Customer Reviews

Hey! Look What I Found, Vol. 4

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

 

 

Another 27 mostly minor hits and misses from the late 50's into the mid-70's with a few decent-charting hard-to-find sides thrown in, served up by the Mavis outfit in Canada. While some of these titles may sound familiar, these versions are by artists whose version took a back seat, or in some cases took no seat at all, to the real hit version.

Bill and Doree Post's version of "Sixteen Reasons" had no chance against Connie Stevens' top-10 version. The "Alley-Oop" version here by Dante and the Evergreens, while second to the Hollywood Argyles' monster hit at least outdid a third version by the Dyna-Sores. Garry Miles' "Look For A Star" actually edged out versions by Garry Mills and Deane Hawley. Jimmie Rodgers' treatment of "Wreck Of The John B", much more in the folk style of the song's origin, was virtually ignored and the song unknown until the Beach Boys made a top pop hit out of it in 1966. Tracey Dey's pounding version of Patience and Prudence's squishy 1956 hit "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" deserved more attention on the charts than it received when issued in 1964. While the versions of songs here are mostly the losing ones, that is part of what makes this collection more interesting in that it doesn't recycle the same tunes found in other compilations. There are a few sides included for their sheer idoicy alone such as the so-called Alfred E. Neuman's "It's A Gas", the vocals of which consists entirely of belches.

The downfall here, as with the other volumes in this series, is the mediocre sound quality that, at times, is fairly miserable - tracks 10 and 18 are particularly ragged. Of these needle drops, at least a few - 13,15,25 are from stereo discs and sound reasonably clean. Following the theme of this series, this volume provides some more obscure hits and misses for those who are seeking out some of these truly rarely, if ever, found-on-CD tunes. As the track listings were not supplied at the time of this review they are listed below.

1) (Make With) The Shake - Mark IV
2) I've Got A Lot To Learn - Kenny Rogers
3) Bewitched - Betty Smith Group
4) Tennessee Waltz - Jerry Fuller
5) Starry Eyed - Garry Stites
6) Marina - Rocco Granata
7) I'll Walk The Line - Don Costa
8) Everybody Outta The Pool - Lifeguards
9) Bad Boy - Marty Wilde
10) Alley-Oop - Dante & Evergreens
11) Look For A Star - Garry Miles
12) Sixteen Reasons - Bill & Doree Post
13) Wreck Of The John B - Jimmie Rodgers
14) Hello Fool - Ralph Emery
15) I Could Have Loved You So Well - Ray Peterson
16) All Of This For Sally - Mark Dinning
17) It's A Gas - Alfred E. Neuman
18) The Twistin' Ghost - Maximillian
19) Jealous Fool - Jimmy Breedlove
20) Blue Guitar - Richard Chamberlain
21) My Baby's Just Crazy 'Bout Elvis - Mike Sarne
22) Gonna Get Along Without You Now - Tracey Dey
23) Hey-Da-Da-Dow - Dolphins
24) Noshville Katz - Lovin' Cohens
25) God, Love And Rock And Roll - Teegarden & Van Winkle
26) Third Rate Romance - Amazing Rhythm Aces
27) The Biggest Parakeets - Jud Strunk

First of all, let me say at the outset that audiophiles will NOT like this series from Mavis of Canada as the sound quality is certainly not up to the standards of anything to emanate from the likes of Ace of London, Rhino, Varese-Sarabande, Eric Records, or Collectables. In fact, it tends to waver from barely adequate to satisfactory.

Even so, for those of us who grew up with the hiss and pop of the 78- and then the 45-rpm this is tolerable, and if you gather together all eleven volumes in the series (so far) you will have 297 selections you're not apt to find in too many top-quality releases (so far). Indeed, some you won't find anywhere else as many were minor hits by bona-fide One-Hit Wonders. It is also important to note that there are no liner notes whatsoever, although the insert does contain a re-listing of the tracks showing both the artist and tune's writer/composer.

Because each is just a random continuance of the releases before it, and ranges from 1955 to the 1970's depending upon the volume, I will repeat this opening blurb in each, followed by some information you may find useful on each of the tracks.

As usual I'll start off with the non-Billboard hits which mostly charted in Canada: I've Got A Lot To Learn by Kenny Rogers (circa 1958 and pre-First Edition); Everybody Out'ta The Pool by The Lifeguards (circa 1959); Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You) by Bill & Doree Post (circa 1961); All Of This For Sally by Mark Dinning (circa 1962); It's A Gas by Alfred E. Neumann (circa 1962); The Twistin' Ghost by Maximillian (circa 1962); Jealous Fool by Jimmy Breedlove (circa 1963); My Baby's Just Crazy 'Bout Elvis by Mike Sarne (circa 1963); and Noshville Katz by The Lovin' Cohens (circa 1967 spoof of Nashville Cats by The Lovin' Spoonful).

Those that made the Billboard charts in the 1950's are: (Make With) The Shake by The Mark IV (# 69 Billboard Pop Top 100 in April 1958); Bewitched by The Betty Smith Group (# 50 Top 100 instrumental in July 1968 and their only hit); The Tennessee Waltz by Jerry Fuller (# 63 Billboard Pop Hot 100 cover of the 1950 Patti Page hit, in late 1959); Starry Eyed by Gary Stites (# 77 Hot 100 in late 1959); Marina by Rocco Granata & The International Quintet (# 31 Hot 100 in late 1959 and his only hit - one of my personal favourites); and I'll Walk The Line by Don Costa & His Orchestra And Chorus (# 59 Hot 100 in late 1959).

Here are the Billboard 1960s hits: Bad Boy by Marty Wilde (# 45 Hot 100 in Early 1960 and the only hit for this first tentative wave of the coming British Invasion); Alley-Oop by Dante & The Evergreens (# 15 Hot 100 in June 1960); Look For A Star by Garry Miles (# 16 Hot 100 in summer 1960 and his only hit - not to be confused with Garry Mills who also had a hit with the same tune from the film Circus Of Horror and on a later volume); The Wreck Of The "John B" by Jimmie Rodgers with the Joe Reisman orchestra (# 64 Hot 100 in August 1960); Hello Fool by Ralph Emery (# 4 Country "answer" song to Hello Walls in late summer 1961 and his only hit); I Could Have Loved You So Well by Ray Peterson (# 57 Hot 100 in late 1961/early 1962); Blue Guitar by Richard Chamberlain (# 12 Adult Contemporary (AC)/# 42 Hot 100 in fall 1963); Gonna Get Along Without You Now by Tracey Dey (# 17 AC/# 51 Hot 100 in May 1964); and Hey-Da-Da-Dow by The Dolphins with The Driving Wind Orchestra (# 69 Hot 100 in late 1964/early 1965 and their only hit).

This is the first volume to contain 1970's hits, which are: God, Love And Rock & Roll by Teegarden & Van Winkle (# 22 Hot 100 in October 1970); Third Rate Romance by The Amazing Rhythm Aces (# 11 Country/# 14 Hot 100/# 33 AC in late summer 1975); The Biggest Parakeets In Town by Jud Strunk (# 50 Hot 100 and # 51 Country in late summer 1975 and a delightful tune full of double-entendres).

That's not a question. Used to be, in the days of LPs, there would be available hit songs from the past but if you weren't careful, you'd buy and find out they were not by the original artists but by Joe Banana and the Five Peels. The people who compiled this ripoff have a lot of nerve! One star each for Mark Dinning's "All of This for Sally" and The Amazing Rhythm Aces' contribution. Really!