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A good compilation for the Archie-curious.

Laura Pinto | St. Petersburg, FL United States | 03/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Folks who still think of The Archies as a one-hit wonder or a mere cartoon group would probably be surprised to learn the true story, which major Archies fans like me have known since the band made its first appearance in 1968. First, as with all cartoons, The Archies needed a voice, and that voice was ably provided by session singer Ron Dante, with Toni Wine providing the female harmonies as well as some lead support. Secondly, The Archies were decidedly not a "cartoon group" in the true sense of the word--they did not do cartoon music. They produced true rock and roll. This CD features ten fine examples.The Archies' first four singles, "Bang Shang a Lang," "Feelin' So Good," "Sugar Sugar" and "Jingle Jangle," are included here, as are tracks from the group's first and second albums (the latter, "Everything's Archie," is now itself available on CD thanks to RKO/Unique). "The Archies' Greatest Hits" is currently the only CD I've seen which has "Time for Love" (correct title) and "You Make Me Wanna Dance" from the group's self-titled debut album. Although only in his early twenties at the time these songs were recorded, Ron Dante proved to be an extremely gifted young talent, as evinced by his pleasantly expressive phrasing as well as deft overdubs effecting his own background vocals. Those background vocals seem to have been brought forward slightly on this CD, particularly on "Bang Shang a Lang." Overall, the speed and pitch of the tracks is a bit slower and lower versus the vinyl, which is more than fine with me as I like to enjoy music without feeling as if I'm running a race.This CD is an excellent starting point for those who would like to get their Archies feet wet without getting soaked. It's a budget compilation at a good price. One warning, though--once you discover the Archies sound, you may want to run out and buy all the other Archies CD compilations on the market. While you're at it, why not check out Ron Dante's millennium release, "Favorites," and see for yourself that this immensely talented man still has what it takes to deliver pure, feel-good rock and roll."

Another Budget Compilation

Windsor Bear | Isle of Wight, VA USA | 03/01/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's very nice to see The Archies music make it to CD, but I must confess I am tired of record companies using inferior tapes to make their CDs. The Archies Greatest Hits, released in 1994 is another "budget" compilation. Some of the tracks sound quite good... "Sugar, Sugar" and "Jingle Jangle" for example. However, the pitch of "You Little Angel You" is way off, making Ron Dante (lead singer) sound like he was 50 years old when he recorded the song. Also, the intro to "Feelin' So Good" is kinda wobbly... like the tape had a very bad spot on it (and I have noticed the same problem with the same song on several other "budget" compilations of The Archies.) The record companies must be "sharing" their "master" tapes that they are using... hmmmm. Anyway, the remaining tracks aren't too bad, and the last two "A Time for Love" (misnamed, should be "Time for Love"), and "You Make Me Wanna Dance", both from The Archies first album, are especially nice since this is the only CD that I have seen that contained these two tracks. Noticably absent from this "Greatest Hits" collection are "Who's Your Baby?" and "Sunshine", 2 singles that are included on most Archies Greatest Hits packages. Overall, I rate this CD 3 stars for content. If you can overlook the sound quality of a couple of the tracks, this CD is quite enjoyable."

A budget collection of the bubblegum hits of the Archies

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 01/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This budget collection of the "Greatest Hits" of the Archies only has 10 tracks recorded by faux-group spawned for the Saturday morning cartoon show. This is a decent collection of bubblegum music ("bubblegum" music was labeled as such because of its childish qualities, mass production values, and instant disposability), but since the Archies put out six albums you might want something with more sticks to get longer lasting flavor. I never watched the cartoon show (and read the comics only when every other comic book in my cousins' house had been consumed) so all I really remembered was "Sugar, Sugar," which is, of course, the one Archies' song that everybody remembers. I vaguely recalled there was another "hit" from the group, which turned out to be "Jingle Jangle" (well, gee, that should have been obvious). Anyhow, everything in the Archies oeuvre might not be here, and certainly one has to be in the mood for this distinctive subset of pop music, but this is pretty good bubblegum music: "Bang Shang-a-Lang" could be your next guilty pleasure song. Most of the songs are written by Len Barry and Andy Kim, and performed by Ron Dante (who co-writes a couple as well). This is not first-rate bubblegum music, which would be Tommy James & the Shondells (and some stuff by the Monkees", but once you get to the second tier this is as good as it gets. Besides, Wilson Pickett did a soul cover of "Sugar, Sugar," so there must have been some pink gold here. If you really like bubblegum music than the greatest hits albums by the Archies and Tommy Roe would be the only collections of individual artists in this genre worth having. Everything else worth having, such as "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" by the Ohio Express and "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse, you can pick up on one of the various bubblegum hit collections."