Includes 13 # 1 Hits From The First Full Year Of World Peace - 1946
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This is an entry in the massive Time-Life series under the generic heading Your Hit Parade which, when they first began to appear over three decades ago, were arguably THE best available in terms of sound reproduction quality and liner notes. Here they offer these 24 of the best from 1946, the first year without war since 1939 when the Big Bands were the main attraction, but who now were stepping aside for solo artists (many of them ironically backed up by those same Big Bands):

1. Sioux City Sue - Bing Crosby with The Jesters & Bob Haggart & His Orch - # 3 April-May - Decca 23508;
2. I Got The Sun In The Morning - Les Brown & His Orch (vocal: Doris Day) - # 10 June-July - Columbia 36977;
3. Rumours Are Flying - Frankie Carle & His Orch (vocal: Marjorie Hughes) - # 1 for 9 weeks Sept-Nov - Columbia 37069;
4. Ole Buttermilk Sky - Kay Kyser & His Orch (vocal: Mike Douglas & The Campus Kids) - # 1 for 2 weeks Sept-Nov - Columbia 37073;
5. You Keep Coming Back Like A Song - Dinah Shore (with the Harry Bluestone orch) - # 5 Nov-Dec - Columbia 37072;
6. A Prisoner Of Love - Perry Como (with the Andr Kostelanetz Orch) - # 1 for 3 weeks April-May - RCA Victor 1814;
7. Stone Cold Dead In The Market (He Had It Coming) - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan - # 1 R&B for 5 weeks/# 7 Pop July-Aug - Decca 23546;
8. Personality - Johnny Mercer (with the Paul Weston orch & The Pied Pipers) - # 1 for 2 weeks Jan-MArch - Capitol 230;
9. I Don't Know Enough About You - Peggy Lee (with Dave Barbour & His Orch) - # 7 May-June - Capitol 236;
10. Doin' What Comes Natur'lly - Freddy Martin & His Orch (vocal: Glen Hughes) - # 2 July-Aug - RCA Victor 1878;
11. Oh! What It Seemed To Be - Frankie Carle & His Orch (vocal: Marjorie Hughes) - # 1 for 11 weeks Jan-March - Columbia 36892;
12. To Each His Own - The Ink Spots - # 1 Pop/# 3 R&B Sept-Oct - Decca 23615;
13. Shoo Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dowdy - Stan Kenton & His Orch (vocal: June Christy) - # 6 March-April - Capitol 235;
14. Surrender - Perry Como (with The Russ Case orch) - # 1 July-Aug - RCA Victor 1877;
15. South America, Take It Away! - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters (with the Vic Schoen orch) - # 2 Aug-Sept - Decca 23569;
16. Laughing On The Outside (Crying On The Inside) - Dinah Shore (with Sonny Burke's Orch) - # 3 April-May - Columbia 36964;
17. I'm A Big Girl Now - Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye (vocal: Betty Barclay) - # 1 April-May - Victor 1812;
18. Symphony - Freddy Martin & His Orch (vocal: Clyde Rogers) - # 1 for 2 weeks Dec 1945-Jan 1946 - Victor 1747;
19. Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief - Betty Hutton (with Paul Weston & His Orch) - # 1 for 2 weeks Dec 1945-Jan 1946 - Capitol 220;
20. The Gypsy - The Ink Spots - # 1 Pop for 13 weeks and # 1 R&B for 3 weeks May-July - Decca 18817;
21. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Margaret Whiting (with Paul Weston & His Orch) - # 17 June - Capitol 247;
22. They Say It's Wonderful - Perry Como (with the Russ Case orch) - # 4 June-July - RCA Victor 1857;
23. The Whole World Is Singing My Song - Les Brown & His Orch (vocal: Doris Day) - # 6 Oct-Nov - Columbia 37066;
24. The Old Lamplighter - Swing & Sway With Sammy Kaye (vocal: Billy Williams) - # 1 for 7 weeks Nov-Dec - RCA Victor 1963.

The R&B charts came into being in 1942 as The Harlem Hit Parade.
3384758
Collectable had to go to at least 8 copy-right holders to gather together these original 18 summer favored tunes. I'm not so sure they were all summer releases but thats a trivial issue at any point.

The 1964 lease of '(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave' by Martha & The Vandellas (sued later so she can claim a little self I guess to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) is a good starter. They wouldn't be my first as I'm a Mamas and Papas fan but their 1965 release of California Dreamin' is second up and is always a delight too hear. Rupert Holmes number one hit of 1979 and 1980 'Escape (The Pia Colada Song)' is always welcome though the radio nearly played the tune to death.

The artwork is good but offers no additional liner notes or insights but with the Internet most of the standard information is just a key stroke away.
A buy for sure..

*note: The song sequencing is incorrect here when compared to the actual Cd: but are the 18 are here and complete.
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1. Don't Call Us We'll Call You - Jerry Corbetta & Sugarloaf
2. Breakfast In America - Supertramp
3. Shooting Star - Bad Company
4. Let It Rain - Eric Clapton
5. 30 Days In The Hole - Humble Pie
6. Hand Me Down World Guess - The Who
7. Blue Collar Man (Longs Nights) - Styx
8. Sweet Talkin' Woman - Electric Light Orchestra
9. Mean Mistreater - Grand Funk Railroad
10. Don't Look Back - Boston
11. Who Are You? - The Who
12. Celebrate - Three Dog Night
13. Sylvia's Mother - Dr. Hook
14. Fool For The City - Foghat
15. Roll On Down The Highway - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
832035
17 Tracks:-
1.  I hear Music,
2.  All God`s children got Rhythm,
3.  Honeysuckle Rose,
4.  Do you know what it Means to be in New Orleons,
5.  It`s you or no One,
6. If i were a Bell,
7.  Chicago,
8.  Nuages-Daphne,
9.  La Chanson des Rues,
10.  Fascinating Rhythm,
11.  Them there Eyes,
12.  You are the sunshine of my Life,
13.  I won`t Dance,
14.  Old man River,
15.  Someone to watch over me,I Got Rhythm,
16.  I didn`t know what time it was,
17.  How high the Moon
3244917
.Very fulfilling to sift through pages of various recordings released throughout the years and find this one of the most extensive list assembled in one place!.
2554950
Total of 21 tracks, of Three Dog Night's most beloved radio-friendly tunes. As for myself, I remember most, if not all these early to mid '70's keepsakes. Like "One", it's flipside (unless I miss my guess) "Try A little Tenderness", "Eli's Coming", "Celebrate", their possible anthem (?) "Joy To The World", "Liar", "Old Fashioned Love Song", "Shambala" and the rest. Memorable seventies top 40 rock. A should-have.
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1. Joy To The World - Three Dog Night

2. Easy To Be Hard - Three Dog Night

3. Mama Told Me Not To Come - Three Dog Night

4. One - Three Dog Night

5. Sure As I'm Sittin' Here - Three Dog Night

6. Old Fashioned Love Song - Three Dog Night

7. Black & White - Three Dog Night

8. Eli's Comin' - Three Dog Night

9. The Show Must Go On - Three Dog Night

10. The Tracks Of My Tears - Johnny Rivers

11. Midnight Special - Johnny Rivers

12. Seventh Son - Johnny Rivers

13. Poor Side Of Town - Johnny Rivers

14. Rockin' Pneumonia & Boogie Woogie Flu - Johnny Rivers

15. Baby I Need Your Loving - Johnny Rivers

16. Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers
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Disc: 1
1. In The Name Of Love
2. Lies (UK No. 67, US No. 30)
3. Love On Your Side (UK No. 9, US No. 45)
4. We Are Detective (UK No. 7)
5. Watching (UK No. 33)
6. Hold Me Now (UK No. 3, US No. 3)
7. All Fall Out
8. Bouncing
9. Love Lies Bleeding
10. Doctor! Doctor! (UK No. 3, US No. 11)
11. You Take Me Up (UK No. 2, US No. 44)
12. Sister Of Mercy (UK No. 11)
13. Lay Your Hands On Me (UK No. 13, US No. 6)
14. Don't Mess With Doctor Dream (UK No. 15)
15. King For A Day (UK No. 22, US No. 8)
16. Revolution (UK No. 56)
17. Get That Love (UK No. 66, US No. 31)
18. In The Name Of Love ('88 Remix) (UK No. 46)

Disc: 2
1. If You Were Here
2. Judy Do
3. Tears
4. Kamikaze
5. Day After Day
6. No Peace For The Wicked
7. Who Can Stop The Rain
8. Storm On The Sea
9. Stillwaters
10. The Gap (US No. 69)
11. Future Days
12. You Killed The Clown
13. Love Is The Law
14. Breakaway
15. Follow Your Heart
16. 20th Century
17. Perfect Day
18. Long Goodbye
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An instant 1960 radio station - minus the commercials - all with great sound!

Boy did this set (one of three different four-disc volumes, each covering a four month period in 1960) bring back memories for me! These were my high school years and I was a go-fer for a local New Jersey radio station - where my interest in records really took place - and a substantial portion of the 118 tracks on this volume were the hits of the day. Some are common and I know I still have those 45s somewhere (do we ever get rid of our favorite records?) but some I haven't heard in 50 years. Almost half the records here were British singles which never made it to the US and therein lies the fun of this set for me. Lots of new stuff and sometimes different version of the same song.

The period covered here is three years before the "British Invasion" and rise of harder rock. So there are more of what were called "pop hits" here including teenage romance songs and themes from hit movies.  And then there are music hall songs like George Formby's "Banjo Boy" (a song which gets another reading by Valerie Master and AGAIN by Jan and Kjeld!) But these, mostly 2  minute, songs had something all their own and - for those who were buying 45s in 1960, there are lots of memories to be found in these sets.

Each volume contains a 32-page book of liner notes. A four-page essay putting things in perspective repeats in each of the three collections but then there are notes on each artist and their songs. When more than one record by an artist is included they are grouped together. I found this really helpful for the British artists I didn't know.

What constitutes the "British Hit Parade" is not quite defined - even in the notes. There were three British music publications and each had its own set of charts. There's no listing of what chart position a song reached and on which chart. But I'm not quibbling; just pointing it out.

The records all came from the collection of one record collector and the transfers all sound great. This is especially true because in 1960 we were listening to these songs on small speaker transistor radios. (Remember them?)

After playing the CDs through, this is a set you can play again, hitting the "shuffle" button and you'll transport yourself back to 1960.

A great concept! I only hope they will move forward (or even backward) through the years. As Dean Martin sang on that purple label Capitol 45 (that I STILL have), "Memories are made of this".

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
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This CD contains mastered original recordings presented in chronological order (except for the last track taken from an album).  All seven of the Ames Brothers top 20 hits are here.  They had 24 songs that charted between 1953 and 1960.  Seventeen of those songs are on this CD including all that charted higher than #46.  Three uncharted songs are also included.

The packaging is very nice. The sound quality is excellent.  There are seven pages of liner notes including information on each track.

Charted songs not included:
"I'm Gonna Love You" - No. 84 in 1956
"If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight" - No 89 in 1956
"49 Shades of Green" - No. 49 in 1956
"Rockin' Shoes" - No. 64 in 1957
"Little Gypsy" - No. 67 in 1958
"Stay" - No. 90 in 1958
"Someone to Come Home To" - No. 78 in 1959
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I remembered hearing all 12 of those songs from 1979.  They played them much of that year. I didn't hear Dionne's song until 1980, when she starting hosting the show Solid Gold.  I still love Blondie's Heart Of Glass, the Knack's My Sharona, Elo's song, Toto, Earth Wind And Fire, Peaches And Herb's lovely Reunited and others.  Ray Parker Jr's You Can't Change That is still catchy. And Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive closes the album with a bang!  Disco was very popular that year, but there were a lot of good records during '79 that are still well received over 25 to 26 years later! This is a smartly done collection, one of the best in EW's series of those years.
3878256
Fantastic 3-cd set of every instrumental single to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during 1961.  Songs are all remastered (remarkable sound!!) and are in chronological order, according to the date of their highest chart position, 86 songs total, 51 of them in true stereo, with a total playing time of 204 minutes.  Included is a 27 page booklet with a fun & fact filled bio of every artist (listed alphabetically), and each disc has a separate page with song title/ composer/ artist/ chart peak/ date of peak positon/ song length.  This is the second release in a projected 10 volume series, one for each year of the 60's (volume 1 is equally impressive).  The people who put these first 2 volumes together did an outstanding job!
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For another 3 bucks (as of this writing), you get 21 songs instead of just 14.

This does have two songs not on GH--"Turn Your Radio On" and "All I Do Is Think About You."  For most, these won't compensate for the loss of "1941", "Cuddly Toy", "Girlfriend", "The Puppy Song", "Living Without You", "Good Old Desk", "You're Breakin' My Heart", "Don't Forget Me", and "As Time Goes By".  The earliest of these, especially "1941", show why the Beatles raved about Nilsson way back when.  "You're Breakin' My Heart" is notable for its free use of the "F" word; funny, but maybe not essential.  "As Time Goes By" was a minor hit from a standards album (A Touch of Schmillson in the Night) that was as uncommercial a move then as it is commercial now.  Go figure.

This man was brilliant.  And that's coming from someone who is not a long-time fan; I only knew his biggest hits before buying GH.  Spend a little and get a lot more.  You won't regret it.
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This is the eighth in a series that covers UK top ten hits from 1953, the first full year of British record sales charts. They started in November 1952, before which there had been sheet music charts. There are more comprehensive collections - see&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/1960-British-Hit-Parade-Part-1-January-to-July/dp/B004E20BAO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">1960 British Hit Parade - Part 1 (January to July)</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/1960-British-Hit-Parade-Part-Two/dp/B004GEHZ36/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">1960 British Hit Parade Part Two</a>, but this will do for me. All the tracks are presented in the order in which they charted, beginning with Way down yonder in New Orleans (Freddy Cannon) and ending with Portrait of my love (Matt Monro), which charted in December 1962. While every track here made the top 10, most climbed much higher. The compilers have limited each artist to one track (albeit the Shadows get one track on their own and another as Cliff's backing musicians), so some classics are inevitably missing. Completists can choose the boxed sets instead.

Most of the tracks will be familiar to fans of early sixties music. It seems to have been a low point for female singers, who are represented by just three tracks, one of which (Sixteen reasons by Connie Stevens) makes its debut in my CD collection here; I'm not sure I've actually heard it before. Elsewhere, there is plenty of great music including classics such as Beyond the sea (Bobby Darin), Hit and miss (John Barry Seven), Cathy's clown (Everly Brothers), Shakin' all over (Johnny Kidd and the Pirates), It's now or never (Elvis Presley), Save the last dance for me (Drifters) and Poetry in motion (Johnny Tillotson). It was also great to find Please help me I'm falling (Hank Locklin), a country classic, featured.

This is an outstanding collection, showcasing the best that 1960 had to offer.
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List of songs:
DISC 1:

  1. Emily Suzanne
  2. Whoever Finds This, I Love You
  3. Beginning To Feel The Pain
  4. Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me
  5. Everybody Loves A Love Song
  6. Dream Me Home
  7. Your Side Of The Bed
  8. One Hell Of A Woman
  9. Stop And Smell The Roses
  10. Rock N Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)
  11. (If You Add) All The Love In the World
  12. Burnin' Thing

DISC 2:

  1. Forever Lovers
  2. Texas In My Rear View Mirror
  3. In The Ghetto
  4. Memories
  5. Watching Scotty Grow
  6. Something's Burning
  7. I Believe In Music
  8. The Lonesomest Lonesome
  9. Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife
  10. Kiss It And Make It Better
  11. Where Did The Good Times Go
  12. Picking Up The Pieces Of My Life

DISC 3:

  1. Hello, L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham
  2. I'll Paint You A Song
  3. Music In My Life
  4. Every Now And Then
  5. I Still Love You (You Still Love Me)
  6. Naughty Girl
  7. the Hits Just Keep On Coming
  8. It's Hard To Be Humble
  9. Let's Keep It That Way
  10. Hooked On Music
  11. You're My Best-est Friend
  12. I Never Made Love (Till I Made Love With You)
1900200
As far as I know, this was Lou Rawls' first-ever CD collection of his PIR-era hits (I bought my copy in 1990) and includes the classics "Groovy People", "Let Me Be Good To You", "Sit Down And Talk To Me", "I Go Crazy" and (of course!) "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". The sound quality is quite good and you get a fine (if brief) retrospective of his 1976-82 recordings.
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For the last few years, I've been hoping for a Patti Page Christmas album re-issue. It was worth the wait,especially as it comes with a decent booklet. This collection features all the music that Patti recorded for Mercury. She later recorded a Christmas album for another label, but it's not featured here, so I'll look forward to its re-issue in another year.

The first twelve tracks comprise an entire 1955 album, most of which had been released earlier. Track 13, Boogie woogie Santa Claus, dates from 1950, when it was released as the A-side of a single that featured Tennessee waltz on the B-side. Radio DJ's flipped the record, giving no chance for Boogie woogie Santa Claus to become a hit. The song would nevertheless been heard by a lot of people who bought the single, as Tennessee waltz was Patti's biggest hit ever, and one of the most successful singles of all time.

The collection features many Christmas songs that are now regarded as standards, although Patti was among the first to record some of them, and did so superbly. There are also a selection of less obvious songs that Patti also excelled at singing, so there is a great combination of the familiar and the obscure. Of course, if you play it often enough, even the obscure songs become familiar :-)