Search - Various Artists :: History of Dot 1: Young Love

On the Dot

Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 01/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before being absorbed into the MCA conglomerate, Dot Records was one of the most successful independent labels of the 50s and early 60s, cranking out many of the top tunes heard on a.m. radio of the day. While producing a few artists that would begin to bridge the gap between adult 50s pop and the wave of rock and roll that would follow, most of Dot's success came by way of artists such as Billy Vaughn (musical arranger at Dot), the Hilltoppers, the Fontane Sisters and at the top, Pat Boone. Here, in this first of two volumes that sample the huge Dot catalog, Varese Vintage presents tunes from their staple performers along with a few from their artists that expanded the repertoire, if only tentatively. Many of the pop artists' tunes of the day were cover versions of grittier r'n'b songs that were "sanitized" to make them more acceptable to the mainstream audiences of the time. Even country sides were rerecorded to make them more pop-oriented. Included in this genre are the Fontane Sisters' "Eddie My Love", Gale Storm's "Ivory Tower" and "Dark Moon" by Bonnie Guitar (also done by Gale Storm). On the more adventurous side, at least for Dot at the time, came sides like Sonny Knight's "Confidential" and Robin Luke's "Susie Darlin'". Dot also had some success with artists moving from other labels such as Debbie Reynolds off of Coral with "Am I That Easy To Forget", Jimmy Rodgers' post-Roulette "The World I Used To Know" and the Mills Brothers' second wind hit "Cab Driver". While most of the included tracks were big chart hits at the time, many are seldom found on CDs elsewhere, making this piece both familiar and interesting to listen to. Sound quality is overall very good with most sides in mono except 10 and 12-14 which appear in stereo. An eight-page liner notes booklet provides backround on the included tracks, some pics and promo spots along with production credits. If there were any downside here, it would be only in the relatively skimpy number of tracks (14) for an oldies compilation CD. Notwithstanding that, this is an excellent collection of pop from some of the most important artists of the era."

SOME GREAT POP MUSIC!!!!

Ken Rogers | Easley, SC USA | 09/30/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hearing the music on this GREAT collection is like a trip back to the 50's and 60's....The Classic cuts are "Susie Darlin'" by Robin Luke, "Confidential" by Sonny Knight, "Am I that Easy To Forget" by Debbie Reynolds....These cuts are hard to find on any cd. The mix and quality is excellent. My hat is off to Cary Mansfield and his crew at VARESE-SARABANDE records for making these classic DOT cuts available to the public, again."