Customer Reviews

Best of 1961-1966

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Orlons (Rosetta Hightower, Shirley Brickley, Marlena Davis, and Steve Caldwell) were always my favorite group on Philadelphia's Cameo and Parkway labels. Lead singer Hightower had such a booming yet endearing voice. When she belted out "Don't Hang Up," you knew you'd better comply (or risk serious injury)!

Years ago I bought an Orlons cd that originated out of Europe. Apparently, the music wasn't properly licensed, as ABKCO has only allowed the Cameo-Parkway catalog to be released on cd recently. In addition, the sound was pretty bad (I'm sure they used some worn 45s as the source material). It is great to now have all of their notable recordings available again and sounding better than ever.

The recent Cameo-Parkway box set included their five biggest hits (Wah Watusi, Don't Hang Up, South Street, Not Me, and Crossfire!). This thorough collection includes them of course, as well as their first single "I'll Be True," the lesser charting hits (Bon Do Wah, Shimmy Shimmy, Rules Of Love - backed by a fierce rendition of Heartbreak Hotel that also got some airplay, and Knock! Knock!) and some of the better b-sides and album cuts. Even if you already own the Cameo-Parkway box set, you still gotta get this cd, as five tracks just ain't enough Orlons! The track lineup:

1. I'll Be True
2. Wah Watusi, The
3. Don't Hang Up
4. Conservative, The
5. South Street
6. Cement Mixer
7. Not Me
8. Crossfire!
9. Don't Throw Your Love Away
10. Bon-Doo-Wah
11. Everything Nice
12. Shimmy Shimmy
13. Rules Of Love
14. Heartbreak Hotel
15. Knock! Knock! (Who's There?)
16. Goin' Places
17. Envy (In My Eyes)
18. Don't You Want My Lovin'
19. Spinning Top
20. Mr. Twenty One

Note also, this is a great job of both mixing and mastering - the sound is terrific all way through.

"I'll Be True" It might be better off forgetting this is supposed to be the Orlons when listening to this one - it's an exceedingly beautiful and intense old-style doo-wop ballad. Still it's a fine introduction to the CD, and segues neatly into the next song. [5 stars]

"The Wah-Watusi" (Billboard #19) - what to listen for if you only remember this great tune and subsequent Top 5 hits from listening on a bargain-basement 6-transistor radio in 1963: the drums are unbelievably crisp sounding, the grooves are wonderful! [5 stars]

"Don't Hang Up" (Billboard #4) - infectious, infectious, infectious! [5 stars]

"The Conservative" - retro, kind of do-wop, with great melody, background harmonies/riffs, and very interesting lyrics in the form of a story-song. Another reviewer calls it lame probably based on the fact that he dislikes conservatives. Remember, this was 1963, and probably referred to a guy who dressed and acted like what used to be called "straight", but who was the type the singer was turned on by; i.e., not necessarily someone who would've voted for Barry Goldwater back in the day, or Rubber Dubya at present. [5 stars]

"South Street" (Billboard #3) - Probably the best of their three top 5's - note that the phrase "Where do all the hippies meet?" doesn't pertain to the usual meaning of the term - remember this was only 1963. Back then the word hippie was more likely a synonym for hipsters, jazz/dance aficionados, and the like. There also was a group on the same record label as the Orlons who were named the Hippies, but it's unlikely they made up the name, but themselves borrowed it from then-current urban subculture (Harlem, the Village, etc.). [5 stars at least]

"Cement Mixer" - a great novelty-party tune that verges on calypso. "See the mello-rooney come out! Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!" [5 stars]

"Not Me"(Billboard #12) - a remake of Gary U. S. Bonds' "New Orleans", with an entirely different set of lyrics - country-hopping rather than sticking to Louisiana - with one verse each for California, Alabama, and Virginia. [5 stars]

"Crossfire" (Billboard #19) - with a terrific storyline about happenings at a dance, melody with mournful touches and haunting backgrounds, great arrangement and hooks - this is possibly their best hit song. It also includes a recurrence of the aforementioned term in the phrase "like the hippies do". [5 stars at least]

"Don't Throw Your Love Away" - before the sublime Searchers version went top 20 in '64, there was the Orlons version, every bit as good after you've listened to it a number of times. Check out the matchless piano accompaniment, and their spunky doo-wop ending with its killer ground-shaking harmonies. [5 stars at least]

"Bon-doo-wah" (Billboard #55) - Another infectious tune/arrangement - call-and-answer song - the instrumental and vocal riffs/bridges are incredible here; and there's great rhythm/meter interplay. [5 stars at least]

"Everything Nice" One of the best mid-to-uptempo feel-good songs I've ever heard - with heartwarming singing and wonderful riffing organ. [5 stars at least]

"Shimmy Shimmy" (Billboard #66) - Good up-tempo dance tune. [4 stars]

"Rules of Love" (Billboard #66) - Thinly-disguised version of "What I Say" - with different lyrics that gradually take on a sinister aspect: if you do what I say, "I'll let you graduate" - echoes of Lennon-McCartney's "Run For Your Life". [4 stars]

"Heartbreak Hotel" - It's hard to imagine an arrangement/recording that rivals the one by Elvis, but this one does it, as it gets better and better with each listen. It may end up being my favorite on this CD. There are a few slight alterations of melody and rhythm as compared with the original, but it's basically the overall arrangement (background vocals, etc) that sends this one into the High Heaven of rock and soul. [5 stars at least]

"Knock! Knock! (Who's There?)" (Billboard #64) - nice uptempo doo-wop dance tune, with great spoken statement and answer format at the end fade-out. [4 stars]

"Goin' Places" terrific feel-good "travel" song, with very inventive melodies. [5 stars]

"Envy (In My Eyes)" This is the song that sounds the most like Motown, specifically Martha and the Vandellas (more specifically "Dancing in the Streets", "Nowhere to Run"), though not quite. It retains a lot of that NYC feel, and keeps giving me chills all the way through. [5 stars at least]

"Don't You Want My Lovin'" - the groove has the drive of Blondie's "Call Me" from fifteen years later, though at a slower tempo; similarly, the singing has the intensity of Ike and Tina with the Ikettes. An unbelievably expressive sax section is the main compositional force behind the band, and dirty organ licks and the occasional piano chord provide subtler punctuation. [5 stars at least]

"Spinning Top" - more Ike and Tina sound, more uptempo, amalgamated with a Four Tops feel (fitting in terms of the song title) - unbelievable arrangement, vocals, vocals, vocals, with a bit of "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" style piano riffing mixed in subtly with a Stax-Volt lilt. [5 stars at least]

"Mr. Twenty One" - old style doo-wop, recorded earlier in '61 and thus out of sequence chronologically. Somewhat inferior to the rest. [2-3 stars]

Yes, Abkco Records, who have owned the Cameo & Parkway master tapes since 1967 have finally released these hits on CD!
The Orlons had a highly recognizable sound. Not just because they had great harmonies and lead singer, Rosetta Hightower sang with such conviction.....but they also had sole male member Steve Caldwell chiming in with a "oh baby!" here and there.
This Philadelphia quartet gave Cameo Records some serious hits from 1961 to 1964! Their first chart hit, "Wah Watusi" hit # 2 on Billboard; followed by "Don't Hang Up" at # 4 and "South Street" at # 3. Very few groups can claim that their first three chart hits were all in the national Top 5!
The Orlons hits had a funky, light hearted, feel-good groove to them.
Besides their big hits, this CD also includes the noteable "B" side: "Don't Throw Your Love Away". It was covered successfully by British Invasion rockers, The Searchers in 1964.
By the way...in their hit "South Street" the Orlons were not referring to the Haight Ashbury love children "hippies"....with their line"...where do all the hippies meet? South Street! South Street!..." The Hippies were another recording act on Cameo/Parkway Records, who had their single "Memory Lane" reissued in 1963..........so The Orlons hit had a built it plug for their label mates "The Hippies".
Get this Orlon's collection! It swings!

Here is another long-awaited collection from the ABKCO vaults that should satisfy many collector's yen for Cameo-Parkway artists on CD. I've waited a long time, but I'm very pleased with this compilation of hits, near-hits, B-sides, and LP selections. Good liner notes detailing The Orlons' story is also included. The hits "The Wah-Watusi", "Don't Hang Up" and "South Street" appear on the Cameo-Parkway Story box set, but having "Not Me", "Crossfire!" and a pre-British Invasion version of "Don't Throw Your Love Away" (The Searchers) on this collection justify the bargain price of this single CD.

"The Orlons," along with their high school friends "The Dovells" were among the first hit-making groups to come out of Philadelphia, in the early 1960's, following on the late 1950's heels of such big Philadelphia soundsters as Fabian and Bobby Rydell. They were known for light,fun dance tunes, had three big hits in succession, "Wah Watusi," "Don't Hang Up," and "South Street," and were early 60's regulars on Dick Clark's televised "American Bandstand." But, although at various times their membership varied between three and five girls, they weren't exactly a girl group, as they featured the basso profundo of their high school friend Stephan Caldwell. And their act was killed dead by the 1964 British invasion.

The current Cameo collection of their seminal early 60's work features, of course, their three big hits. "Wah Watusi," still danceable. "Don't hang up," Rosetta Hightower, lead singer by this time, belts it out in her big voice. And "South Street," where all the hippies go to dance, ever danceable. Of course, in the early 1960's, hippies had not yet been invented, and Haight-Ashbury had not yet been discovered; the "hippies" referred to in this song were another group in the Cameo Studio stable (as the name of the group at hand, "The Orlons," referring to a new down market fiber popular then, is a play on that of their friendly high school rival girl group, "The Cashmeres.") At any rate, this album also includes their smaller hits, the B-sides, and a number of swinging covers. The music itself sounds a bit thin and dated to me; it just doesn't have the full, rich dynamic range you might be used to. But as an all-singing, all-dancing souvenir of those great "Hairspray," "American Bandstand" days, it can't be beat.

This compilation is a true American treasure. In particular, I like these three songs: THE WAH WATUSI, DON'T HANG UP, and KNOCK! KNOCK! (WHO'S THERE?). These three songs are infectious, lively, and seem to have been composed with an abundant variety of chord changes and rhythmic nuances.

The quality of the singing, and the variety of the instrumentation, is just as good as that of THE MARVELETTES. I have The Best of The Marvelettes, on the 20th Century Masters Millenium Collection, which includes the classic, TOO MANY FISH IN THE SEA. THE ORLONS has one male singer, who has the ability of dropping his voice, so that it assumes the gravelly quality of Jack Mercer (1910-1984), who was the voice of Popeye in the black and white Popeye cartoons. The same gravelly male voice can be found in ALONG CAME JONES and LITTLE EGYPT, by THE COASTERS. I recommend The Very Best of The Coasters on the Rhino label, which contains these eternal classics.

Now, let us return to my initial impression that DON'T HANG UP has "an abundant variety of chord changes and rhythmic nuances." As it turns out, the chords for DON'T HANG UP go like this: G Em C D C D C D, G C G, C D G, Em Em Em C D. Not much to it. Pretty easy. That is the entire song. Just these four chords, in this order, repeated a few times.

The lyrics of DON'T HANG UP go like this:

"I took a walk with Mary Lou.
I ran around to visit Sue.
She had some boys I never knew.
Don't hang up.
They took a ride so baby I went too.
Stopped at the record hop I had to be a sport.
We jumped and we did the slop.
Then you walked in and I was caught.
Don't hang up."

As one can see, the lyrics are a bit odd. They consist of sentences that are concise to the point that they seem like fragments of sentences. The lyrics of DON'T HANG UP resemble the lyrics of a typical song by DEVO. For example, the lyrics of Mr. B'S BALLROOM by DEVO consists of sentences are also concise to the point where they seem like fragments:

Party time turn the music up loud
Party time lose your head in the crowd
Yellin' laughin' tryin' hard to act smart
Put 'em under pressure and you watch them fall apart
Freeze! come on out of there
Freeze! you ain't goin' nowhere
Freeze! put your hands on your head
Freeze!
It's mr. b's ballroom"

Hence, DON'T HANG UP, as well as other songs by THE ORLONS, are distinguished by their extremely infective quality, easy chords, and strange fragmentary lyrics that resemble the early songs by DEVO. It might even be concluded that the fragmentary nature of the sentences, in these sets of lyrics, contributes to their infectious quality.

Songs by THE ORLONS are not much represented on compilations of moldy oldies. Why not? I don't know. For example, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of DICK CLARK'S 12 ALL TIME HITS, do not contain any songs by THE ORLONS. Also, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of THE BEST OF THE GIRL GROUPS on the Rhino label, also do not contain any songs by THE ORLONS.

The Best of the Orlons Cameo Parkway 1961-1966 showcases some of the best music The Orlons ever made. The Orlons had a style and a sound that was meaningful and nothing short of excellent. They could sing just about anything they ever wanted to sing, too. The overall quality of the sound on this CD is quite good; and I love the artwork even if it is somewhat standard for this CD series.

"I'll Be True" features The Orlons front and center; this doo-wop sounding tune sounds fresh and new even in our times. The Orlons perform this love song with panache and it makes a great opening number for this album. "The Wah Watusi" was clearly one of their best hits ever; and just one listen will tell you why! They sing and play this to perfection--although wisely the musicians never try to steal the show away from the people singing and that's wonderful. The music makes good use of the percussion, too. "Don't Hang Up" was another tune that really made the airwaves sizzle back in the day; whenever I hear this number I find myself tapping my foot to the beat no matter where I am! "Don't Hang Up" is another major highlight of this album. In addition, "South Street" has an awesome rhythm that stuns me; I'm mesmerized by this tune and I could never tire of hearing The Orlons perform "South Street." Again, they use the percussion and drums very well and they sing this without ever letting go of a single superfluous note! I'm very impressed.

"Cement Mixer" just plain sounds good; and I really like "Don't Throw Your Love Away." "Don't Throw Your Love Away" is a prime example of The Orlons harmonizing to perfection--and beyond! The sound quality isn't quite as good as I would have liked it to be but this track is enjoyable nonetheless. "Bon-doo-wah" is fun for dancing even today; and there's another gem in "Shimmy Shimmy." "Shimmy Shimmy" sounds terrific every time I hear it and The Orlons are really at the top of their game as they do this one up right! "Rules of Love" has that 1960's rock and roll flavor that I love so much; and there's "Heartbreak Hotel" which they ace as effortlessly as if it were mere breathing! Of course we know it really wasn't all that easy; their talent always carried them through.

"Goin' Places" has a great beat; The Orlons handle complex tempo and key changes like the pros they always were and still remain! "Don't You Want My Lovin'" rocks while giving us a poignant song; and "Spinning Top" shines bright, too. The CD ends strong with The Orlons performing "Mr. Twenty One." "Mr. Twenty One" is powerful and it leaves me wanting more.

The Orlons were incredible and this CD certainly does them the justice they deserve. This is wonderful for their fans and it makes a strong starter CD for newcomers to their memorable artistry.

I've been awaiting a CD release of the Orlons for years now! This is one of the first albums that my mother ever played for me when I was a kid! How many miles did I dance to these tunes in the living room??? I am thrilled that they are FINALLY on CD!

Great cd. A few lame songs, like the Conservative song and the first tune, but overall it's great stuff. I had never heard the song "Knock! Knock!" before and I can't figure out why it wasn't a hit. That song is great and it's so funny. Their later tracks don't include the guy in the group and that's too bad because I liked his influence, but the songs are still very good.

All the hits are here including the rare "Spinning Top" but you have to like the group to get this one. Some great dance tunes.