Sunshine Lollipops & Rainbows: Best of

Lesley Gore | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 1998)
• Original Release Date: July 14, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B000006OJ8
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,282 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. It's My Party

2. Judy's Turn to Cry

3. She's a Fool

4. The Old Crowd

5. You Don't Own Me

6. That's the Way Boys Are

7. I Don't Wanna Be a Loser

8. Maybe I Know

9. Wonder Boy

10. Hey Now

11. Look of Love

12. Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

13. My Town, My Guy and Me

14. What Am I Gonna Do with You?

15. I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry)

16. Start the Party Again

17. Off and Running

18. California Nights

19. Summer and Sandy

20. Brink of Disaster

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unfairly derided aspect of rock history, March 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sunshine Lollipops & Rainbows: Best of (Audio CD)

Got this disc in a never-ending quest to own a complete history of rock 'n' roll on CD beginning with the late 40's and going at least until the early 70's, by which time I'll be broke but undoubtably satisfied with that wasted life.

Going in I thoroughly knew Gore's biggest hits (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8 & 18), plus the collection's sugary title track from her appearance in "Ski Party" (a hoot of a film in which James Brown appears out of the snow to sing "I Got You" and afterwards is promptly ushered out the door to fend for himself against wolves and the elements). These songs were all well written, produced (by Quincy Jones) and sung, but like so many songs from that era were overplayed on radio, TV and in the movies in recent decades, as well as being included far too often on those generic "Hits of the 60's" compilations. Thus it was more out of historical obligation and completist mania I got this than anything.

So what a revelation it was to hear the rest of her output, which was consistantly strong as well as musically diverse, too often a rarity in many careers, as these songs run the stylistic gamut, from the downcast "I Don't Want To Be A Loser" to the raucus, Spector-like "Look Of Love". While the themes may be similar, mostly revolving around love, especially dealing with untrue boys, the perspectives and outlooks contained within constantly change from song to song, as does the musical atmosphere behind them, making the disc refreshingly non-repetitive. Gore's double tracked vocals shimmer and she manages to throw in some effective growls, especially on the infectious "That's The Way Boys Are", that belie her clean cut image. There truly isn't a bad song to be found, and in fact, the first two cuts, by far her biggest hits, are comparatively the weakest of the lot, which is saying something.

As for the packaging and notes, while containing no bells and whistles, they are uniformly solid, with 6 pages of biographical information and song by song summary, plus the requisite chart and release info and a few pictures, while the sound quality of the disc is immpecible. The one complaint is the lack of 5 lower charted songs from '65 & '66, while not essential, would give a complete overview of her career. What Mercury & Rhino see in withholding them is anyone's guess. Other than that, all of her charted records are here, plus a few B-sides, and the picture these songs paint is a vibrant one of an underappriciated singer and style.

The "girl group" sound of the early to mid-60's is often put down by those seeking something more earth-shaking in their rock 'n' roll, but as long as one of the roles of music is to provide aural enjoyment for those listening, there will always be a place for catchy, simple, but not simplistic, songs like these. The real mark of just how well Gore fulfilled that need is evidenced by the fact she burst upon the scene in 1963, at the pinnical of the girl group era, yet unlike so many of the time who quickly faded away, she wracked up 19 hits through 1967. Meaning she surivived and thrived amidst the surf-rock tidal wave of '63, the British Invasion of early '64 and subsequent blues-rock imports from later that year, the folk-rock explosion of '65, the avant garde experiments of '66 and the psychedelic Summer of Love in '67, not to mention the steady presence of Motown and southern soul, plus all the momentary trends that came and went during those five years.

That's a pretty impressive feat no matter how you slice it, and the irrefutable proof that Lesley Gore earned every bit of that success can be found on this collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rhino Records does it again!, April 7, 2005

By 

Jason Piecuch (Merced, California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sunshine Lollipops & Rainbows: Best of (Audio CD)

Rhino and Hear Music are the best labels out there today. Period. The packaging, the liner notes, the photos, and their niche in the music industry have proven time and time again that a quality "greatest hits" package can be done well.

Lesley Gore was pure bubblegum pop of the times. The production with the likes of a Mr. Quincy Jones, combined with excellent song talent date stamp most of this period perfectly. The collection is great, and the packaging makes the voyage back to this time more special.

If you want a greatest hits comp that is done well, remastered perfectly, and packaged in a mature, sophisticated way. This is it. Excellent bargin too. Well done Rhino. Thanks!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Among The Expanded Array Of Leslie Gore CDs, July 31, 2007

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sunshine Lollipops & Rainbows: Best of (Audio CD)

For the longest time the only CD available covering her hits was the Mercury release The Golden Hits Of Lesley Gore. It was nice to see more and more coming onto the market the past few years for this highly- underrated singer, and this one from Rhino is easily the best.

From tracks 1 to 14, and 17 and 18 it repeats the contents of the above-mentioned CD, but then adds four that were not easily obtainable before in a quality CD. These are: I Won't Love You Anymore (Sorry) which reached # 80 Hot 100 in 1965; Start The Party Again from her 1966 LP Lesley Gore Sings All About Love; Summer And Sandy, a # 65 Hot 100 in the summer of 1967; and Brink Of Disaster, her last Hot 100 which hit # 82 in the fall of 1967.

Lesley would also have two Adult Contemporary-only hits, the first coming in 1969 when a medley of 98.6 and Lazy Day reached # 36, and the other in 1970 when Why Doesn't Love Make Me Happy topped out at # 39 - her last hit single. The former is currently available only in an expensive box set, while the latter does not appear to be included in any of the CDs currently available.

During her career three of her hits also crossed over to the R&B charts, a good illustration of her widespread appeal [It's My Party, Judy's Turn To Cry, and She's A Fool - nos. 1, 10, and 28 respectively], and she was backed by some of the biggest names in orchestras at that time, among them Claus Ogerman, Don Costa, Alan Lorber, Jack Nitzsche, and Hutch Davie. All this is detailed in the insert where you also get a discography of the contents, and seven pages of background notes by Richard Henderson to go along with several more nice shots of Lesley.

As James Austin of Rhino A&R says in an opening statement "would you believe that the same person who celebrated '60s teen angst with It's My Party and Judy's Turn To Cry was a fan of such jazz singers as Chris Connor and June Christy? Well, it's true." That comes across clearly in several tracks, but especially 14. Recommended.