Customer Reviews

Tommy's 22 Big Ones

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A while back MCA released a high-quality Tommy Roe collection that, while substantial, was not complete as far as his ABC singles were concerned. Here, this collection from Connoisseur in the U.K. (where Roe actually had even bigger success), happens to contain all his top-100 U.S. ABC singles. Although often dismissed as a bubblegum-type artist, during his 10 years of hitmaking with six top-10 including two number ones, many of his tunes still hold up today where some other so-called bubblegum music sounds pretty dated.

For maximum hit content, this CD surpasses the MCA piece but it does fall slightly short in the sound quality area on a few of the early tracks such as "Everybody" which appears in an annoyingly sub-standard electronically rechannelled version. Most of the songs however are in decent-sounding true stereo with the exception of tracks 5-8 which are in mono or fake stereo. The eight-page liner notes booklet contains a detailed musical history, a few pics and track details. If sound quality is paramount, go with the MCA piece but if track selection takes precedent, this is the one to own. Having both gives you the best of both worlds, if you're a Roe fan.

Tommy Roe will be remembered as one of the primary artists associated with the birth of bubblegum music in the late 1960s, but he was also a decent rock 'n' roll singer, especially early in his career. The obvious comparison is to Buddy Holly, especially since his first #1 hit, "Sheila," sounds a lot like Holly's "Peggy Sue" (right down to Roe's hiccuping vocal). You get that 1962 single and twenty one other "big ones" (not to be confused with "hits" apparently), two thirds of which were written or co-written by Roe, including his other Top 10 hits: "Everybody" (#9), "Hooray for Hazel" (#6), "Sweet Pea" (#8), "Dizzy" (#1) and "Jam Up Jelly Tight" (#8). Tommy Roe certainly represented Bubblegum music at its best, with twice as many Top 10 hits as the Patridge Family (I do not really think Tommy James and the Shondells were a Bubblegum group). When you talk Bubblegum music you are talking one hit wonders like the Archies ("Sugar, Sugar"), Ohio Experess ("Yummy, Yummy, Yummy"), and Edison Lighthouse ("Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"). Tommy Roe gets the honor of being the exception that proves the rule and if your choice is between a collection of Bubblegum tunes and a solid collection of Tommy Roe hits (or big ones), go with the kid from Atlanta, Georgia.