Search - Tremeloes :: Good Times: The Ultimate Collection

Brilliant pop group

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 10/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Originally billed as Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, the group were signed to a record label by somebody who they had more potential than another then-obscure group, the Beatles. They had some successes, taking Do you love me to number one on the UK charts and having other major hits with Twist and shout, Candy man and The three bells, but after that Brian Poole decided to go solo. It turned out to be the wrong decision for him and he faded into obscurity, but the remaining Tremeloes went on to bigger and better success, finding a new lead singer but also developing harmonies.I have never seen a compilation that included the Brian Poole tracks as well as the more famous recordings of the Tremeloes after he left - you have to buy a different compilation to get them - but this is the best Tremeloes compilation I have yet seen.Silence is golden is their most famous song. It was a cover of a Four Seasons song that became a British number one hit and a major American hit, just missing the top ten. Here comes my baby was written by Cat Stevens who was unknown at the time. The Tremeloes had a huge hit - top five in the UK and top twenty in America. After that, Cat was able to have hits with his own versions of his songs. Even the bad times are good, Suddenly you love me, My little lady, Call me number one and Me and my life provided the Tremeloes with further British top ten hits but only the first two of them charted in America. Hello world and Helule helule were UK top twenty hits, while Be mine, I shall be released (a Bob Dylan song), By the way and Hello buddy were minor UK hits.Their last (very minor) UK hit came in 1983 with Words, a cover of an F R David song (not to be confused with the Bee Gees song of the same title). This might have been a big hit, but F R David's own version, which didn't chart first time round, was re-released and became a huge UK hit.Apart from the hits, this collection contains plenty of other tracks, mainly B-sides and non-hits. Among them, Suddenly winter, Once an a Sunday morning and Lights of Port Royal are particularly notable, but there are plenty of other good songs here including a cover of Yellow river.You can find a single CD containing all the essential Tremeloes hits, but this collection shows that they were much more than mere hit-makers."