Search - Various Artists :: Soul Classics, Vol. 1

MS.HANDS

JOYCE HANDS | USA | 05/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS CD YOUR MISSING OUT ON HEARING SOME OF THE BEST OLD SCHOOL MUSIC THERE IS THE WHATNUTS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE GROUP LET ME NOT FORGET THE ESCORTS THIS CD IS THE BEST OLDIES CD IN AWHILE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS ONE GO OUT AND PURCHASE THIS ONE THE BEST OF ALL TIMES."

ONE OF THE BEST SLOW JAMS

missyregina | Phila Pa U.S.A | 12/18/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the O'JAYS to the WHATNAUT'S every song on this cd is a golden classic."

Yet Another Group Lost In The Shuffle

08/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Well I wonder, wonder whoom de doo doo - who - BOOM ... who wrote the book of love...?"



The Monotones from Newark, New Jersey - lead singer Charles Patrick (b. September 11, 1938), Warren Davis (b. March 1, 1939), George Malone (b. January 5, 1940), Warren Ryanes (b. December 14, 1937), John Ryanes (b. November 16, 1940) and John Smith (b. May 13, 1938) are the quintessential one-hit wonders whenever discussions turn to Fifties and Sixties groups who made one huge initial splash - and then disappeared from view.



Like many others in this category, however, their chart performances - or lack thereof - were more often than not attributable to the ability of their small label to compete with the giants supporting groups like The Diamonds and Crew Cuts (Mercury), Four Lads (Columbia) and Drifters (Atlantic).



In this instance five young men hit upon a song based loosely on a Pepsodent toothpaste commercial (You'll wonder where the yellow went ...) and, while rehearsing, some children outside were tossing a ball against the wall. At one key point the ball hit the window and, although not breaking it, made a loud boom inside the rehearsal room. Right at the spot it now appears in that legendary song. Everyone agreed it should be incorporated into the final version.



When that was released in 1957 on Mascot 124 - b/w You Never Loved Me - it struggled to make a dent in the neighbourhood, never mind the national charts. However, a leasing arrangement with the marginally larger Argo did the trick and by April it had peaked at # 3 R&B and # 5 Billboard Top 100.



Working now with a Hull contract - and still using Argo to distribute - the group cut several more sides which, while nowhere near as good as Book Of Love, deserved a better fate on the charts. Among these are Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, Tell It To The Judge, Ride Of Paul Revere, and Fools Will Be Fools.



The group folded when some of the boys were drafted into the armed forces, and in 1972 John Ryanes died at age 31.



Yes, you can get Book Of Love on any number of multi-artist compilations - in fact it's one of those that seem to be included in EVERY Fifties retrospective - but I would still recommend it as an example of just how good some of these so-called "one hit wonders" really were."