Customer Reviews

History of Rock 60's 2

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

 

 

The content on this disc is hard to beat. It has a good number of solid, desirable tracks - many of which are difficult to find on other compilations. This is the only reason I gave it two stars. But there's one BIG problem...

I have NEVER heard sound this bad off a pre-recorded CD before. Even in the first track, you don't have to listen very deeply to hear scratches and pops. And some of the titles have so much hiss in the background, you'd swear you were listening to a half-worn cassette tape. When I first put this disc in, I started checking the speakers because I thought something was awry with my system. Nope - just dreadful sound from the disc. It literally sounds like someone dubbed the songs from LP to cassette and then over again to compact disc.

This one isn't digitally remastered, it's belt-sanded.

Another great compilation. Where else could one find all these great old songs? Do The Casinos have a greatest hits album? I bet not. But "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" is a classic of the era, and one of the sweetest love songs of all time. What a timeless line: "If you must go, oh I won't grieve. If you wait a lifetime before you leave."

I also love "What Time Is It" by The Jive Five (where are they now?) and the relatively obscure "Your Husband, My Wife" by The Brooklyn Bridge. This was a hit in New York (where Johnny Maestro ruled first with the Crests and then a full decade later with the B. Bridge), but seemed to get little airplay anywhere else.

Twenty four songs make for a full value in this one disc. At least twenty are worth listening to time and tme again. Great value.

The only thing that keeps me from rating 5 stars is that a couple of these songs are almost unheard of, and were certainly not big hits.(Give him a great big kiss, I can never go home, Your husband, my wife.) But there is a lot of music for the money. High quality sound, all original music. All in all, a great CD!!

Generally speaking, the nostalgia window is roughly 20 years before the present, as a once youthful generation begins to settle into middle age and wistfully reminisce about the now seemingly sedate songs that once drove their parents wild. As such, the very definition of the term "oldies" and thus the format of your local "oldies station" is constantly in a state of flux.

Nowadays, some of us have reached a point where we're even nostalgic about our nostalgia! I can remember a time, not too long ago, when the oldies station played songs from the 50s and 60s, the kinds of songs you'll find on this cd and its companions on this excellent 5 disc set. As time marches on, however, most of the oldies stations I used to listen to have started adding an ever-increasing amount of Studio 54 disco, schmaltzy Greg Brady style pop drek, and even crossover Kenny Rogers country to their playlists! Blech!

But the playlist of the flagship of all oldies stations, WCBS FM (circa 1991), remains forever frozen in time on five discs here for your listening pleasure.

This volume, disc 2, is my favorite in the set. Here you'll find virtually all of the genres you remember from the era represented in force.

You want girl groups? How about the Shangri-Las ("Give him a Great Big Kiss" and "I Can Never Go Home Anymore"), the Chiffons ("Sweet Talkin' Guy"), and the Dixie Cups ("People Say")?

R&B and Soul? How about the Neville Brothers ("Tell It Like It Is") and the Soul Survivors ("Expressway to Your Heart")?

Folk Rock? We've got Dion ("Abraham, Martin and John"). Syrupy Pop? How do the Archies ("Sugar, Sugar") grab you? It's all there, from Doo Wop to British Invasion. Of course, there are a couple of missteps by my standards ("Your Husband, My Wife", for example) but there's no accounting for taste.

There is, however, as other reviewers have noted, one major flaw: the mastering defintely leaves something to be desired. That said, 24 original recordings by the original artists is a lot for the money, and hey, you don't have to turn the volume down to dodge the Disco Duck!

This refers to the track listing posted here. This listing does not match up with the cassette/LP version of this double album set, which is featured on this Web page. I bought this album many years ago and it's great. The sound quality does not match the remastered expectations of labels like Rhino Records, but it's fair sound nonetheless.

Here's the track listing according to my copy of this album, again the cassette/LP version ONLY: The Worst That Could Happen - Brooklyn Bridge * A Little Bit Of Soul - Music Explosion * Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye - Casinos * The Boy From New York City - Ad Libs * Hurt So Bad - (Artist Unknown) * Expressway To Your Heart - Soul Survivors * Cara Mia - Jay & The Americans * Summer In The City - The Lovin' Spoonful * Your Husband, My Wife - Brooklyn Bridge * Elenore - Turtles * Love (Can Make You Happy) - Mercy * Venus - Shocking Blue * Sugar, Sugar - Archies * Sweet Talkin' Guy - Chiffons * Laugh, Laugh - Beau Brummels * Give Him A Great Big Kiss - Shangri Las * Time Won't Let Me - Outsiders * Spooky - Classics IV * Happy Together - Turtles * Abraham, Martin & John - Dion * Western Union Man - Five Americans * Tell It Like It Is - Aaron Neville * Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love) - Swingin' Medallions * New York's A Lonely Town - Tradewinds