Customer Reviews

Ps I Love You: Best of

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

 

 

I have 2 old 45's by the Hilltoppers on "DOT" records. One is "If I Didn't Care"(one of my favorites) on one side, and "Bettina" on the other. The other 45 is "Sweetheart" on one side and "The Old Cabaret" on the other side. I graduated in 1962 from Byram High south of Jackson, and we use to dance to these and all the other greats by the Hilltoppers at our school sock-hops. My boyfrind & I use to cruise around in his '57 Ford in the early '60's listening to all those oldies but goodies. Wow, if we could only turn back the hands of time, wouldn't that be great! But, the next best thing is we can still listen to our memories!

When my girl friend an I were dating, this group was still popular. We got married in 1960. When I graduated from middle school, I learned how to dance to "Till Then" and "P.S. I Love". I used to go my my fiance's home and play all of their singles. During my senior year, "Only You" and "Marianne" were current hits. When we moved back from Dallas in 1970, I forgot all of my record collection. All of my Hilltopper singles were lost forever. In 1988, I lost the only wife I ever had when she died on February 3. Three months ago, I bought the P. I. Love You CD. Since then, I have added the CD to my computer. Almost evertime I am using my computer, I listen to the Hilltoppers, remenesing, about my teenage years, my girlfriend who later became wife. I wish I knew how to contact their lead singer, Jimmy Sacca, to thank him and to tell him how much his music meant to us when my wife was living, and how much it means to me now when I want to feel close to her spirit. Her name was Argie Gomez Ochoa.

HAVE OWNED THIS L. P. RECORD SINCE THE LATE 1950'SAND LOVE IT. AM DELIGHTED TO FIND IT ON A CD. ANYONE WHO LIKES EASY LISTENING WILL LOVE IT.

This is one good cd. It features almost all of the great songs by the group. BILLY VAUGHN and JIMMY SACCA, SETMORE SPIEGELMAN & DON McGUIRE set the scene for many of the white Rock'n Roll groups of the late 50's and early 60's. It is a rock'n roll history lesson to hear this great group. If you want something special..this HILLTOPPERS cd. is a must.

How clearly I recall standing on a wooden chair at the Michigan State Fair in the 50's, straining to get a look at Jimmy and The Hilltoppers as they sang our favorites, like "Poor Butterfly" and "A Fallen Star". Through the years I've tried to convince younger friends that the Hilltoppers were one of the top vocal groups of the 50's, and now I have this great CD to remind me of those days nearly fifty years ago when The Hilltoppers ruled.

Can Jimmy Sacca really be over 70? How I'd love to tell him how much he and the HT's meant to all of us during our high school days. In the meantime, I will enjoy this new-found CD as if I were back in high school in the 50's.

The Hilltoppers first hits came out in my Senior year of High School and my group of friends fell in love with the quartet. Lockport, New Yorks Jimmy Sacca their lead, was one of the most underated singers of the era. This easy listening vocal group set a high standard for the period with such hits as "Trying," "P. S. I Love You" and "Love Walked In," not to mention a score of others. Unfortunately the original group broke up after only a few years, with several of the singers choosing to begin other careers having completed college. Replacements were not of the same quality as the originals and the groups longevity was far to short.

This is a wonderful group. I anyone has any Info. on this groups old song titled "Me and My Burro please send the information on. This is an old song with sheet music that I am trying to find.

Oh how I remember those times when as a teenager I would be driving around in my 1940 Ford, listening to The Hilltoppers with the beautiful voice of lead singer Jimmy Sacca. Then, going into the restaurants and playing their songs on the nickle juke box. I don't know if it ever hit the charts but one of my favorites was, To Be Alone. Perhaps we'll never see the likes of them again.

Fans of the Hilltoppers will certainly have no complaints with this collection. "P.S. I Love You: The Best of the Hilltoppers" offers up 18 tracks including all of the group's biggest records. In the three year period from 1953 through 1955 the Hilltoppers were a fixture on Billboards "Hot 100". In fact, 9 of their tunes would become Top Ten hits. Each and every one of them is included in this very fine anthology from Varese Sarabonde.
Led by talented lead vocalist Jimmy Sacca, the Hilltoppers recorded a number of memorable tunes including "Till Then", "P.S. I Love You", "I'd Rather Die Young" and the #3 smash "Marianne". It might also be worth noting that the group also included Billy Vaughn who would go on to have a quite a few instrumental hits as leader of the Billy Vaughn Orchestra. One of my favorite selections on this disc is a tune called "Time Waits For No One" which peaked at #25 late in 1954. I also enjoyed "The Kentuckian Song" as well as the groups very first hit record "Trying". As usual, Varese Sarabond does a nice job with the 8 page booklet that is included here and I found the sound quality to be excellent.
One might wonder why I would give "P.S. I Love You: The Best of The Hilltoppers" just three stars. The truth of the matter is that I found a good many of these songs to be rather bland and somwhat monotonous which was not an unusual criticism for Dot recordings in those days. While I can enjoy listening to 3 or 4 of these tunes here and there this is not a disc I would ever play in it's entirety. Frankly, I prefer the music of some of the Hilltoppers contemporaries like the Four Aces, Four Lads, Four Coins and the Ames Brothers. As an avid collector, I own this disc primarily because I find it to be the best available collection from a significant group of this era. In most cases, I find myself deducting points from an anthology because the record company failed to include meaningful liner notes or maybe because the sound quality is mediocre. But in this case I find that the music leaves something to be desired. As such, I can only offer up a lukewarm recommendation at best.

i always remember listening years ago and i think the first formation were the best and that they more than held their own with their contempories.
it is a very good collection but i still think [untill the real thing comes along which was a hit in england with only you on the other side]should always be included in their best collection.i think they were a college group.
anyway thats just my opinion.
jeff.