Customer Reviews

The Vogues - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

During a glorious four-year run from 1965 through 1968, this unusual quartet took a sound too mellow for rock and too rich and flamboyant for pop and repeatedly pushed deep into the top forty, four times making the top ten.

The Vogues used a proven formula of updating vocal standards from the late 50s, successfully covering and in many way improving upon classics like "My Special Angel", "'Til", "Earth Angel" and "Moments to Remember."

Beyond the best known trio of "Turn Around, Look At Me", "You're the One" and "Five O'Clock World", this Rhino collection features marvelous second tier hits that are staggering in their intricate harmonies and lyrical beauty. "Magic Town", "Land of Milk and Honey" "Woman Helping Man" and the emotional "Please, Mr Sun" are all far better than your chart positions would indicate. There are even a number of songs here that didn't make the top 100, but prove that making the chart isn't anything. Listen to the moving "That's No Way to Say Goodbye" for proof that good material didn't always mean commercial success.

As with any Rhino collection, the sound on this disc is superb. The vocals and accompaniments are crystal clear and distinctly separate, with none of the muddiness found on so many remasters of mid and late-60s music.

This is the kind of music that makes you want to light the fire, turn off the lights and sit on the sofa with that special someone. Like the song says, you won't like this collection; "No, Not Much!"

This appears to be an album from the original and true Vogues not the fake group that runs around the country today pretending to be the guys who actually created all the hits (beware: the phony group tries to sell most of the same songs on their website and elsewhere).

Whether hitting it big with an original song like 5 O'Clock World or remaking a classic like Special Angel, Chuck Blasko and group could harmonize with the best of them. They still do, at least in Western Pennsylvania, which is the only place they are allowed to use the name Vogues while the thieves who stole the name through legal maneuvering claim to be the original everywhere else.

Regardless, all the hits are here including the ones mentioned above and other classics like Turn Around Look At Me, Magic Town, You're the One, and Earth Angel.

Whether remaking classics or creating their own hits, the Vogues are truly an original group and this is a fine collection.

Back in 1968, when I was 17 years old, most of my contemporaries were into music by people like Jimi Hendrix, Cream and the Rolling Stones. While I enjoyed all kinds of music, my preference during that time was for much tamer music. In the summer of that year, The Vogues released "Turn Around, Look At Me" a remake of a relatively obscure Glen Campbell tune from several years earlier. I immediately fell in love with the song and the group. The Vogues had been around for awhile, having achieved significant chart success on Pittsburgh's Co&Ce label with songs like "You're The One", "Five O'Clock World" and "The Land of Milk and Honey". But this sound was different. Fifties rocker Ernie Freeman had become the producer/arranger for the group. His combination of lush production values and impeccable harmonies produced an incredibly pleasing sound that proved wildly successful. "Turn Around" was a huge hit for the group and was followed in swift succession by remakes of "My Special Angel", "Earth Angel", "Till", "Moments to Remember", "Green Fields" and others. I bought every one of these singles. In fact, I enjoyed The Vogues so much that I used to even play the flip sides frequently.

"The Vogues Greatest Hits" from Rhino contains all of the Vogues singles from both the early Co&Ce years and the Reprise years. There is not a bad track on the disc! It is an absolute joy to listen to and I never get tired of hearing these songs. I realize that some people might find the material a bit too tame, but those who dig great harmony are sure to enjoy this fine collection. A big thumbs up!!!

Call me crazy, I'm 27 years old and The Vogues are by far and away one of my favorite groups. Their sound and melodies seem to be unmatched by any group I'd ever heard. A mainstay on the top 40 charts from September 1965 with their debut smash "You're The One" until early 1969 when they seemed to disappear, The Vogues produced many memorable hits such as "Five O'clock World", "Magic Town", "Land of Milk and Honey", "Turn Around Look at Me" and "My Special Angel". Guess I fell in love with "Five O'clock World" ,easy for me to relate to, but was overall very pleased with the entire compilation.
Unfortunately I didn't think to come here to Amazon and went to my local music store and paid lol $23.99. If you are a big fan of The Vogues I suggest you buy this album, but buy it here at Amazon don't make the same mistake I did.

The Vogues are a band that I recently rediscovered, after having grown up in the 60's with the "Top 40" pop hits "Five O'Clock World" and "You're The One." As mainly a rock fan (in the 60's and continuing through to the present time), I had always thought of the Vogues as being too "middle of the road." But as I've gotten older and mellower in my tastes - and as I get more and more disappointed by the current offerings of pop music (rap, grunge, alternative, and all the other garbage), I have been searching for groups from the 60's and 70's that I might have overlooked at the time. The Vogues are a classic example of this - I never fully appreciated them until now. I have to say that I have not been as excited about a "rediscovered" group in quite a long time. All of the songs in the 51 minute CD are excellent. The four-part vocal harmonies and the musical production are top rate. Some of the songs are refreshingly sentimental, expressing values and feelings that might be considered to be of another, more innocent era - and I say "what is wrong with that?" We need a little more sentimentality and innocence in this society these days! In summary, I strongly recommend The Vogues Greatest Hits (Rhino Records) to all fans of melodic pop and rock music. You will not be disappointed. END

The Vogues, a vocal harmony group, had their roots in the doo-wop music of the fifties although they failed to achieve any significant success until 1965, when they recorded a cover of a Petula Clark song. Whether Petula's version was intended to be a single is a moot point - her version was a minor UK hit in November 1965, some time after the Vogues had a top five American hit with it. It is not the first time that a cover of a Petula recording had been successful in America - Little Peggy March topped the charts with I will follow him - but the difference is that Petula co-wrote You're the one, unlike I will follow him. I prefer Petula's recording (and that will surprise nobody who knows what I think of her music) but the Vogues do it a little differently and I enjoy their version too.

Following that breakthrough, the Vogues repeated their success by also taking Five o'clock world, a blue-collar anthem about working in a factory but thinking of home, into the American top five. Two lesser hits followed, these being Magic town (about Hollywood) and Land of milk and honey, but that seemed to be it. Lovers of the world unite (a top ten UK hit for David and Jonathan) wasn't seriously marketed and the Vogues moved to the Reprise label.

With their first Reprise single, Turn around look at me (originally been recorded by Glen Campbell in 1961, long before he became famous), the Vogues returned to the American top ten. They then had further American hits with covers of songs from the fifties and early sixties including My special angel (Bobby Helms), Till (Angels), No not much (Four lads) and Moments to remember (Four lads) and one original song, Woman helping man.

Their American hits finally dried up in 1970. They never made the British charts but that is no real surprise - their music is far removed from the kind of music the British public wanted at the time. But having discovered their music via the Petula connection, I can say that I am one Brit who enjoys their music.

I basically bought this CD because I loved two songs off it, "5 O'clock World" and "You're the One". I was having a hard time finding them without the dubbed strings added and was very lucky to come across this about 8 years ago on tape. This CD takes you on a trip through the evolution of a group of guys whose voices blend as well as any group. The music is as beautiful as any that came out of the 60's. The problem here is after you finish listening to the CD you feel unfulfilled. There is no chance taking here. The Vogues found a style to be successful and pretty much stayed with it. That doesn't take away from the music, but it does make you wonder how good they could have been had they attempted to stretch themselves.

I would recommend this for any music lover looking for "easy Listening" music. I still occasionally pull this out and enjoy it, and you will too.

As a close personal Friend of the original group "The Vogues"
I can tell you that this is one of the best oldies albums you will ever hear. It was a pleasure to work with these men. I used to M.C. some of their shows and am still a friend of the group but make sure that you only buy cd's by the original group there is a fake group out there. and they just do not have that great "Vogues" sound

I have to agree with the reviewer below who said there isn't a better three-in-a-row lineup anywhere than "Turn Around, Look At Me", "My Special Angel", and "Till". I can remember these songs from the 60s when the guys sang them as occasional guests on Red Skelton's show. Other than "Five O'Clock World," I had no idea they'd ever done anything other than these rich, beautiful harmonies. Even if the rest of the CD were total garbage, I would own it just for tracks 10, 11, and 12. But the entire album is a real kick! Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp dream of writing lyrics as poignant and edgy as those in "Five O'Clock World" and "Magic Town." As an orchestra musician myself, I am impressed by the care that went into the lavish productions of "Earth Angel", "Moments to Remember", and "Green Fields." They were a versatile group--doo-woppers who could really rock. As does this collection:)

Set the base and treble where you like 'em, turn up the volume, grab your honey, turn off the lights, and enjoy one of the truly great oldie CD's!! The clarity is magnificent and those harmonizing voices are unsurpassed. If there is a better 3 in a row than #'s 10-12 (Turn Around Look at Me, My Special Angel, & Till)I don't know what they are. I have dozens of CD's - this is one of 2 or 3 that I always reach for. If you like the Vogues YOU MUST BUY THIS ONE!!!