Search - Various Artists :: Bubble Gum Classics 1

A very pleasant nostalgia trip

01/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I ordered this CD solely because I wanted to hear "Abergavenny," a song I adored when I was in elementary school. I didn't even pay much attention to what other tracks were on the disc--I was just thrilled to find the one song I'd been looking for. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover quite a few other sixties oldies that I remember hearing in childhood, but had long since forgotten their existence. No musical masterpieces here, but lots of "happy nostalgic" tunes for those of you over 35."

Nice collection of 60s bubblegum balances familiar & obscure

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 03/22/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this just to get a clean copy of the Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Grows)." It's one of a number of 1970- 71 songs that form the foundation of my real entry to top-40 radio listenership, and my original 45 was just about gone.



I already had several of the other tracks on this compilation - some of which have been anthologized or made available on reissues or artist compilations. Some of the easier-to-find tracks include the Ohio Express' "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy", Boyce & Hart's "Alice Long (You're Still My Favorite Girlfriend)", The Cuff Links' "Tracy", The Fifth Estate's "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead", Tommy Roe's "Jam Up and Jelly Tight", Dawn's "Knock Three Times", 1910 Fruitgum Company's "Indian Giver", Bobby Sherman's "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" and The Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You."



Even with all those duplicate tracks, they add together with the less familiar entries to make a very listenable compilation. On top of the musical selection, the chart and group info, plus the anecdotes in the liner notes make this a really worthwhile disc. I was especially interested to find out who the lead vocalist is on a lot of the studio-band tracks. E.g., I knew that The Cuff Links' "Tracy" was sung by Ron Dante (of Archies' fame), but I didn't realize that Dante had also fronted The Detergents on their single "Leader of the Laundromat." Similarly, I had never made the connection of Tony Burrows singing lead on the Edison Lighthouse cut, as well as The Pipkins "Gimme Dat Ding", White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'" and Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand."



The interconnections between writers, producers, singers and groups is really fascinating. According to the liner notes, Rupert Holmes took over as lead vocalist of the Cuff Links on their second album, and the tracks were simultaneously licensed to Decca (as the Cuff Links) and to Musicor (as Street People). It's surprising to find out that a few talented songwriters and producers churned out so many hit singles under so many different artist or band names.



Also included are an early Hudson Brothers' track, "Laugh, Funny Funny", under the name of Everyday Hudson, Keith's debut single "Ain't Gonna Lie" (it's no "98.6", that's for sure!), The Peppermint Rainbow's "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" (sounding an awful lot like Spanky & Our Gang), a really soulful-garage version of "Come and Take a Ride in My Boat" by Rare Breed (later a top-10 hit for Every Mother's Son), and Shannon's "Abergavenny" (most notable to me as having a lead vocal by Marty Wilde - father of Ricki "Teen Wave" Wilde and Kim "Kids in America" Wilde)."

Fun stuff

hyperbolium | 06/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have all 5 volumes of the Bubblegum Classics series. The first three are AM pop from late 60's early 70's. I certainly wouldn't consider all the songs "bubblegum", but they do all have a degree of youthful innocence. Some of the songs were hits in England, but not in the US; some are obscure non-hits.The fourth volume is "soul" (Build Me Up Buttercup is soul! ). The fifth volume is a repackaging of lead singer Tony Burrows work (and repeats songs on the other volumes in the series).Overall, they are consistently fun to listen to. Sure brings back memories of much more carefree times for me. I like Volume 3 the best and would give it 5 stars. Volume 4 probably has the most hits on it, but they are commonly available on other compilations.The remastering/sound is very good. There are good liner notes with about a paragraph on each song/group."