Various Artists - Have a Nice Day 23 (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Some good, some bad and some ugly

rockland6674 | Massachusetts, USA | 03/09/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Like most volumes in the "Have A Nice Day" series, Volume 23 is uneven, mixing good songs and not-so-good songs with some utter dreck to avoid at all costs. Examples of the "good" category include "I've Got The Music In Me," "Love Me," "Back When My Hair Was Short" (Some people might disagree with me on this one, but I've always liked this song's tongue-in-cheek nostalgia) and "Amie". Rhino has taken some flak for including an edited version of "Amie" on this set, but this is the exact same edit people got when they bought the 45. "Oldies" radio only plays the full-length album version nowadays, which exacerbates the problem.In the "not-so-good" category, we have "Hocus Pocus" (surely, one of the most bizarre songs ever to crack the top-10), "Never My Love" (okay on its own terms, but an embarrassment when compared to the Association's version), "Love Really Hurts Without You" (a lackluster early Billy Ocean effort) and "Tubular Bells". I really like the full-length version of "Tubular Bells," which clocks in at 25 minutes and could never be included here, but the version Rhino HAS included here suffers from some very choppy editing and, unfortunately, is not the TRUE 45 version.In the "utter dreck" category, we have a good argument in favor of keeping actors FAR away from recording studios: "Let Her In," as sung (?) by John Travolta. Frankly, I'd rather listen to "Feelings" on a continuous loop than have to listen to this song once."

Hits and Misses

rockland6674 | 06/28/1998

(3 out of 5 stars)

"An awfully edited version of the classic "Amie" by Pure Prairie League is a blot on this CD that taints the rest of the collection. "Back When My Hair Was Short," a Weird Al soundalike by Gunhill Road, barely made the top 40, and Billy Ocean's first American hit "Love Really Hurts Without You" is out of place. Many of the hits here can be found elsewhere. All original versions."

Good Fun

Thomas Magnum | NJ, USA | 01/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Super Hits of the 70's, Volume 23 is an excellent collection made up of some fun songs. The album opens with two instrumentals, the goofy "Hocus Pocus" by Focus that has some strangle yodeling on it and the super creepy "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield which served as the theme for The Exorcist. The Kiki Dee Band's "I've Got The Music In Me" shows off Ms. Dee's impressive pipes, Blue Swede do a credible cover of The Association's "Never My Love", Pure Prairie League's "Amie" is one of the best country-rock songs of all-time, The Sweet's "Fox On The Run" is a great glam-rocker, John Travolta scored a top ten hit with his easy moving "Let Her In", Yvonne Elliman's pre-Saturday Night Fever "Love Me" is a nice surprise and Billy Ocean's first hit in America "Love Really Hurts Without You" doesn't really show the catchiness of 80's hits."

Only for Kiki Dee and Gunhill Road. I can basically diss th

Rykre | Carson City, Nevada | 01/14/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"
This CD was the first of the last three CD's released of the "Have a Nice Day" series that stopped at 25 volumes in 1996. This one is my favorite of the last three because it had some totally obscure "one hit wonders" that were not available anywhere else at the time. But, this CD has its disappointments just as many of the "Have a Nice Day" CD's. The only thing that really bothers me about any of the "Have A Nice Day" CD's, is when they give us a shorten version of a song that always gets played on the radio in it's intended album version. Even on AM radio. For example, I've never heard this shorten single version of "Hocus Pocus" by Focus on the radio. I've always only heard the full 6 and a half-minute version every time. Even K-Tel released one of their albums on CD and gave us the full album version of "Hocus Pocus". At least Rhino gave me the full version on their 1996 Box Set of "Supernatural Fairy Tales". Another kinda disappointment on this Volume 23 of "Have an Nice Day" is the simulated 45 version of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells". They tried to give us the familiar single version, but it's just not the same. The editing is just not exactly right. Oh well, at least, they tried.

To move on, Rhino really gave us a butchered version of "Amie" by the Pure Prairie League, and although I was never fond of John Travolta's "Let Her In", this version from Rhino sounds like it came directly from a crappy 45 RPM. So, it's a bad song that sounds even worse because of the sound quality. This CD also has "Fox on the Run" by Sweet which is great but not important to me because I already have Sweet's album of "Desolation Boulevard". But, there are two songs on this CD that I just have to have because I don't think that they are available anywhere else other than this Volume 23.

My favorite two songs on this CD are "I've Got the Music in Me" by Kiki Dee, and "Back When My Hair Was Short" by Gunhill Road. These two songs represent why I love the "Have A Nice Day" series. Some of the other songs are essential to collectors, but not that important to me. There's even an early charted single by Billy Ocean called "Love Really Hurts Without You". It's nothing great, but it is by an artist who made a bigger impact on pop radio during the 1980's. Thank you Rhino for putting out this collection. You've really brought back some great gems.

"

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