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Helen eventually became a jazz singer of some repute but she is mostly remembered for her early sixties pop music, which she recorded as a teenager. Her first four UK hits were also her biggest, with two of them (You don't know, Walking back to happiness) going all the way to number one and the other two (Don't treat me like a child, Tell me what he said) making the top three. After that, she had just one more top ten hit (Little Miss Lonely) and six minor hits, ending with a cover of Fever (Peggy Lee). This collection contains all of Helen's UK hits including the minor hits.

Most of the other tracks here are covers of songs made famous by others, although it is worth noting that Helen was the first singer to record It's my party, the song that eventually became Lesley Gore's biggest hit. A cover of a blues oldie (Basin street blues) offers a clue to Helen's later career as a jazz singer.

The remaining songs include covers of Lipstick on your collar (Connie Francis), Will you love me tomorrow (Shirelles), Teenager in love (Dion and the Belmonts), Are you lonesome tonight (Elvis Presley), Beyond the sea (Bobby Darin), It might as well rain until September (Carole King), Move over darling (Doris Day), Please Mr Postman (Marvelettes), Shop around (Miracles), Walk on by (Dionne Warwick), My guy (Mary Wells) and It's in his kiss (Betty Everett - this song was later a hit for Linda Lewis in the seventies and Cher in the eighties).

Of course, many compilations of Helen's music have been released before, often containing her own hits and a selection of other famous songs, but this double-CD also includes several obscure songs such asWhen I'm with you, I was only kidding, You won't come home and the intriguingly titled Daddy couldn't get me one of those, just to name a few.

This is an outstanding collection of Helen's music. If you enjoy early sixties pop music by such singers as Lesley Gore, Brenda Lee and Connie Francis, you ought to give Helen's music a listen.

Living in the states, i had only vaguely heard of helen shapiro till a few years ago. Since i liked the few songs i had heard, i purchased the EMI CD. I agree with the other reviewers that it is an excellent buy with a great selection of her songs. However, i did not notice that the Amazon description says "copy protected". The CD case itself says "on some equipment, for example car CD players, playback problems may be encountered". They're not kidding! While the CD plays perfectly on my 12-year old Yamaha CD carousel player, it won't play at all on my new (2006) Panasonic CD/DVD player - not a note! It is the only CD i have found so far that the Panasonic won't play. Don't know about the car player - i haven't tried it. Beware!

All alone or together with my friends to "browse" in the depth of golden oldies of the 50's and 60's,this album was the lacking brick on the main wall of my "oldies castle"(the name given to my oldies collection by my sister.)...Not only her beautiful songs that were the No.1 hits of that time but a very good interpretation of an immortal hit "Fever" which was sung by Peggy Lee and Elvis Presley was also included in this compilation.
I deeply recommend this album to everyone that are interested in golden oldies or collecting the recordings of 60's. If there was a "faculty of golden oldies",then this album would be a "must course" to be taken for graduation!
Thank you "amazon.com",you realized another dream of me!

I bought this CD on a whim having heard only one of her songs before and was very pleasantly surprised. This is a major talent with a very unique and powerful voice. There isn't a dud on this entire double CD of her hits. I'm very puzzled as to how she fell through the cracks over here in the states. She's definitely in a league with the best female artists of the 60s. I highly recommend this CD.

It was nice listening to old singers once again, especially Helen Shapiro. This was a well recorded CD.

This lovely CD contains 40 fine song selections. It is not all inclusive. I would like to see "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" and "Not Responsible" included, as these are two of Helens best works. (Search for them on You-Tube. They're great!)The sound quality is very fine. The beautiful pictures of beautiful Helen in the liner notes are very nice too. Helen Shapiro is one of the best 60s pop-singers, but she's almost unknown in the US. I think it's great that we're finding out about her now. It's been a long time coming!

as a child, I remember Helen Shapiro's songs from listening to them on the car radio on the way to school. At the age I was, buying 45's was not even on my radar.
I identified with 'Don't treat me like a child'. The upbeat rhythm of 'Walking back to happiness' and for some reason, 'Tell me what he said' for I was too young to have a boyfriend stuck with me.

Along with artists like Neil Sedaka, Cliff Richard, Paul Evans, finding this album [dating myself again]and playing the songs for me and my siblings evoked conversation and warm fuzzies of happier simpler times. Granted, she was a lesser known British pop star from that era, but in our lives, she struck a chord of pleasant memories.

Helen Shapiro was a headline pop singer in the United Kingdom in the years before the Beatles became famous. Although she was only 14 at the time of her first hit, her voice sounded like that of a mature woman. Her songs bring back memories of the fifties when times were simpler and romantic.

If you haven't heard Helen Shapiro sing before then you are in for a treat. These 30 songs cover quite a period and range. Her musicians and backup singers do a great job too. Helen Shapiro has a uniqueness in her timbre that quickly puts you in whatever mood the lyrics call for. Happy, blues, teenage love stuff. In the car it makes that long commute go a lot easier.