I Want Candy: The Best Of The Strangeloves

The Strangeloves | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 11, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: LEGACY/EPIC ASSOCIATED
• ASIN: B0000027HI
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,253 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a dark horse - great "Australian" garage band (hoax or not), March 12, 2004

By 

Phil Rogers (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: I Want Candy: The Best Of The Strangeloves (Audio CD)

Their first album had this claim in the liner notes that they were from Australia - but they were really a non-band - a group of session musicians from NYC, of all things.

It was quite the mystique, really, and the music itself was/is awesome to boot. Garage rock was at the height of its early inventiveness, and "I Want Candy" was up there in the stratosphere. The followup, "Cara-Lin" was a bit of a knockoff (though at the time I liked it better). "Night Time" also really rocked - with tremendous tremelo strumming on lead guitar; and matchless, gutsy spoken vocal riffs at various junctures.

Part of the Strangeloves' signature sound was the loud, quick unison "heys" and strong tom-tom beats at the bridges. "Candy" had great jazzy, repeating guitar riffs; "Cara-Lin" had a powerful honking sax, somewhat like early Dave Clark Five tunes. Generally, their overall feel was a relentless, driving energy (at differing tempos, depending on the song).

As I remember, their b-sides were quite good as well.

The only other song I can remember that basically recapitulated their dominant style was the Troggs' "I Can't Control Myself", which was another incredible effort (although its lyrics surpassed those of the Strangeloves by a healthy margin).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars *Hey!* Catchy CD With *Fun* Songs!, June 15, 2010

By 

Alex Honda "onyx575" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Want Candy: The Best Of The Strangeloves (Audio CD)

I WANT CANDY: THE BEST OF THE STRANGELOVES is a pretty cool CD with some infectious beats. Although the only song I knew was "I Want Candy," after Bow Wow Wow did a cover in the 80s, I think the rest of the songs on this CD are pretty good.

Most tracks have simple lyrics that are repeated, against a heavy percussion beat, like in "I Want Candy," with a lot of "hey!" thrown in for good measure. All the songs have that great Go-Go, 60s sound and are catchy--guaranteed to make you hum, sing, and tap your foot to the beat! The Strangeloves do a cover of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Hang On Sloopy" by the McCoys, which wasn't a cover but given to the McCoys to record and release as single--according to Wikipedia--which became a number one hit.

On "Hang On Sloopy," I don't know if this is the original or re-recorded version by the McCoys.

The insert doesn't contain any info on the group, which is why I deduct one-star.

The CD is out-of-print but you can find it cheap, either new or used, through third party sellers here on Amazon or at a used music shops. If you like mid-60s pop music, pre-psychedelic rock and different than Motown, I would definitely say that you'll enjoy THE BEST OF THE STRANGELOVES.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, December 16, 2010

By 

Bill Your 'Free Form FM Handi Cyber Print DJ ... (Mahwah, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I Want Candy: The Best Of The Strangeloves (Audio CD)

Garage rock is one of my least favorite musics. I respect the impulse, but need more dynamics.

So I Want Candy by the Strangeloves impressing me shows how strong this album is. The title track--its really "Willie And The Hand Jive" on steroids-- with big beat and deliciously infantile demand is amazing with its hooks. This song does not use a lot of instruments, but the band makes a big roar, makes you instantly believe they want whatever the "Candy" is. We are all screaming babies deep down, brats that want that sweet stuff, and want it NOW! This is rock with its rebel boots in full shine. You instantly relate to this song, and it reminds why we have such a visceral love for rock and roll.

There are a lot of covers here: "Satisfaction," "Land of 1000 dancers," all imbued with volume and kicka-s joy. You gotta love a rock band having so much fun on rock voltage. Even if you don't like garage, this candy is sugar sweet and power packed and pretty soon, you'll be woofing down a lot of it.