Search - Reparata & the Delrons :: The Best of Reparata and the Delrons

The Perfect Sounding Sixties Group !!!!

Raymond Otto | 12/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great CD. Reparata has the perfect voice that explicitly depicts what the Sixties Girl Group sound was all about. Her voice has been described as a blend somewhere between Mary Weiss and Ronnie Spector. Who could ask for more? The group's recordings spanned almost every genre. If you like the Spector Sound, listen to "I'm Nobody's Baby Now", It will literally blow you away!, It you like the Lesley Gore sound, listen to "I Can Tell", and "Mama's Little Girl", - Both are infectious tunes that only Reparata could do justice to. If your taste is Petula Clark, listen to, "It's Waiting There For You", you will not be disappointed. If your taste is the Red Bird Label sound, listen to their hit, "Whenever a Teenager Cries". Dance favorites? "Panic" was a big Wigan Casino favorite in England and now a hot E-bay collectable. Their biggest hit was "Captain of your Ship" and, their lost 'should have been' hit was "Shoes". They are all here, along with other superb recordings, on this great CD. Every track is fantastic!!"

The most durable and versatile girl group... ever?

Mark A. Frumento | Cherry Hill, NJ USA | 12/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Finally! An almost perfect retrospective of one of the best girl groups.... er um... pop groups ever... with the only perfect one being a double CD.



The Delrons were surrounded by excellent producers and writers who handed them great songs and great arrangements. All the while they NEVER come off as the cliched girl group of the early 60s. In fact the closest comparison I can make to another group is The Chiffons, who had a similar diversity in their sound. Both groups lasted well past the prime of the girl era because they had the chops to cover a wide range of songs.



And the songs and the singing on this set show why they lasted so long - they could sing pop and soul and never sound like they were out of their league. To make matters more interesting they were one of the few girl groups who dabbled in psychedelia...and they do a great job of it too.



So, even if you are not a fan of girl groups this CD is, without a doubt, one of the best pop CDs released this year. It's only weakness being a couple of questionable song choices (small matter unless you're already a big fan of the group) and an awful 2004 recording that diminishes the legacy of this group. But, as I said before the only perfect Reparata CD would be a 2 CD set.



Stunning moments: I'm Nobody's Baby Now (big Spector sound without Spector), Mama's Little Girl (Jackie DeShannon meets The Caravelles), Saturday Night Didn't Happen, Captain of Your Ship (pop psych girl sounds) and (We're Gonna) Hold the Night (sitar driven soul pop)."

SUPERB OVERVIEW OF A LOST ERA

William G. Ratcliffe | Lawrenceville, New Jersey United States | 06/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To describe 'a lost era', even to a person who has a passing interest in the girl group era which spanned 1961-1969, many singers and groups during this era released superb and interesting records, but due to lack of company promotion and/or chart competition just couldn't have that elusive big hit.

Reparata & The Delrons did have a huge hit, 1964's "Whenever A Teenager Cries", which hit the Top 60, but the group was unable to reach higher than that with further releases. In fact, their follow-up track "Tommy" barely scrapped at the bottom of the Top 100, which in my opinion was a better structured production than their previous hit.

"Whenever" somehow was only a mild hit in regions other than the East Coast, which is how i became exposed to them since i live in Jersey. I was given a copy of "Whenever A Teenager Cries" 45 many years after the fact, and since then was attracted to the lead singer's voice, not dissimilar to Mary Weiss's voice from the Shangri-las, both possessing a somewhat nasal but very clear voices.

After receiving this collection in the mail, i have been listening to it daily, as each track is no less than superb! The booklet has a few printing errors, but has enough interesting information on most of the tracks included here that it gives one a good background on how unserious some of the singers were back in the day, like the numerous 'Delron' changes, and, like Mary Aiese, who was serious about a career.

The only problem i would have is not with this set, but to anyone who has the good sense in obtaining ALL of their material in order to release a complete collection with all of their material from the various labels the group appeared. Even the flip sides of singles which many are included here are just as good as the intended 'A' side. So, an uneducated listener of this group will have a problem as which tracks were to be the 'hit' side, as most of these are no less than great.

If anyone has any appreciation of the 'girl era', will not be disappointed with this set.

The quality of recordings are excellent. The only problem is that at the end of quite a few tracks the songs were faded much too early. One can tell as a collector of this group who has the original 45's, but a few seconds of vocal/instrumentation snipped off is only a small price to pay in order to get such an abundant amount of work here.

To give a listener an example of how great this group was, listen to "I'm Nobody's Baby Now", one of the best Phil Spector sound-alikes. With composer Jeff Barry, who at that time was divorcing Ellie Greenwich, another superb composer, created a masterpiece that just seemed to fall between the cracks on the Pop Charts. The song is considered the best lost classic by this group, and possesses a powerful production that rivals the Righteous Brother's "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'".

The group recorded for a handful of record labels, but with the good sense the group's producers had, were able to release great material for each of them.

Even if you may have a passing interest in the 'girl group' era, this is one collection that should not be passed up.

"