Keep the good old times rolling, PYE!
uthungus | San Francisco, CA | 12/29/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With all of these amazing, vocally versatile tracks there are still notes in the liner about how Julie Grant never "charted" all that well over her early career years even for a popular singer! As an American, it's only through collecting quite a bit of diverse material that I even knew who she was to snap up this collection when I came across it recently! What's even more of a delight to me (loving lots of those "Shelley Fabares/Ann-Margaret" up-tempo "twisty" kind tunes from that era) is how her voice was even better than the somewhat calmer examples on the compilations I have with her and other singers ("Come To Me" and "Lonely Without You").
Not that these were bad songs at all - quite the contrary - they just don't showcase Julie's voice as well as, say "Somebody Tell Him", "Count On Me", "Stop", "Lonely Sixteen" , "That's How Heartaches Are Made"(dig that groovy "Japanese ice rink music" mid-song); and of course her lively cover of a timeless classic "Up On The Roof". When was the last time you felt like twisting to the Drifter's version?? Vocally, Julie reminds me a lot of Glenda Collins on some tunes and a pre-cool Nancy Sinatra on others. Almost like she was Collins' "kid sister", though. If Collins had gotten some of this material to work with as opposed to some of the quirky stuff Joe Meeks had her do, these girls would likely have been in tough competition, IMO. But it's all history now. I'm just very pleased with this set! Cheers to you once again, Mick Patrick and Malcolm Baumgart!
"
One of the mysteries of the sixties pop scene
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/16/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Julie Grant had every chance to become a major British pop star in the sixties, appearing regularly on television and performing live as supporting act on tour with many big stars. With an outstanding voice as well, it seems impossible that all Julie achieved with her records was three minor UK hits out of fifteen singles. Yet the fact that her music is periodically re-issued on CD shows that there are a significant number of fans who remember Julie and appreciate her music.
After three failed singles, Julie had her first hit with a cover of a Drifters song, Up on the roof. The original version was not a UK hit but Julie's version faced competition from a rival cover by Kenny Lynch, whose version was released first and just made the UK top ten. Julie's follow-up single, Count on me, faced no competition and did slightly better. At this point, it looked as if Julie might be on her way but eleven further singles yielded only one more minor hit, Come to me.
Exactly why the other singles failed to chart is a mystery, as they included excellent songs such as When you're smiling, That's how heartaches are made, Every day I have to cry and You're nobody till somebody loves you, none of which were UK hits for anybody.
This compilation contains both sides of all fifteen singles, some of which Tony Hatch produced. I wonder what would have happened if Tony had persevered with Julie and given her the songs that later revitalized Petula Clark's career.
If you enjoy sixties pop music by talented but ultimately unsuccessful singers, you'll love Julie's music."
Track Listings (30) - Disc #1