editions feature mixed-case titles. The 1993 editions feature uppercase titles.



The 1993 editions also have the songs listed on the covers in the same order in which they appear on the discs. The 1988/9 editions list the songs in an almost random order which can be very frustrating while a disc is being played.



The song selections are also different; some moreso than others. For 1960 only tracks 1 and 6 were changed.



1988 (1) Elvis Presley, "It's Now Or Never"

1993 (1) Joe Jones, "You Talk Too Much"



1988 (6) Elvis Presley, "Stuck On You"

1993 (6) Brenda Lee, "Sweet Nothin's"



In this case, I prefer the 1993 edition because Brenda Lee's contribution kicks butt! :) I'd never even heard of it before. Meanwhile, Elvis' two hits are all-too-commonly available on many of the many Elvis compilations which exist.



[Note: To my knowledge, the CDs spanning 1955-1959 and 1970-1974 have not been revised. One may also surmise that Rhino believes rock-n-roll died with the advent of disco since the title used for the discs spanning 1975-on-up is simply "Top Hits" - not to be confused, of course, with Rhino's other, similar series, "Top Pop Hits".]"

Big Chart Hits

Matthew G. Sherwin | 06/30/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A good selection of big pop hits from 1960, most in their original forms (only "The Twist" is a rerecorded version, but don't blame the folks at Rhino Records--it's the only available master of the song at this time)."