Customer Reviews

Hard To Find 45s On CD, Volume 11 (Sugar Pop Classics)

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Notwithstanding the music-listening public's embrace of lossy compression music files that have relegated the CD music format to near dinosaur status, a few companies continue to take the higher road. And, in spite of the additional challenge of having to license tracks from the rights owners in the domestic market, Eric Records charges ahead with two new volumes in their "Hard to Find 45's on CD" series.

This volume, number 11, subtitled "Sugar Pop Classics", gathers up a sampling of melodious heard-on-the-a.m.-radio tunes from the late 60's and early 70's. Some detractors may scowl at the saccharinity of these sometimes formula-driven ditties, but they offered a bright and tuneful alternative to the caustic rock side of the then pop music spectrum. And while every one of the 19 songs included here made the top 40 and would be familiar to pop radio listeners at the time, these are not now the stuff of many oldies stations' play lists nor are they readily available on other reissue CD's.

This refreshing new compilation CD offers a generous 19 tracks, all done with Eric's commitment to no-compromise sound quality. All tracks, save two (6 and 12) are presented in glorious wide-channel stereo, and one of these mono tracks is the original, uncensored version of Lou Christie's "Rhapsody in the Rain" as opposed to the "cleaned-up" stereo version that has made the rounds on other reissue CD's. Reliving the music here is the main purpose but if you ever wondered about the performers or the story behind the tune, Eric's extensive liner notes booklet offers lots of interesting reading with stuff few fans, if anyone, knew about even when these songs were populating the airwaves.

While many of these tracks enliven us, a few may bring a twinge of sadness, but they all are fun to listen to and sing along with. Kudos to Eric for offering us collectors and casual listeners alike another welcome volume in their outstanding series of 45's on CD. And if I may borrow from the equally amazing volume 12, "Keep the Ball Rollin'"!

Must admit I really only bought this because of past experience with Eric's top quality releases. On paper the disc didn't look that enticing to me as a number of the records charted quite low or not at all in my country. However now that I have the collection, it's great! A terrific selection. A succession of records that blend very well together. Great sound. To name a couple of highlights I'd nominate "Sugar Baby Love" and "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", but it's a very even collection.

Eric Records continues to produce the very best various artist compilations in the Pop Music genre! Hard to Find 45s on CD, Vol. 11: Sugar Pop Classics gathers 19 sweet hits from the 60s and 70s, many of which most listeners will be quite familiar with, as well as some that "bubbled under" the top of the charts. As with all Eric Records CDs in the series, the song selection, sequencing, sound quality, and liner notes (which include photos) are all top notch! I especially appreciated the inclusion of "Early in the Morning" by Vanity Fare, "Will You Be Staying After Sunday" by The Peppermint Rainbow, "Shame, Shame" by Magic Lanterns, and "Baby Take Me In Your Arms" by Jefferson. You would be hard pressed to hear these great songs on most so-called oldies stations these days. This is what makes these Eric Records compilations so enjoyable... there are plenty of songs which you already love, as well as a nice helping of songs that you may have missed when they originally charted, which will become new favorites! We are fortunate that Eric Records helps to keep this music alive! This is one of those CDs that you will be proud to add to your collection and which you'll enjoy listening to time and time again!

It is wonderful to have Eric Records release this compilation CD of late 60's/early 70's hits. The selection of songs is exceptional. Out of the 19 songs, I didn't have 11 of them on any CD in my collection already. How can you go wrong with such energized, feel good songs as MY BABY LOVES LOVIN', NICE TO BE WITH YOU, MONTEGO BAY, CHICK-A-BOOM, and all the rest. The sound is sharp and clear, and the booklet includes full liner notes, photos and track information. With record companies in the US virtually having stopped re-issuing oldies on CD, I commend Eric Records for pushing forth and releasing such a superb CD . Some of these songs may have been released before on various CD's, but copyrights change, and many CD collections put out in the 80's and 90's are now out of print. Rhino has been corporately owned for a decade, and no longer releasing CD collections like their Have A Nice Day or Didn't It Blow Your Mind series that thay used to. Same with Varese, and other labels. Thank God that Eric Records is still working to put out real CD's of music, when music was great. This CD is timeless, when artists, songwriters, record companies, and radio stations all released and played scores of singles. All competed in the process to make a great record, and get a hit. It's not like that anymore. Music, radio , record stores, and labels have changed or closed. Unbelievable when you look at the productive, now historic decades of the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's , when music and radio were in it's prime. I hope that we see more CD releases of hard-to-find oldies on CD. I'd love more " one hit wonders " of the 60's and 70's. Any great oldie that made not just Top 40, but Top 100, please do more volumes.

As I wrote about Volume 12 of this series, this collection is full of recordings that might have not received the attention they should have received when they were first released. However, I will also add that this volume is even more obscure than Volume 12 was! Nevertheless, "Girl Watcher", "Indian Lake", and "1900 Yesterday" are must-haves for any true collection of 60/70's pop music.

This collection is a delightful candy shop of bubblegum hits and rarities.The sound quality is great! Eric records is a winner across the board. I recommend you seek all your favorite oldies on this label.

Excellent service - great choice of music on the cd, and the recordings are clear and sound great. This was well worth the money.

This CD is loaded with great music and the quality is super ! I worked in broadcasting for years and in my retirement collect music. This was a great addition to my collection.

This is a very good collection. I ordered it for some of the hard to find hits. I appreciate original recordings, and Eric Records has always come through along with quality sound reproduction. I highly recommend this collection.

I've purchased several of these collections and always find them enjoyable, but this one is my personal favorite. Put it in your car CD player when you're driving alone, keep your windows rolled up and sing at the top of your lungs!