Customer Reviews

Teenage Crush, Vol. 1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The UK's ACE label has put together on a single disc twenty-eight terrific teen ballad hits from 1955's "Cry Me a River" by Julie London to 1962's "Close to Cathy" by Mike Clifford. Many of these artists themselves were in their teens when these songs were recorded.

All but two of these songs were in the top fifteen on the pop chart. [The lone exceptions were Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" (No. 91), who had a more successful career as a country artist, and Jesse Belvin's "Guess Who" (No. 31), who was killed in a car crash within a year of the release of his first single and never got the chance to reach his potential as an artist.] A few of these songs are still in heavy rotation on Oldies radio, like "Born Too Late," "Sealed With a Kiss" and "Tell Laura I Love Her." However, many of these are forgotten gems that haven't been heard on the radio in decades. Jack Scott's "What in the World's Come Over You" was one of two million-sellers he had in his career, yet he is largely ignored today. Phil Phillips' No. 2 hit "Sea of Love" in 1959 has been eclipsed by the Honeydrippers' 1985 version. One of the reasons I bought this CD was to get the G-Clefs "I Understand," a song I first heard on the Introducing Herman's Hermits LP. [I had no idea it was a Top Ten hit for the G-Clefs four years earlier!]

While this aging Baby Boomer didn't get the chance to enjoy these songs when they were first released, I'm taking the opportunity to savor them now. Also, the 20-page booklet is packed with publicity stills, trade magazine ads, and thorough documentation on each song and artist. ACE has used the best source tapes available for this collection and all but tracks 1, 4, 10, 15, 19, 20, 26, 27 and 28 are in stereo. For the price, you won't find a better collection of teen ballads. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The folks at ACE U.K. (as usual) release another classic group of oldies. The compilation is full of STEREO mixes of classic songs from the late 50's and early 60's...Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" from 1960 is in wide stereo (for the first time). The Cleanest mix of "SEA OF LOVE" by Phil Phillips, A Great Stereo mix of "CHANCES ARE" by Johnny Mathis. This CD has 28 certified classics. If you collect 50'and 60's rock'n roll, you gotta get this one. Hats off to John Broven for getting the songs together for ACE.

Ace Records of England, the premier reissue label (eclipsing even Rhino Records in the U.S.) launches a new compilation series focusing on "teen ballads" performed for the most part by teens themselves. These tunes are the mainstay of the late 50's/early 60's soda shoppe jukebox offerings and with all but two of those included in this CD having been top-twenty songs, there's plenty of memory-tickling ditties to please even the most casual fan of the genre.

In amongst the usual oldies staples are many less frequently anthologized sides such as Steve Lawrence's "Pretty Blue Eyes", Adam Wade's "Take Good Care Of Her" and Julie London's "Cry Me A River" to name a few. Ace has produced this series with the same extraordinary commitment to quality as is seen in their "Golden Age Of American Rock And Roll" lineup. A massive 28 tracks, 19 in stereo (1,4,10,15,19,20,26,27,28 in mono) and a 20-page liner notes booklet with lots of pics and info on the included tracks and artists all for just a few dollars more than the ubiquitous run-of-the-mill - and usually inferior - domestic packages.

This is a superb selection for a starter piece or addition to a music collection of the innocent age of American rock and roll.

I don't have too much to add to the other positive reviews. The sound quality here is excellent--you don't have to play all those scratchy old 45s any more ! These are primarily "teen ballads", with some "one-hit wonders' who seldom appear in oldies collections. Just a few unconnected comments :--

--Phil Phillips' "Sea of Love" is a great opener--a wonderful record.

--Jack Scott--what a great voice, and he's still going strong !

--Adam Wade's voice is so similar to that of Johnny Mathis, and you can compare them because both gentlemen are on this CD.

--I like the Fleetwoods, but in the case of "Tragedy", I prefer the Thomas Wayne version.

Discs like this are great because they really do turn your CD player into a "Jukebox", and it's fun sometimes to hear hits from the late 50s and early 60s other than Elvis, Fats, Chuck, Jerry Lee etc.who are already well-represented in the collections of rock n' roll fans.

I look forward to more "volumes", and again congratulations to Ace--a very appropriate name !

Teenage Crush has a whopping twenty-eight (yes, twenty-eight) tracks of great ballads and love songs from the 1950s and early 1960s. If you like this type of music, you've got to get this CD! The quality of the sound is excellent; and this CD is also the first in a series of CDs bearing the same name.

With twenty-eight tracks, I hardly know where to begin. "Sea Of Love" by Phil Phillips & The Twilights makes for a great beginning number; The Twilights harmonize well as Phil sings this with great sensitivity. Good piano and percussion, too. Listen also for The Poni-Tails singing "Born Too Late;" this was a smash hit for them and many a young couple slow danced to this practically timeless ballad. In addition, there's also Frankie Avalon doing his classic 1959 number "Bobby Sox To Stockings." Great backup chorus on "Bobby Sox To Stockings," too!

"Sealed With A Kiss" gets regal treatment from Brian Hyland. The harmonica works well for the intro; and Brian sings this with all his heart and soul. I really like "Sealed With A Kiss;" and I think that you will, too. Bobby Vee also makes a great number out of "Devil Or Angel;" Bobby sings sweetly and the backup vocalists bolster Bobby's performance.

The hits keep on coming! Listen for "It's All In The Game" by Tommy Edwards. Tommy's strong masculine voice is also full of warmth as he sings this ballad about the universal quest for love. Great guitars on this number, too. "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning is easily another classic; and Johnny Mathis croons his beautiful rendition of "Chances Are." Johnny Mathis' "Chances Are" is clearly one of the highlights of this CD.

Almost last--but never too late--is the wonderful Julie London singing "Cry Me A River." Julie makes "Cry Me A River" into a true masterpiece as she sings this number as only she could. Excellent!

The CD comes with a booklet full of terrific mini-bios of the artists on this CD; and the artwork will impress you. We get the years each song peaked on the charts, too.

Overall, I can't recommend this CD enough for people who want fine music from the 1950s and early 1960s about young love--and, truthfully, a type of love that just about anyone, at any age, wants and cherishes. If you like this CD I would also recommend the other albums in this excellent series.

This album brings back so many memories! It has a whopping twenty eight songs on it and there are only a few that I don't recognize. I love singing along...Sealed with a Kiss...Devil or Angel...Hold Me,Thrill Me, Kiss Me...every song is a winner! Even if you're a teen now, you'll enjoy the simple lyrics and great melodies!

This cd contains oldies I haven't heard in years. I'm glad I found it, as it brings back memories.

I just bought this CD and ripped it to my PC. When playing back the sound was not up to par. At first I thought it was my PC or sound card, but when I played the CD on another player I got the same results. The instrumental and chorus was too loud and overshadowed the lead singers. I tried an MP3 version from a friends PC and it played perfectly fine. It is pretty sad when an MP3 version sounds far better then a CD version. I have ordered the second volume and hope it doesn't sould like the first volume, if so it will be the last one I order from here.

Wonderful ballads from the past, it's great to hear them again in this fine and well done collection, no complaints at all about this cd, worth every penny.Will be very happy with this collection.

These are songs that I (and most other baby boomers) listened to and loved while growing up. Of course, each song has a certain preference to each individual and while we all may have gotten tired of a certain song because it was played over and over back then, today each has a special memory (at least for me), especially "It's All In The Game." I was 11, at my first dance and terrified to ask a certain girl to dance. But when I did, Tommy Edwards' voice seemed to make it all OK. My nerves disappeared and I requested that song several more times that evening, or course dancing with that same special girl each time.