Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits: Original Masters

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You probably figured through the name of the label covering this 2008 release, That Philly Sound, that their focus is naturally on the music closely associated with Philadelphia-based artists in the heyday of R&R, the 1950s and 1960s. It's also fitting that the driving force behind this Len Barry compilation is one John Madara who, with song-writing partner Dave White, wrote some of the most memorable hits of that time, including Barry's 1-2-3, At The Hop and Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay for Danny & The Juniors, Chubby Checker's The Fly and You Don't Own Me by Leslie Gore.

As for Len Barry, whether or not, as legend has it, he actually sang with The Bosstones in 1958 on their rocking Mope-Itty Mope for the Boss label will likely remain open to conjecture, as the lead with the racially-mixed Dovells, and recording for Parkway, the man born Leonard Borisoff in Philadelphia on June 12, 1942, had three Top 40 pop hits in 1965/66 - right at the peak of the British Invasion - one of which crossed over to the R&B charts.

After failing briefly as a solo artist at Mercury he moved to Decca where he hit the charts in June 1965 with the # 84 Billboard Pop Hot 100 Lip Sync (To The Tongue Twisters), a nonsense tune along the lines of The Clapping Song, on Decca 31788 b/w At The Hop "65". While the charted side is here, the flip is omitted. So too is Bullseye, the B-side to the follow-up above-mentioned smash, 1-2-3 which soared to to # 2 Hot 100 and # 11 R&B in November on Decca 31827.

I find it strange they would omit the flip to his greatest hit, but include the B-sides to his last 3 charters, two of which were, after all, minor entries. In any event, his third hit, Like A Baby, made it to a modest # 27 Hot 100 in February 1966 b/w Happiness (Is A Girl Like You), yet another left out, on Decca 31889. A couple of months later, in April, Somewhere, from the Broadway musical West Side Story, went one notch better at # 26 Hot 100 b/w It's a Cryin' Shame on Decca 31923, and this time both sides are included.

After that it was slim pickings as It's That Time Of The Year staggered to # 91 Hot 100 in June 1966 b/w Happily Ever After on Decca 31969, and I Struck It Rich barely made the Hot 100 at # 98 in September b/w Love Is on Decca 32011. All four sides are here. No further hits ensued, but he did carry on with his stage act for a while, doing his best James Brown imitation. Other work at Buddah and Paramount (in the U.K.) in the early 1970s failed to produce any more hits.

The sound quality is excellent and the insert provides background details such as the names of the participating musicians and studios involved along with other information. It loses 1 star in my book for the omission of those 3 B-sides.

I have thought about buying a Len Barry CD for a long time. I finally made the decision to purchase this one, and I LOVE IT! I can't believe that I haven't worn it out by now. It will be a CD that I will forever keep with my collection.

There are a lot of definitions you could write about Len Barry and his music, along with a plethera of words to denote the absolute brilliance of the man and his music. needless to say this cd carries not only classics oldies, but it is also has some tracks that are not widely known in other people eyes or ears. Nuff said.