- Audio CD (Jun 19 2012)
- Number of Discs: 4
- Format: Import
- ASIN: B006T306PQ
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Description
Product Description
Acrobat Music's series of British Hit Parade collections has become an essential annual purchase for a significant number of collectors and enthusiasts who wish to hear and own every record that entered the British record charts during each year. This year, for the first time, and as the result of suggestions from several of our regular collectors of the series, we are presenting parallel collections to the main British Hit Parade releases comprising the 'B' sides of all the tracks that appear in the main set.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
British Hit Parade 1961 B-sides, Part 1...exceptional set for all music lovers, especially collectors & completists
Jun 19 2012
Format:Audio CD
Fantastic Voyage label in UK has been releasing British Hit Parade series, from 1954 to 1961 (A-side), containing every single (a-side) that entered the British Hit Parade for each year. And I mean every single, arranged chronologically, each with a comprehensive booklet detailing each song and artist. This is indeed a collector's dream come true. Being a collector and completist myself, I have purchased every box set that has been released, and totally very happy with all the rare music. There are many many singles that you can only find in this series...truly amazing series.
B-side holds a fascinating aspect in the wonderful world of record collection. I am personally very glad that Joey Whitburn has incorporated all the b-sides of all the hit singles that has graced the Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, in his books. But collecting information on b-sides of British hit singles is much more difficult. The reference books, British Hit Singles from Guinness and now The Official Hit Singles by Virgin Books, do not list the b-sides.
Now to our surprise and delight, Acrobat Music, after having won a legal battle and has regained control of all the British Hit Parade series, and now has released 3 new box sets of British Hit Parade 1961 b-sides, arranged chronologically. What a dream come true. The structure of the CDs exactly mirrors the main a-side collections, in that the tracks on CD1 are the b-sides of the tracks on CD1 of the main collection, minus the "Double A-side" entries.
In each series, there is a very well written 32-page booklet, containing extensive and comprehensive information on each song, plus the interesting attraction and phenomenon of b-sides. In the liner notes, and I quote: "The reason we have released these collections is that we are aware that people enjoy and value the completeness of the compilations, and that having the other sides of all the records will round off the experience and add another strand of insight into music of the year and the creative (and business) thought processes of the artists and their advisors." Very well said!!
There are 3 parts to this series. In Part 1 of this series (January - April 1961), there are 4 CDs, with a total of 95 songs!! The sound is very good, considering the age of the recordings. Good job!
The song listing (with the names of the songs on a-sides) is as follows:
CD1
01 Do You Believe - Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs (a-side: Stay)
02 Natural Born Lover - Fats Domino (a-side: My Girl Josephine)
03 Will Santy Come To Shanty Town - Joan Regan (a-side: Must Be Santa)
04 Lost Friend - Duane Eddy (a-side: Pepe)
05 I Beg Your Pardon - Johnny Burnette (a-side: You're Sixteen)
06 Senza mama (With No One) - Connie Francis (a-side: Many Tears Ago)
07 Bubbles In The Tar - Piltdown Men (a-side: Piltdown Rides Again)
08 The Muckin' O' Geordi's Byre - Andy Stewart (a-side: A Scottish Soldier)
09 Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo - Sophia Loren (a-side: Bangers And Mash)* collector item
10 Night Theme - Rhet Stoller (a-side: Chariot)
11 Si Si Si - The King Brothers (a-side: Doll House)
12 I'm Waiting For Tomorrow - Danny Rivers (a-side: Can't You Hear My Heart)
13 I Gotta Know - Elvis Presley (a-side: Are You Lonesome Tonight)
14 Every Day - Bobby Vee (a-side: Rubber Ball)
15 Rock-A-Bye Baby Blues - Brenda Lee (a-side: Let's Jump The Broomstick)
16 Push Push - Billy Fury (a-side: A Thousand Stars)
17 Please Forgive Me - US Bonds (a-side: New Orleans)
18 The Mansion You Stole - Johnny Horton (a-side: North To Alaska)
19 Workin' Hard - Olympics (a-side: I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate)
20 Little Miss Blue - Dion (a-side: Lonely Teenager)
21 Be My Girl - Ray Peterson (a-side: Corinne, Corrina)
22 My Heart - Petula Clark (a-side: Sailor)
23 Like Makin' Love - Marty Wilde (a-side: Rubber Ball)
24 Souvenir Of Ireland - Anne Shelton (a-side: Sailor)
25 The Big White House - Jess Conrad (a-side: Mystery Girl)
CD2:
01 Cool And Cosy - Avons (a-side: Rubber Ball)
02 The Switch - Joe Brown (a-side: Shine)
03 That's What They Say - Buddy Holly (a-side: What To Do)
04 Honey Bop - Wanda Jackson (a-side: Mean Mean Man)
05 The Same Old Fool - Neil Sedaka (a-side: Calender Girl)
06 Yearning - Bert Weedon (a-side: Ginchy)
07 The Very Thought Of You - Nat King Cole (a-side: The World In My Arms)
08 His True Love Said Goodbye - Johnny Tillotson (a-side: Jimmy's Girl)
09 Boys - Shirelles (a-side: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow)
10 Midnight - Shadows (a-side: F.B.I.)
11 High Class Feeling - Josh McRae (a-side: Messing About On The River)
12 Darling Charlie - Frank Cordell And His Orch. (a-side: Black Bear)
13 With Love (For You) - Tommy Zang (a-side: Hey Good Looking)
14 Someday You'll Want Me To Want You - Brook Benton (a-side: Fools Rush In)
15 Melodie D'Amour - Lawrence Welk And His Orchestra (a-side: Calcutta)* collector item
16 There's One Thing More - Allisons (a-side: Are You Sure)
17 Am I Asking Too Much - String-A-Longs (a-side: Wheels)
18 Zig Zag - Ramrods (a-side: Riders In The Sky)
19 Moanin' - Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra (a-side: African Waltz)*another gem
CD3:
01 Nuages - Kenny Ball & His Jazz-Band (a-side: Samantha)* original version
02 Don't You Dare Let Me Down - Conway Twitty (a-side: C'est Si Bon)
03 Big Man - Packabeats (a-side: Gypsy Beat)
04 Let's Take A Spin - Tony Osborne (a-side: Man From Madrid)
05 Mumblin' Mosie - Cliff Richard & Shadows (a-side: Theme For A Dream)
06 Mr. Lonely - Johnny & The Hurricanes (a-side: Ja-Da)
07 Driftwood - Buzz Clifford (a-side: Baby Sittin' Boogie)
08 I Like Everybody - The King Brothers (a-side: 76 Trombones)
09 A Kiss To Build A Dream On - Emile Ford & The Checkmates (a-side: What Am I Gonna Do?)
10 Skid Row - The John Barry Seven (a-side: The Magnificent Seven)* another collector item
11 Tonight Is So Right For Love - Elvis Presley (a-side: Wooden Heart)
12 Girl Without A Heart - Mike Preston (a-side: Marry Me)
13 This Time - Matt Monro (a-side: My Kind Of Girl)
14 Twilight - Ferrante & Teicher (a-side: Exodus)*another collector item
15 The Great Imposter - The Piltdown Men (a-side: Goodnight Mrs. Flinstone)
16 Peak Hour - The Krew Kats (a-side: Trambone)
17 Two Little Girls - Mark Wynter (a-side: Dream Girl)
18 Lonely Heart - Ventures (a-side: Ram-Bunk-Shush)
19 Oo-Ee-Train - Bobby Darin (a-side: Lazy River)
20 Lonely Boy And Pretty Girl - Anthony Newley (a-side: And The Heavens Cried)
21 Lark In The Clear Air - Semprini (a-side: Theme From Exodus)
22 Sadie My Lady - Drifters (a-side: I Count The Tears)
23 I'd Like To Be - Jim Reeves (a-side: Whispering Hope)
24 When I'm With You - Helen Shapiro (a-side: Don't Treat Me Like A Child)
25 I Laughed So Hard I Cried - Gene Pitney (a-side: I Wanna Love My Life Away)
26 Bucket Of Tears - Peggy Lee (a-side: Till There Was You)
CD4:
01 Boots - Nero And The Gladiators (a-side: Entry Of The Gladiators)
02 Cherie - Bobby Rydell (a-side: Good Time Baby)
03 Charly My Boy - The Temperance Seven (a-side: You're Driving Me Crazy)
04 I Cannot Find A True Love - Cliff Richard & Shadows (a-side: Gee Whiz It's You)
05 Sometimes - The Brook Brothers (a-side: Warpaint)
06 Oh, Susannah - Chubby Checker (a-side: Pony Time)
07 You Got It - Jimmy Jones (a-side: I Told You So)
08 My Dearest Dear - Teddy Johnson & Pearl Carr (a-side: How Wonderful To Know)
09 I'm Learning About Love - Brenda Lee (a-side: Emotions)
10 Karen From Exodus - Mantovani & His Orchestra (a-side: Theme From Exodus)*another rare gem
11 Mood Indigo - Floyd Cramer (a-side: On The Rebound)
12 Goodbye To Love - Marcels (a-side: Blue Moon)
13 Pledge Of Love - Johnny Burnette (a-side: Little Boy Sad)
14 Boy's Tune - Kokomo, His Piano And Orchestra (a-side: Asia Minor)* another gem
15 Isn't This A Lovely Day - Petula Clark (a-side: Something Missing)
16 Spring Is Near - The Outlaws (a-side: Swingin' Low)
17 Let's Talk About Us - Johnny Kidd & the Pirates (a-side: Linda Lu)
18 The Battle - Duane Eddy (a-side: Theme From Dixie)
19 Hello Spring - Craig Douglas (a-side: A Hundred Pounds Of Clay)
20 Two Thousand 88 - Freddy Cannon (a-side: Muskrat Ramble)
21 Sentimental Baby - Frank Sinatra (a-side: My Blue Heaven)
22 Don't Read The Letter - Alma Cogan (a-side: Cowboy Jimmy Joe)
23 Jody - Del Shannon (a-side: Runaway)
24 Wonderin' - Adam Faith (a-side: Easy Going Me)
25 Talkin' In My sleep - Billy Fury & The Four Kestrels (a-side: Don't Worry)
The above set is being released in North America on June 19, 2012. I have ordered my copy from Amazon.co.uk at a much cheaper price (£9.99 = Canadian $15.92) and received it on June 4, 2012.
The above set is a must for all music collectors, and is indeed one-of-a-kind. Because of copyright laws (50 years), this type of series can be released one set per year. I could hardly wait for the next year's set. If you are the more casual music lover of British music scene, you may prefer the British Hit Parade 1961 (a-side) with two big box sets, to be released in North America in September 2012. If you do not want to wait, you can get them readily from the British site, Amazon.co.uk, now and at a lower price.
Although my review was written on June 5, it was not submitted until this set is released locally. Anyway, the above set is highly recommended, and I hope my review is helpful to you.
B-side holds a fascinating aspect in the wonderful world of record collection. I am personally very glad that Joey Whitburn has incorporated all the b-sides of all the hit singles that has graced the Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, in his books. But collecting information on b-sides of British hit singles is much more difficult. The reference books, British Hit Singles from Guinness and now The Official Hit Singles by Virgin Books, do not list the b-sides.
Now to our surprise and delight, Acrobat Music, after having won a legal battle and has regained control of all the British Hit Parade series, and now has released 3 new box sets of British Hit Parade 1961 b-sides, arranged chronologically. What a dream come true. The structure of the CDs exactly mirrors the main a-side collections, in that the tracks on CD1 are the b-sides of the tracks on CD1 of the main collection, minus the "Double A-side" entries.
In each series, there is a very well written 32-page booklet, containing extensive and comprehensive information on each song, plus the interesting attraction and phenomenon of b-sides. In the liner notes, and I quote: "The reason we have released these collections is that we are aware that people enjoy and value the completeness of the compilations, and that having the other sides of all the records will round off the experience and add another strand of insight into music of the year and the creative (and business) thought processes of the artists and their advisors." Very well said!!
There are 3 parts to this series. In Part 1 of this series (January - April 1961), there are 4 CDs, with a total of 95 songs!! The sound is very good, considering the age of the recordings. Good job!
The song listing (with the names of the songs on a-sides) is as follows:
CD1
01 Do You Believe - Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs (a-side: Stay)
02 Natural Born Lover - Fats Domino (a-side: My Girl Josephine)
03 Will Santy Come To Shanty Town - Joan Regan (a-side: Must Be Santa)
04 Lost Friend - Duane Eddy (a-side: Pepe)
05 I Beg Your Pardon - Johnny Burnette (a-side: You're Sixteen)
06 Senza mama (With No One) - Connie Francis (a-side: Many Tears Ago)
07 Bubbles In The Tar - Piltdown Men (a-side: Piltdown Rides Again)
08 The Muckin' O' Geordi's Byre - Andy Stewart (a-side: A Scottish Soldier)
09 Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo - Sophia Loren (a-side: Bangers And Mash)* collector item
10 Night Theme - Rhet Stoller (a-side: Chariot)
11 Si Si Si - The King Brothers (a-side: Doll House)
12 I'm Waiting For Tomorrow - Danny Rivers (a-side: Can't You Hear My Heart)
13 I Gotta Know - Elvis Presley (a-side: Are You Lonesome Tonight)
14 Every Day - Bobby Vee (a-side: Rubber Ball)
15 Rock-A-Bye Baby Blues - Brenda Lee (a-side: Let's Jump The Broomstick)
16 Push Push - Billy Fury (a-side: A Thousand Stars)
17 Please Forgive Me - US Bonds (a-side: New Orleans)
18 The Mansion You Stole - Johnny Horton (a-side: North To Alaska)
19 Workin' Hard - Olympics (a-side: I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate)
20 Little Miss Blue - Dion (a-side: Lonely Teenager)
21 Be My Girl - Ray Peterson (a-side: Corinne, Corrina)
22 My Heart - Petula Clark (a-side: Sailor)
23 Like Makin' Love - Marty Wilde (a-side: Rubber Ball)
24 Souvenir Of Ireland - Anne Shelton (a-side: Sailor)
25 The Big White House - Jess Conrad (a-side: Mystery Girl)
CD2:
01 Cool And Cosy - Avons (a-side: Rubber Ball)
02 The Switch - Joe Brown (a-side: Shine)
03 That's What They Say - Buddy Holly (a-side: What To Do)
04 Honey Bop - Wanda Jackson (a-side: Mean Mean Man)
05 The Same Old Fool - Neil Sedaka (a-side: Calender Girl)
06 Yearning - Bert Weedon (a-side: Ginchy)
07 The Very Thought Of You - Nat King Cole (a-side: The World In My Arms)
08 His True Love Said Goodbye - Johnny Tillotson (a-side: Jimmy's Girl)
09 Boys - Shirelles (a-side: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow)
10 Midnight - Shadows (a-side: F.B.I.)
11 High Class Feeling - Josh McRae (a-side: Messing About On The River)
12 Darling Charlie - Frank Cordell And His Orch. (a-side: Black Bear)
13 With Love (For You) - Tommy Zang (a-side: Hey Good Looking)
14 Someday You'll Want Me To Want You - Brook Benton (a-side: Fools Rush In)
15 Melodie D'Amour - Lawrence Welk And His Orchestra (a-side: Calcutta)* collector item
16 There's One Thing More - Allisons (a-side: Are You Sure)
17 Am I Asking Too Much - String-A-Longs (a-side: Wheels)
18 Zig Zag - Ramrods (a-side: Riders In The Sky)
19 Moanin' - Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra (a-side: African Waltz)*another gem
CD3:
01 Nuages - Kenny Ball & His Jazz-Band (a-side: Samantha)* original version
02 Don't You Dare Let Me Down - Conway Twitty (a-side: C'est Si Bon)
03 Big Man - Packabeats (a-side: Gypsy Beat)
04 Let's Take A Spin - Tony Osborne (a-side: Man From Madrid)
05 Mumblin' Mosie - Cliff Richard & Shadows (a-side: Theme For A Dream)
06 Mr. Lonely - Johnny & The Hurricanes (a-side: Ja-Da)
07 Driftwood - Buzz Clifford (a-side: Baby Sittin' Boogie)
08 I Like Everybody - The King Brothers (a-side: 76 Trombones)
09 A Kiss To Build A Dream On - Emile Ford & The Checkmates (a-side: What Am I Gonna Do?)
10 Skid Row - The John Barry Seven (a-side: The Magnificent Seven)* another collector item
11 Tonight Is So Right For Love - Elvis Presley (a-side: Wooden Heart)
12 Girl Without A Heart - Mike Preston (a-side: Marry Me)
13 This Time - Matt Monro (a-side: My Kind Of Girl)
14 Twilight - Ferrante & Teicher (a-side: Exodus)*another collector item
15 The Great Imposter - The Piltdown Men (a-side: Goodnight Mrs. Flinstone)
16 Peak Hour - The Krew Kats (a-side: Trambone)
17 Two Little Girls - Mark Wynter (a-side: Dream Girl)
18 Lonely Heart - Ventures (a-side: Ram-Bunk-Shush)
19 Oo-Ee-Train - Bobby Darin (a-side: Lazy River)
20 Lonely Boy And Pretty Girl - Anthony Newley (a-side: And The Heavens Cried)
21 Lark In The Clear Air - Semprini (a-side: Theme From Exodus)
22 Sadie My Lady - Drifters (a-side: I Count The Tears)
23 I'd Like To Be - Jim Reeves (a-side: Whispering Hope)
24 When I'm With You - Helen Shapiro (a-side: Don't Treat Me Like A Child)
25 I Laughed So Hard I Cried - Gene Pitney (a-side: I Wanna Love My Life Away)
26 Bucket Of Tears - Peggy Lee (a-side: Till There Was You)
CD4:
01 Boots - Nero And The Gladiators (a-side: Entry Of The Gladiators)
02 Cherie - Bobby Rydell (a-side: Good Time Baby)
03 Charly My Boy - The Temperance Seven (a-side: You're Driving Me Crazy)
04 I Cannot Find A True Love - Cliff Richard & Shadows (a-side: Gee Whiz It's You)
05 Sometimes - The Brook Brothers (a-side: Warpaint)
06 Oh, Susannah - Chubby Checker (a-side: Pony Time)
07 You Got It - Jimmy Jones (a-side: I Told You So)
08 My Dearest Dear - Teddy Johnson & Pearl Carr (a-side: How Wonderful To Know)
09 I'm Learning About Love - Brenda Lee (a-side: Emotions)
10 Karen From Exodus - Mantovani & His Orchestra (a-side: Theme From Exodus)*another rare gem
11 Mood Indigo - Floyd Cramer (a-side: On The Rebound)
12 Goodbye To Love - Marcels (a-side: Blue Moon)
13 Pledge Of Love - Johnny Burnette (a-side: Little Boy Sad)
14 Boy's Tune - Kokomo, His Piano And Orchestra (a-side: Asia Minor)* another gem
15 Isn't This A Lovely Day - Petula Clark (a-side: Something Missing)
16 Spring Is Near - The Outlaws (a-side: Swingin' Low)
17 Let's Talk About Us - Johnny Kidd & the Pirates (a-side: Linda Lu)
18 The Battle - Duane Eddy (a-side: Theme From Dixie)
19 Hello Spring - Craig Douglas (a-side: A Hundred Pounds Of Clay)
20 Two Thousand 88 - Freddy Cannon (a-side: Muskrat Ramble)
21 Sentimental Baby - Frank Sinatra (a-side: My Blue Heaven)
22 Don't Read The Letter - Alma Cogan (a-side: Cowboy Jimmy Joe)
23 Jody - Del Shannon (a-side: Runaway)
24 Wonderin' - Adam Faith (a-side: Easy Going Me)
25 Talkin' In My sleep - Billy Fury & The Four Kestrels (a-side: Don't Worry)
The above set is being released in North America on June 19, 2012. I have ordered my copy from Amazon.co.uk at a much cheaper price (£9.99 = Canadian $15.92) and received it on June 4, 2012.
The above set is a must for all music collectors, and is indeed one-of-a-kind. Because of copyright laws (50 years), this type of series can be released one set per year. I could hardly wait for the next year's set. If you are the more casual music lover of British music scene, you may prefer the British Hit Parade 1961 (a-side) with two big box sets, to be released in North America in September 2012. If you do not want to wait, you can get them readily from the British site, Amazon.co.uk, now and at a lower price.
Although my review was written on June 5, it was not submitted until this set is released locally. Anyway, the above set is highly recommended, and I hope my review is helpful to you.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
100 sides from 1961 that you probably forgot - some you should have; others are new discoveries
Jun 10 2012
By Steven I. Ramm
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
100 sides from 1961 that you probably forgot - some you should have; others are new discoveries
Ever hear the 45rpm single "The Same Old Fool" by Neil Sedaka, "Goodbye To love" by The Marcels, or "Jody" by Del Shannon? If , like me, you were collecting records in 1961, you probably have - and forgotten them. In fact if you have Sedaka's "Calendar Girl", The Marcels' "Blue Moon" or Shannon's "Runaway" in you your collection, you have the aforementioned songs there too. These were the "B" sides of what became the hit record title.
This interesting - but well produced - compilation (one of three such 4-CD sets, each covering a four-month period in 1961) from the UK of the Top Hits on the British Charts is a nice curiosity, and more an effort to be complete than fully entertaining. Still I'm glad I got it. There's a lot of material here (nearly 100 sides per volume!) and a well researched booklet with track notes and original release info.
These three sets were issued by the Acrobat Music label to act as companion discs to a similarly named series titled "The A Sides". Those discs - which I haven't heard (yet!) contained the A-sides for these tracks, presented in exactly the same order. The songs are presented in approximately chronological order of their chart toping date but the notes mention that the definition of "chart topping" come from a number of "record charts", and these are not identified, nor their chart position.
As the opening essay in the 32-page booklet (the essay is repeated in all three volumes) states, there were various reasons that the songs on the B-sides were placed there. Often it was "filler" and sometimes it was a song written by the artist so that they could earn publishing rights as well. The comments on each track sometimes let you know that the song is a "dud" but there are also some surprises here. I guess the biggest treat is remembering that the song "Boys", which became a hit for the Beatles, was originally the B-side of the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and it's included here.
About 40% of the recordings on these sets are by British artists whose careers never "crossed the pond". This is not always bad. I was introduced to some British music stars that were new to me. Another thing that gives these volumes a bit of a setback is that there is a wide array of music styles. We have Sinatra, Brenda Lee, Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, Elvis, Lawrence Welk and even Sophia Loren all mixed togerher.
The transfers came from the original 45s from the collection of Roger Dobson and are generally excellent. I found some additional enjoyment from playing these discs on a portable CD boom box with 4-inch speakers, just the size we would have listened to in 1961. With the period style of music in the background, I found myself being transported back to my high school days (that is, if I lived in the UK during that period.) With this much music, there's bound to be some duds, but that's why CD players have a "skip" button
Now to check out the A-side volumes!
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
Ever hear the 45rpm single "The Same Old Fool" by Neil Sedaka, "Goodbye To love" by The Marcels, or "Jody" by Del Shannon? If , like me, you were collecting records in 1961, you probably have - and forgotten them. In fact if you have Sedaka's "Calendar Girl", The Marcels' "Blue Moon" or Shannon's "Runaway" in you your collection, you have the aforementioned songs there too. These were the "B" sides of what became the hit record title.
This interesting - but well produced - compilation (one of three such 4-CD sets, each covering a four-month period in 1961) from the UK of the Top Hits on the British Charts is a nice curiosity, and more an effort to be complete than fully entertaining. Still I'm glad I got it. There's a lot of material here (nearly 100 sides per volume!) and a well researched booklet with track notes and original release info.
These three sets were issued by the Acrobat Music label to act as companion discs to a similarly named series titled "The A Sides". Those discs - which I haven't heard (yet!) contained the A-sides for these tracks, presented in exactly the same order. The songs are presented in approximately chronological order of their chart toping date but the notes mention that the definition of "chart topping" come from a number of "record charts", and these are not identified, nor their chart position.
As the opening essay in the 32-page booklet (the essay is repeated in all three volumes) states, there were various reasons that the songs on the B-sides were placed there. Often it was "filler" and sometimes it was a song written by the artist so that they could earn publishing rights as well. The comments on each track sometimes let you know that the song is a "dud" but there are also some surprises here. I guess the biggest treat is remembering that the song "Boys", which became a hit for the Beatles, was originally the B-side of the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and it's included here.
About 40% of the recordings on these sets are by British artists whose careers never "crossed the pond". This is not always bad. I was introduced to some British music stars that were new to me. Another thing that gives these volumes a bit of a setback is that there is a wide array of music styles. We have Sinatra, Brenda Lee, Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, Elvis, Lawrence Welk and even Sophia Loren all mixed togerher.
The transfers came from the original 45s from the collection of Roger Dobson and are generally excellent. I found some additional enjoyment from playing these discs on a portable CD boom box with 4-inch speakers, just the size we would have listened to in 1961. With the period style of music in the background, I found myself being transported back to my high school days (that is, if I lived in the UK during that period.) With this much music, there's bound to be some duds, but that's why CD players have a "skip" button
Now to check out the A-side volumes!
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
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