1965-1969: A Time of Incredible Creativity in so many Musical Genres!
593608
I think that this CD is fantastic! I especially loved the way that some of the great hits from 1968 are grouped together(Judy in Disguise,Cry Like a Baby,Young Girl,Angel of the Morning & Green Tambourine) to facilitate a "collective memory consciousness" of that troubled but very memorable time and place. The years 1965-1969 were rife with political,social and cultural turmoil; yet it was a time of unbelievable creativity and artistic vitality and excellence in so many varied musical genres. I am 62 years old now,and to me ,this was the "Age of Pericles- A golden age in music." I love the music of the 40's,50's,60's and the 70's-it's appeal and beauty are timeless.
4327970
The high points of this collection definitely puts it into the must buy category of any 60's music afficianado. They are The Scot Richard Case (early SRC)recordings of not one but 2! Pretty Things covers plus a version of I'm So Glad which easily equals The Cream. Their original song Who is That Girl and cover of The Who's Cobwebs and Strange are great also. The 2 MC5 recordings sound better than ever especially the fabulous Borderline. Iggy Pop lays down the blueprint for his fine singing voice which we all know and love on I'm a Man. But the "Big" find has to be a group called Half-Life whose song Get Down actually gives the MC5 a run for their money (Please! there has to be a full album by these guys somewhere). Oh,did I forget the great demo version of The Frost's Mystery Man. The rest is less hard rock type music(more Hollies and Zombies,there's even a great cover of Time of the Season) but I'm sure it'll sink into my subconscious eventually. An all around fantastic compilation that really makes me drool thinking about The Rationals collection that's on the way. To hear these classics from the original master tapes instead of from crummy sounding bootlegs will be a wonder to behold!
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!
3320529
In early 1973 I had the rare and unique privilege of seeing and interviewing Sun Ra before I had a chance to seriously sample his significant recorded output. Both the show and the interview were  remarkable spectacles. Sun Ra was one of the most unique and creative  individuals of the twentieth century.
This CD underscores his creative  abilities. The title track, which starts off with a long organ  improvisation, is one of Ra's greatest keyboard solos--an exploration into  the depths, if you will, and along with the German Free Jazz Donaueshingen  sessions, his Montreaux LP on Inner city, and the recent Kahoutek comet  concert CD, among his finest works, and a great place to start.
I will  never forget the joy of a Ra performance. This CD comes very close to  capturing that spirit.
Gary Gomes GomesCrystalx@aol.com
2421102
For the general music fan, the Mascot Records/Jack Curtis Story CD has something for everyone.  Randy Stevens, Frank Fafara, Eddie Lemaire, Judy Lunn, Nick Landers, Roosevelt Nettles, Brian Scott and Jim Boyd all represent the pre-Beatles sounds.  There's doo-wop, r&b, teen idol, rockabilly and garage sounds, running the spectrum of what was common on the charts from 1958 through 1973.

From a post-Beatles `60s garage rock perspective, from which this review is written, there, too, are several genres on display, from the straight garage rock of The Spiders, the garage/pop (though more on the straight pop side) of P-Nut Butter and George Washington Bridge, and the soulful-sunshine-garage of Motion.  It's really an excellent array of sounds. In addition to official Mascot Records recordings, there is an alternate take by The Spiders (pre-Alice Cooper) and an unreleased cut by Motion.

The CD includes a jam-packed 24-page booklet, telling the story of Curtis and the featured acts/bands with excellent liner notes and a cool selection of photos.  With downloads becoming more and more popular, it's very welcomed to have a CD provide such big bang for the buck.  This one has it all.

The informative booklet provides details on recordings not included, so hopefully a Volume 2 is in consideration.  As long as the care and detail that went into assembling this volume is maintained it, too, will be a top-notch representation of Arizona rock and roll.
2857670
This is a fascinating inside look at a group of studio musicians who played on an amazing number of songs and albums in the 60's. A must read for anyone interested in pop music of that era.
4926154
As a long time listener of electronic music ,mostly from Europe, I discovered this from collecting Toru Takemitsu material and Eastern musics . The pioneer electronic musicians of the 50's and 60's were ahead of their time and I must admit I had them pigeon holed into the unlistenable area but it turns out there are many satisfying moments here and in the other Obscure Tape Music of Japan series and other early electronic musicians. It is always fun to discover new things.
1551882
If you love old music like Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong and Shirley Horn and so on, this album is fantastic.

The selections are not the most commonly heard versions yet they are very good versions. Most of this stuff was new to me, though I had heard the artists before.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves music from this era. And if you aren't sure, this is a good place to start!

This is not my era, I am from the Beatles era; but this stuff is great to listen to in any era, and will live on and on. Expand your musical tastes; listen to some honest to goodness classics!
2226428
If you have ever wanted to hear something truly original; chord progressions totally unknown and unimaginable until 1980, here is your chance.  This is truly music of the future, although it has been around for 35 years and the future doesn't seem to have happened yet.  This music puts atonal and serial music firmly in the past, going nowhere.  If your musical taste is jaded, try Blackwood's majestic synthesizer Etude in 15-note equal tuning and hang on to your socks as it modulates through the five equal divisions of the octave.
765828
The 70's were an amazing time for music, period!  Great R&B, Motown, funk, soul, rock, easy listening, pop, disco/dance, electronic... you name it!  For the most part, the songs and arrangements were magical across all the genres.  I remember you could spend hours tuning across the FM dial in amazement.  ED & JFC were one of many smooth pop/rock bands dominating the airwaves back then.  It's always a great joy to be able to hear some of those beautiful, timeless songs all over again!  Compilations like this bring back some great memories of a better, less stressful and carefree time!
3439981
There was a time when, several artists of the late 1960' and early 70's took some time away from their classical rock groups (in this case Yes) to compose and rehearse their own solo work which may or may not have seen fruition in being recorded and released.  C. Squire's effort, "Fish Out of Water", was among a select few that shed new light and respect on not only his musicianship as the bassist he was known for, but on his skills as a writer, arranger, and vocalist as well.  I had only seen a bootleg version of the promos video, so it makes a nice addition to have the DVD included in the set.  All of the musicians involved in the project made one of the best examples (right up there alongside Tony Banks "A Curious Feeling") of music making during this wonderful time in music history.  Dave Cox
2743761
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"
1093268
This compilation rivals some of the best `60s garage/psych comps out there! In fact, I would highly recommend it over Rhino's nuggets series (which contains many songs heard on oldies stations plus a few subpar tracks imho) for the more serious sixties music fans. every track on this CD from "A Question of Temperature"(Balloon Farm) to "Frustration"(Painted Ship version)., two tracks by a very cool band by the name of Velvet Illusions(Velvet Illusions, Acid Head) to a band that would become underground metal band, Pentagram(Macabre) to Teddy and his Patches "Suzy Creamcheese" is very good.
2142303
Along with fellow Sheffield industrialists CABARET VOLTAIRE's "1974-76" and the London-based #1 industrial group THROBBING GRISTLE's "Very Friendly: The 1st Annual Report of TG", THE GOLDEN HOUR OF THE FUTURE represents an absolutely crucial and unquestionably pioneering point in the development and pre-history of British industrial music. The importance of the very fact that this CD includes amazing early recordings by both the pre-DARE!/"Don't You Want Me" line-up of THE HUMAN LEAGUE (unfortunately still not recognized for the amazing unit that they were, if nothing else for such tracks as "Being Boiled", "Blind Youth", "Toyota City" and their eerie cover of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" but also Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware's eventual roles in HEAVEN 17 and the B.E.T. plus their numerous production credits, including Ware's for Tina Turner!!!) but also the previously unheard (and not too dissimiler) group THE FUTURE (Ware, Marsh and future-CLOCK DVA mastermind the late great Adi Newton) cannot be understated. At last we can see just how CABARET VOLTAIRE, TG and THE HUMAN LEAGUE were true peers in both their breakdown and re-assemblege of their rock and roll pioneers/influences (The SEEDS and The BEATLES for CV, ABBA and The VELVET UNDERGROUND for TG and Phil Spector, Motown and Gary Glitter for THL but also KRAFTWERK for all three) but also their adaption of dada techniques, Burroughs and Gyson's cut-up methods, the adaption of the JG Ballard/Philip K. Dick science fiction now world theory embodied and refined by the use of strictly sytnhesizers and electronics plus the use of found sounds and field recordings from their own cities and surrounding areas all to paint an extremely bleak and too true modern vision of post-industrial revolution late-1970's Britain. While the SEX PISTOLS, THE DAMNED, THE JAM, BUZZCOCKS, THE CLASH and their comrades were out in front screaming and/or raising havoc and/or consciousness, THL, CV and TG were working on the inside, disassembling society and music from within and examining things from a more distant p.o.v., challenging their listeners and followers from a much greater perspective. THE GOLDEN HOUR OF THE FUTURE is a spooky, somewhat cold but supremely rewarding listen, from the near-hit single charm of "Dance Like A Star" and "Dada Dada Duchamp Vortex" to the humour of "Dominion Advertisement" (which makes as much sense today in our Prozac-riddled 21st century as it did in 1977) and the covers of "King Of Kings", "Once Upon A Time In The West" and the instrumental "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" (a near ode to Eno, ambient music and muzak) and experimentation of "4JG", "Year Of The Jet Packs" and "Daz". This lays the groundwork for not only THL's eventual THE DIGNITY OF LABOUR EP, REPRODUCTION and TRAVELOGUE LP's, but also fits in well with TG's 2nd ANNUAL REPORT and CV's "MIX-UP" LP and EXTENDED PLAY EP. Truly rewarding, fun and absolutely essential.
158333
If you like your music, quirky and weird and very, VERY strange, oh my god you should seek this very rare album out!

I have owned this on vinyl, since about 1989, and found it very stimulating, when I needed to "blow away the cobwebs" of conventional thinking about what music is, could, or indeed should be.

It is very rare, and I believe should be re-released, because it is the most insane improvisation and sheer joyful NOISE!
4179427
If you came of musical age in the late '60s, as I did, these records were immensely important in introducing the great performers who shaped the musical culture of the time. Bernstein's recording of Honegger, Milhaud, and Roussel was revelatory to ears used to the same old warhorses. Reiner's work with the Pittsburg Symphony was so different from his work leading the CSO. And Casadesus' Ravel was transcendent. It's wonderful to hear fresh remasterings of the Szell/Cleveland teamwork with new ears after burning out on all those Odyssey pressings which the younger version of me bought because they were so affordable--and it's great to hear how good they were. But most of all, it's delightful to hear Mitropoulos/New York and the early '50s Walter/NYP pairings anew. This 28 disc set has great sleeve art and a very reasonable price to boot. Highly recommended.
4960498
I saw Olatunji as a kid while visiting one of the African Nation Pavilions at the NY World's Fair in Flushing Meadow in the summer of 1965 (the one with the Unisphere symbol).

He got a lot of exposure at that fair, and his show was a sensation
with audience after audience, and no doubt a highlight for many visitors. His dynamic ensemble really gave you the feeling
(within what was, for the time, a very
lavish Corporate/technological exhibition complex),
you were, at least momentarily, magically enclosed
within an exotic foreign culture.

My mother bought the Olatunji album shortly after that
and it was one of the albums I grew up with.

With the profusion of drum circles and the participation/percussion-jams  in some areas these days, Olatunji's music seems as "now" as ever.

And the fact remains:
The Man's music still rocks!