Customer Reviews

The Best of the 1910 Fruitgum Co.

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4 star:		(3)
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Bubblegum pop was never meant to be anything more than lightweight, fun music. Despite the critics, people bought the music because the songs were very catchy and well performed.

Perhaps the best of the bubblegum groups was the 1910 fruitgum co, who's biggest hit was Simon says - it was #4 in America and #2 in Britain. I remember being a little boy in the fifties playing the game Simon says, and I remember being a teenager hearing the song Simon says played at teenage parties and everybody dancing to it.

There were several other hits in America, but not in Britain where they remain a one-hit wonder. All their American hits are here, the two biggest apart from Simon says being 1 2 3 red light and Indian giver, both of which peaked at #5. Two others (Goody goody gumdrops and Special delivery) just made the top forty, and they had two other minor hits, these being May I take a giant step into your heart and The train. The rest of this collection is made up of the best album tracks and B-sides.

Music like this is not meant to be taken seriously, but it's very catchy and great fun.

when i was thirteen i wore out 3 copies of Indian Giver. i bought the others in the 3 for a dollar bin. these included Simon Says, 1-2-3 Redlight, Goody Goody Gumdrops, Special Delivery, and May I Take A Giant Step. the sound is the best ever and album tracks like The 1910 Cotton Candy Castle, and b-side Reflections Of The Looking Glass are welcome additions. unfortunatly, i wish they included the single versions of Simon Says, Goody Goody Gumdrops and Special Delivery. they are all vastly different. Simon Says is available through the verese bubblegum series. still, you can't go wrong with this one.

Admit it - you dug the 1910 Fruitgum Company in the fifth grade and you want to hear those great, naughty-but-silly double-entendre bubblegum hits again. Delight, then, in this beautifully-produced anthology. Excellent remastering, excellent liner notes, all the tracks you remember and then some. I'm not saying this is "Abbey Road" or something, but it's certainly essential in its own way, and if your friends and family make derogatory comments, tell them how the Talking Heads used to faithfully cover "1-2-3 Red Light" in concert! Recommended also is the Ohio Express collection and, to a lesser extent, the Lemon Pipers.

In 1968 and 1969 the New Jersey-based producers of "bubble-gum" music, Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, had this group going head to head on the Buddah label with The Ohio Express in delivering music the critics at Rolling Stone love to hate, but which the fans simply loved judging by the combined 14 hits they racked up between them in two short years. Making up the basic 1910 Fruitgum Co., were lead Mark Gutkowski, Floyd Marcus, Steve Mortkowitz, Frank Jeckell, and Pat Karwan, although Kasenetz-Katz rotated others in and out. Members of this group and The Ohio Express even got together as The Kasenetx-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus to take Quick Joey Small (Run Joey Run) to # 25 in late 1968.

This great package gives you all seven of the Fruitgum Co.'s Billboard Pop Hot 100 hits: Simon Says, which reached # 4 in early 1968; May I Take A Giant Step [Into Your Heart], a # 63 that same May; 1,2,3 Red Light [with backing by The Trade Winds], a # 5 late that summer; Goody Goody Gumdrops, with Billy Carl on lead vocal, a # 37 in November 1968; Indian Giver, which reached # 6 in early 1959; Special Delivery, a # 38 in June 1969; and The Train, # 57 in September 1969.

Also here is the B-side to their first hit, Reflections From The Looking Glass, along with these album cuts: from Goody Goody Gumdrops - Please Me, Tease Me; Dee-Licious; Liza; and (Play Our Song) Mr.Music Man: from the album Indian Giver comes Sweet Lovin'; Candy; and 1910 Cotton Candy Castle: and from Simon Says comes Bubble Gum World.

Three pages of informative liner notes, written by Kim Cooper, Co-editor, Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth are accompanied by LP cover reproductions and a discography of the contents. Sure to delight those who remember and loved those happy tunes.

A good compilation, although as the other reviewer said, would be nice to have the singles versions as well. Missing is the psych-pop B-side "Poor Old Mr. Jensen", an essential track in my opinion.

Another in the series of bubblegum music compilations recently done by the resurrected Buddah label (now Buddha). The 1910 FGCo was another in the collection of 60's bubblegum music machines created by Kasenetz and Katz. 1910 FGCo had the greatest string of hits and a lot of the catchiest and most memorable tunes of the genre.

This collection contains all their top-100 hits plus selected material from their albums. If you're a fan of 1910 FGCo's style of bubblegum, this is the best album of the bunch. All the tracks are in true stereo with the exception of "Reflections From The Looking Glass" and the sound quality is the cleanest of any compilation on the market.

This is the one to get - and the price is another plus.

Yes,yes,yes!The 1910 F.C. had some of the catchiest,fun pop music EVER!Sure,it's debatable who played/sang on what,but who cares?The great songs are what matters and this is a top-notch collection of "their" best stuff!Rock on,Bob PS:INDIAN GIVER is one of the best songs of all time!

This cd compilation brings back endless memories...such a great underrated band and the mastering on this cd is fabulous...recommended to anyone who liked these guys hit singles...the rest of the selections are very catchy too. Great listen!!

haven't herad these song's for a long time.i just had to buy this cd.i use to sing their song's when i had a band in the 60's.worth the money,great cd.

Thank you the product description is spot on with what I recieved.
A must buy for fans.