Search - Various Artists :: Hey! Look What I Found, Vol. 11

Deeper into the dusty vaults...

Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 09/28/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Here in this, the eleventh volume of mostly very rare singles from the classic age of rock and roll, sound quality slips a bit more. This may not be too surprising given the obscurity of many of these tracks. For the most part they have not appeared on legitimate CD compilation collections prior to this. You'd be hard pressed to find such cuts as Denmarks' Jan & Kjeld's "Banjo Boy", a moderate foreign hit from '60 or the Scottish Lord Rockingham's XI instrumental minor hit "Fried Onions" in '58 anywhere else. While all the volumes in this series run the gamut of sound quality, there is a larger number of tracks of poorer reproduction here than in previous volumes. Some of the cuts do appear in stereo (5,17,22-24,26,27) with the remainder in mono. In spite of some noisy tracks, this is appealing as a very interesting and different collection of neglected classic-era rock/pop tunes. Since at the time of this writing, the track listing has not been provided, the tracks on the CD follow: 1) Graduation Day - Rover Boys 2) Freight Train - Charles McDevitt Skiffle Group 3) Gimme A Little Kiss - Michael Landon 4) Silhouettes - Steve Gibson & Red Caps 5) You Need Hands - Eydie Gorme 6) Fried Onions - Lord Rockingham's XI 7) Philadelphia U.S.A. - Nu Tornados 8) Trust In Me - Patti Page 9) Anna Belle - Jerry Landis 10) Mojo Workout - Larry Bright 11) Banjo Boy - Jan & Kjeld 12) Everlovin' - Robin Luke 13) The Guns Of Navarone - Joe Reisman 14) Midnight - Johnny Gibson 15) Desafinado (Slightly Out Of Tune) - Pat Thomas 16) (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - Lou Johnson 17) So Long Dearie - Louis Armstrong 18) Roses Are Red My Love - You Know Who Group 19) Hello Hello - Sopwith Camel 20) If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely) - Precisions 21) Shame On Me - Chuck Jackson 22) Money - Lovin' Spoonful 23) In The Midnight Hour - Mirettes 24) Smell Of Incense - Southwest F.O.B. 25) Abraham, Martin and John - Moms Mabley 26) Rainy Jane - Davy Jones 27) Gone - Joey Heatherton"

Surely Not The Last In The Series

Zub | 09/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It would not seem, well, "neat" to end a series with an odd number like Volume 11, although it is going on six years since this one was first released. Let's hope there is at least one more to come, much as Ace Of London did with their release of Volume 11 in their Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll series.



In any event, let me say at the outset that audiophiles will NOT like this series from Mavis of Canada as the sound quality is certainly not up to the standards of anything to emanate from Ace, or others such as Rhino, Varese-Sarabande, Eric Records and Collectables. In fact, it tends to waver from barely adequate to satisfactory.



Even so, for those of us who grew up with the hiss and pop of the 78- and then the 45-rpm this is tolerable, and if you gather together all eleven volumes in the series (so far) you will have 297 selections you're not apt to find in too many top-quality releases (so far). Indeed, some you won't find anywhere else as many were minor hits by bona-fide One-Hit Wonders. It is also important to note that there are no liner notes whatsoever, although the insert does contain a re-listing of the tracks showing both the artist and tune's writer/composer.



Because each is just a random continuance of the releases before it, and ranges from 1955 to the 1970's depending upon the volume, I will repeat this opening blurb in each, followed by some information you may find useful on each of the tracks.



Just as I have with each of the previous ten volumed, I will commence by listing those selections that did not make the national Billboard charts, although almost all were hits of one sort or another in Canada at the time: Gimme A Little Kiss (Will Ya "Huh") by Michael Landon (circa 1957 for the star of Bonanza); Anna Belle by Jerry Landis (circa 1959 for Paul Simon's early persona); Everlovin' by Robin Luke (circa 1960).



Those that did chart in the 1950's are: Graduation Day by The Rover Boys featuring Billy Albert with Don Costa's orchestra (# 16 Billboard Pop Top 100 in early summer 1956); Freight Train by The Charles McDevitt Skiffle Group (# 40 Top 100 in June 1957 with Nancy Whiskey doing the vocals - a One-Hit Wonder); Silhouettes by Steve Gibson & The Red Caps (# 63 Top 100 in November 1957); You Need Hands by Eydie Gorme with Don Costa's orchestra (# 11 Top 100 in June 1958); Fried Onions by Lord Rockingham's XI (# 96 Billboard Pop Hot 100 instrumental in October 1958 and their only hit); Philadelphia, U.S.A. by The Nu Tornados (# 26 Hot 100 in December 1958); and Trust In Me by Patti Page with Vic Schoen's orchestra (# 43 Hot 100 in January 1959).



Those that charted in the 1960's are: Mojo Workout (Dance) by Larry Bright (# 90 Hot 100 in May 1960 for this One-Hit Wonder); Banjo Boy by Jan & Kjeld (# 58 Hot 100 in June 1960 for the duo from Denmark, and their only hit); The Guns Of Navarone by Joe Reisman & His Orchestra (# 74 Hot 100 in summer 1961 - title tune from the film); Midnight by Johnny Gibson (# 76 Hot 100 in February 1962 and his only hit); Desafinado (Slightly Out Of Tune) by Pat Thomas with the Lalo Schifrin orchestra (# 78 Hot 100 in December 1962 and her only hit); (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me by Lou Johnson (# 49 Hot 100 in September 1964); So Long Dearie by Louis Armstrong (# 3 Adult Contemporary (AC)/# 56 Hot 100 in October 1964); Roses Are Red My Love by The "You Know Who" Group (# 43 Hot 100 in December 1964 by a masked quartet trying to pass themselves off as "You Know Who" - it worked once); Hello Hello by The Sopwith "Camel" (# 26 Hot 100 in January 1965); If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely) by The Precisions (# 26 R&B/# 60 Hot 100 in October 1967); Shame On Me by Chuck Jackson (# 40 R&B/# 76 Hot 100 in December 1967); Money by The Lovin' Spoonful (# 48 Hot 100 in January 1968); In The Midnight Hour by The Mirettes (# 18 R&B/# 45 Hot 100 in early 1968 for the girl-group which had previous hits as The Ikettes); Smell Of Incense by Southwest F.O.B. (# 56 Hot 100 in October 1968 and the only hit under this name - although this was really England Dan Seals and John Ford Coley - the F.O.B. stood for "Freight On Board"); and Abraham, Martin And John by Moms Mabley (# 18 R&B/# 35 Hot 100 in summer 1969 for this veteran comedienne, a tribute to Lincoln, King, and Kennedy).



There are two 1970's hits in this (so far) final volume: Rainy Jane by Davy Jones (# 26 AC/# 52 Hot 100 in summer 1971 for this member of The Monkees); and Gone by Joey Heatherton (# 5 AC/# 24 Hot 100 in early summer 1972)."