Customer Reviews

One Hit Wonders

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a lover of music from the 60's and 70's, I found this CD to be a lasting tribute to those artists whose musical talents unfortunately did not take them to the recognition beyond the single hits they will always be remembered for. Who can ever forget the 60's without remembering the summer of love's classic "Reach out in the Darkness," or the 70's without the summertime masterpiece "Montego Bay?" Artists such as Friend and Lover and Booby Bloom might not be household names, but the musical hits that they performed should bring back pleasant memories to the children of that era.

I highly recommend this CD to lovers of soft rock. The music contained here is soothing, relaxing, and will be a pleasant trip down memory lane to many.

The earlier reviewer was correct in noting that the version of "Tin Soldier" here is NOT the original hit version. The hit version was originally released on Warner Brothers 7509 (45 RPM Record) in 1971 and reissued by Warner Brothers 0101 (45 RPM Record) at the very end of 1973. The version here is a new and different recording which was released on MGM 14308 earlier in 1973.

I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but the version of "One Tin Soldier" by Coven on this CD is not their original. The original Coven version was on Warner Brothers and charted in 1971 to # 26 on the Hot 100. This CD's version was a re-record (although arranged and conducted by the same person, Mundell Lowe) and released on MGM Records, and charted almost two full years later, to # 79. Five months later, the Warner single re-charted to # 73. Further, the Coven version (both, actually) are better and more impassioned than the Original Caste version, which suffers from an overstatement of "mellow". The Warner's version of "One Tin Soldier" is available on volume 7 of Rhino's "Have A Nice Day: Super Hits of the 70s"

I have this CD and I had both The Original Caste's and Coven's versions of "One Tin Soldier" on 45 rpm record. Coven's version got the bulk of the airplay back in the day, but The Original Caste version is all I hear on local oldies (I live near the Canadian border) and on XM Radio's '70s station. All selections on this CD are the original versions. It gets only 3 stars from me for having only about 30 minutes of music.

Great songs. if you like the old songs, you will like this CD

At first I was a little skeptical about purchasing this CD because of the many renditions and remakes that are out there. Especially at such a low price (it would cost more to download these individually). I only had two concerns when hearing the disc and these are no biggies but I thought I'd mention them. First, all the songs sound great and as I expected but "One Tin Soldier" is the only one I question as to whether it's the original recording. It sounds close but I am not familiar enough with it to be sure. All the other songs sound to be true and original. Secondly, the sexy little romp "Jungle Fever" I was not familiar with at all, so it was a surprise addition for me when I first played the disc. Overall, this is a great buy!

Super CD - great old songs that are hard to find unless you have them on 45's which I do but it's nice to have them so I can listen to them in my car as well.

This is an interesting but not overwhelming assortment of one hit wonder oldies. It gives you everything from the Monster Mash to the Singing Nun. As a collector I purchased this set for Every Mothers Son's Come On Down To My Boat and Keith's 98.6. There are some other good songs on the CD, but I already had them on various Rhino collections. This is a collection you would be more likely to purchase for one or two particular songs.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various recordings from the 60's and 70's.

It is inexcusable that the powers that be behind the CD release of "One Hit Wonders" could take a 5 Star idea and turn it into ***.

The first and not as egregious as the second error is the total playing time. With a myriad of great tunes left off the release they could have given 12-14 tracks. To think a CD holds 80 minutes and not even half is full!

As two other fine reviews stated previously (M.Doane and Jonathan Schult) the legendary "One Tin Soldier (The Legend Of Billy Jack)" by Coven is not the version the listener is in tune with. It is both misleading and disgraceful.

This sort of thing was taken one step further frequently in Europe in the late 1960's and early 1970's by offering discount compilation of hits but the original recordings were not used. Hired studio musicians performed the tunes!

The majority of news here is good. "Reflections Of My Life - The Marmalade" is one of the finest and most intense lyrical compositions ever. You could make a case that as long as its contents are found here anything else is gravy.

"Come On Down To My Boat" - Every Mother's Son reminds us older folks of the great summers past. The first note takes you back to a simpler world. We didn't have the internet or even calculators but we did have some amazing rock and roll radio.

"98.6" - Keith may be the most underrated tune on the CD. Although simplistic in its arrangement, something sticks in the brain from the initial listening.

"Monster Mash" - Bobby Pickett is a staple of every Halloween. People were laughing then and still are now, but we are still enjoying the song.

Ten solid tracks and only a couple of gripes. Not bad.


Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

You wouldn't think it, but "Dominique" is a rare beast on CD. At least such was the case when I bought this CD (under its original title, Where Are They Now?) about ten years ago. You must give props to a simple acoustic number performed by a French-speaking nun that manages to keep a hands-down classic like "Louie Louie" out of the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100. Consider the climate: it was the winter of 1963, and the nation was still reeling from JFK. (Of course, the charts---and the country--would get shaken up in a revolutionary way a few months down the road.) All in all, it's a song that makes me feel good, and it's in good company on this disc. Sure, "Monster Mash" and "One Tin Soldier" figure in several anthologies, but for the price, this collection is tough to ignore.

Oh, wait! I didn't even mention "Jungle Fever"...