I confess: I bought THE SIXTIES: GOOVY HITS and THE SIXTIES: MORE GOOVY HITS for the covers. Of course, the music is good, too. You can’t go wrong with The Drifters’ “Under the Boardwalk” and Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man.” “My Guy” by Mary Wells is a classic as is Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves A Woman.” And who can resist The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”?
Herman’s Hermits version of “I’m Into Something Good” is an insidious ear-worm that takes over my brain each time I listen to it. Do you remember these hits from the Sixties? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+ (for both)
TRACK LIST:
Volume 1 | |||
| The Drifters– | Under The Boardwalk | ||
| The Shangri-Las– | Leader Of The Pack | ||
| The Marketts– | Surfer’s Stomp | ||
| Sam & Dave– | Soul Man | ||
| The Chiffons– | He’s So Fine | ||
| Mary Wells– | My Guy | ||
| Percy Sledge– | When A Man Loves A Woman | ||
| The Angels (3)– | My Boyfriend’s Back | ||
| The Archies– | Sugar Sugar | ||
| The Isley Brothers– | Twist & Shout | ||
| Volume 2 |
| 1 | The Kingsmen– | Louis Louis Written-By – Richard Berry | 2:45 |
| 2 | Gene Chandler– | Duke Of Earl Written-By – Bernice Williams, Earl Edwards, Eugene Dixon | 2:30 |
| 3 | Lesley Gore– | It’s My Party Written-By – Herbert Weiner, John Gluck Jr., Wally Gold | 2:16 |
| 4 | The Drifters– | Save The Last Dance For Me Written-By – Pomus-Shuman | 2:34 |
| 5 | Gerry & The Pacemakers– | Ferry ‘Cross The MerseyWritten-By – Gerry Marsden, Les ChadwickWritten-By – Gerry Marsden, Les Chadwick | 2:45 |
| 6 | The Troggs– | Wild Thing Written-By – Chip Taylor | 2:36 |
| 7 | Jan & Dean– | Little Old Lady From Pasadena Written-By – Don Altfeld, Roger Christian | 2:26 |
| 8 | Herman’s Hermits– | I’m Into Something Good Written-By – Goffin And King | 2:31 |
| 9 | The Chiffons– | One Fine Day Written-By – Goffin And King | 2:09 |
| 10 | Jimmy Clanton– | Venus In Blue Jeans Written-By – Greenfield & Sedaka | 2:18 |
Of couraw I remember most of these songs and still like them!
Sometimes I look for them on youtube and recently I found the Shangi-Las and the Leader of the pack – really funny video.
And then of course both records by the Drifters – fond memories!
Wolf, I loved THE DRIFTERS back in the early 1960s. Somehow, they faded away during the British Invasion.
These are almost all early sixties records with a couple of outliers thrown in (like The Troggs). I know Herman’s Hermits and Gerry & the Pacemakers were part of the British Invasion, but most of these songs (not that they aren’t good) feel very pre-Beatles to my ears. With covers like that, I was figuring we’d have songs like “Incense & Peppermints”, “Inna-Gadda-Da-Vita”, and “Green Tambourine”.
TL; DR: good music, misleading covers.
The only one I don’t remember is the Marketts’ track. I suppose “Out of Limits” was unavailable or unaffordable. Pretty good diversity — soul, surf, British Invasion, Brill Building, teen idols male (Jimmy Clanton) and female (Lesley Gore).
I’m with Fred on the Marketts song. Otherwise, I know them all, intimately. I don’t know that I’d class most of them as “groovy,” though. “Wild Thing,” yes.
“One Fine Day” (which autocorrect tried to make “Ozone”) is another of Jackie’s favorites.
I once made a list of songs with Groovy” or “Grooving” in the title but it’s gone now.