Compared with Buffalo Bop's usual rockabilly and teen-rebel collections, this 33-song compilation is kind of dorky -- sort of a nerd's picture of rock & roll (the Richie Cunningham as opposed to the Fonzie playlist). Nobody appearing on this CD ever aspired to be really cool like Elvis or
Gene Vincent;
Ricky Nelson was as far as they got. But it's all great fun in its well-crafted, highly produced way, and some of the artists and labels here will actually be familiar--
Tony Orlando ("The Loneliest"), Steve Lawrence ("Pretty Blue Eyes"), Milo Liggett ("Gold and Silver"), and the Barker Brothers ("Hey Little Mama") recorded for outfits like Monument, Epic, Brunswick, ABC, and Hickory. The Wonders ("Cuttin' Out"), the
R-Dells ("You Say"),
David Box ("Little Lonely Summer Girl") et al weren't rebels, they were would-be teen idols, and they weren't averse to delivering songs that were essentially teen-pop, albeit often with a good beat and some fairly prominent guitars amid the orchestras and backing choruses. Tommy Lam's "Blue Willow" actually has a guitar break, but it's more like good middle-year Elvis than real rock & roll. Much of this stuff was just as likely to have strings, but that doesn't stop it from being good romantic soft-rock. "Lazy Daisy" by Bobby Boston and "Just Give Me Your Heart" by Johnny Duffett do rock, but they're sandwiched between "Fantasy" by
Johnny Cameron, the
Crescendos' lovelorn "Oh! Julie," and "Big as I Can Dream" by
Kris Jensen, (a song that makes the Everly Bros.' "Ebony Eyes" seem like "Bye Bye Love"). The
Rituals' "Gone" is a good pop doo wop number that sort of anticipates "Remember When" as well as "It's Alright" by the
Rolling Stones in its melody.
Bobby Comstock's "Just a Piece of Paper" boasts a soaring string section of the kind that the Drifters would perfect, coupled to a melody very similar to "This Magic Moment." Marci's "Suddenly We're Strangers" could've given
Gene Pitney a run for his money; the Barker Brothers, although no Everlys, had pleasant enough voices and knew how to pick a song ("Hey Little Mama" by Lee Hazelwood); and
Gary Criss' "Our Favorite Melodies" and
Donnie Owens' "Stormy" were sweet, soft romantic rock at its best. The sound quality is uniformly excellent, and although there are no notes, we do get the usual spread of available press photos.