Greatest Hits [Import]

At least as far as the A-sides are concerned, as all nine Billboard Hot 100 hits chalked up between 1967 and 1969 for this Chicago-based group are here. Named after the character in the old Little Rascals series, Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, along with guitarists Lefty Baker, Nigel Pickering, and Malcolm Hale, drummer John Seiter, and bassist Kenny Hodges, had their best hit come first when Sunday Will Never Be The Same reached # 9 in June 1967 for the Mercury label.

Their second offering that year, Making Every Minute Count, didn't fare nearly as well, although it did make the Top 40, settling in at # 31 that September. Towards the end of the year they had their second-best hit when Lazy Day peaked at # 14. This pattern continued in 1968 with Sunday Mornin' topping out at # 30 in February, followed by a # 17 with Like To Get To Know You in June.

After that, they never had another Top 40, with the closest being Give A Damn which hit # 43 in September 1968. That December Yesterday's Rain struggled to a # 94 b/w Without Rhyme Or Reason - which is a fitting description of the producer's decision to make this the only B-side included in a 15-track CD.

They didn't do much better in 1969, gaining just a # 86 with Anything You Choose that March, followed by their last charter, And She's Mine, which petered out at # 97 in June. Elaine would get new life in the early 1980s as the new lead singer with the revamped Mamas & The Papas, although there would be no furher hit singles.

As for Suzanne, if Judy Collins had a hit single with the Leonard Cohen-penned tune, it must have been on some obscure charts as the ONLY hit version that I know of belonged to Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex Harrison. And it was a minor one at that, reaching # 56 late in 1967 on Reprise.

I can't find fault with this CD from the point of view of missing hits, nor is there to be any criticism of the sound quality, which is excellent. Even the liner notes and track information come as a surprise for a Polygram release [more often than not they give us nothing in that regard]. Perhaps it could be argued that they should have gone to 18 tracks and included all the B-sides. But I was just happy to see all nine hits in one reasonably-priced package.