Greatest Hits (Audio Cassette) [Import]

This is a guilty pleasure, and the songs are minor. This should be an exercise in nostalgia, not an attempt to uncover a hidden treasure from the 60s. While this schlock was being made, the Beatles were making Rubber Soul and Revolver. But if you were growing up then, this is the stuff of which some nice memories are made, and there isn't a song here I don't remember well. One star off because, well, after all, this isn't Rubber Soul or Highway 61 Revisited, and there have to be SOME standards for 1965.

There are reviews below about sound quality that may be important to some serious audiophiles. These songs were originally heard by most of us on AM radio and maybe 45's on a monaural record player. This CD sounds great on my stereo today, certainly way better than on the car radio 40 years ago, and I have no complaints about the technical quality of the recording.

This one from Abkco, for example, is a CD version of a 1973 vinyl LP which, while offering up only originals, still leaves out five of those hits, four of which were Top 40: East West - # 27 in January 1967; Don't Go Out Into The Rain (You're Going To Melt) - # 18 in July 1967; Museum - # 39 in September 1967; I Can Take Or Leave Your Loving - # 22 in February 1968 (and just try and find the original of THAT anywhere in CD format]; and Sleepy Joe - # 61 in June 1968 and their final charted single.

Instead, producer Mickie Most inserted two uncharted B-sides - The End Of The World which backed I'm Henry The VIII, I Am in 1965, and Hold On, the flip of Leaning On The Lamp Post in 1966. Replace those two and increase the tracks to 19 by adding in the missing cuts and you have a 5-star compilation second to none.

The fold-out insert contains the original liner notes, one page written by Gloria Stavers, Editor-in-Chief of 16 Magazine, and several by Toby B. Mamis, along with another nice shot of the group and a large picture of Peter Noone, who many assumed to be "Herman" when they first appeared on the scene. The group name was actually based upon the cartoon character Sherman in TV's The Bullwinkle Show.

As for the contention stated elsewhere that they out-performed The Beatles in 1965 ... well, that year they did have seven hits [if you count A Must To Avoid which made its debut on the charts in December but peaked in 1966], including two number 1 hits: Mrs. Brown and Henry VIII. The Beatles had twelve [if you count We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper which made their debut on the charts in late December but peaked in 1966], including six number 1 hits: Eight Days A Week, Ticket To Ride, Help, Yesterday, and We Can Work It Out.

So, The Beatles they were not, nor could they match the quality tunes offered up by other groups in the British Invasion like The Rolling Stones, Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Dave Clark Five, and Manfred Mann. A much more accurate comparison would be Freddie & The Dreamers.