I found 25 Juke Box Greats, Vol. II at a Library Book Sale. It cost me twenty-five cents. This CD includes plenty of songs I grew up listening to in my early teens. Who could forget Betty Everett’s “The Shoop Shoop Song”? How many of these songs do you remember? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1 –The Tokens The Lion Sleeps Tonight 2:37
2 –Peggy March I Will Follow Him 2:30
3 –Jackie DeShannon Put A Little Love In Your Heart 2:37
4 –Jay & The Americans Cara Mia 2:33
5 –Ray Peterson Tell Laura I Love Her 2:57
6 –Sam Cooke Twistin’ The Night Away 2:40
7 –The Highwaymen* Michael 2:47
8 –Fats Domino I’m Walkin’ 2:04
9 –Bobby Vee Rubber Ball 2:22
10 –Ernie K-Doe Mother-in-Law 2:34
11 –Johnny Tillotson It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’ 2:49
12 –Gary Lewis & The Playboys This Diamond Ring 2:10
13 –Petula Clark I Know A Place 2:47
14 –Betty Everett The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) 2:16
15 –Jan & Dean Surf City 2:28
16 –John Fred & His Playboy Band Judy In Disguise 2:55
17 –The Fleetwoods Come Softly To Me 2:25
18 –Peggy Lee Fever 3:22
19 –Everly Brothers, The* All I Have To Do Is Dream 2:21
20 –The Chiffons One Fine Day 2:10
21 –Marv Johnson I Love The Way You Love 2:39
22 –Dee Clark Raindrops 2:52
23 –Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters* Cry Baby 3:25
24 –Linda Scott I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star 2:19
25 –Gene Vincent Be-Bop–A-Lula 2:34
I remember them all but not fondly. Liked the Everly Brothers, Betty Everett and a few others, but hate John Fred. Peggy March, Gary Lewis and Ray Peterson. I believe Leon Russell wrote the Gary Lewis song.
Steve, you’re right about the uneven quality of some of the songs on this CD compilation. But, I couldn’t pass up Jay and the Americans!
I keep several CDs of Oldies in my car at work to play for the passengers, and it never fails to give a lift to their spirits.
Dan, some of these songs really take me back to the Sixties. And lift my spirits!
I know almost all of them–and like a lot of them–but they certainly are mixing up the time periods! There’s no way “I’m Walking” and “I Will Follow Him” should be considered contemporaries of “Judy in Disguise” and “Put A Little Love in Your Heart.”
Deb, I’m guessing this compilation CD was put together by which songs the company could buy the rights for. There is a haphazard feel to these songs–no rime or reason as to their order or inclusion.
I can sing along to every one of them. There are a few I don’t care for, but I’d still listen to them.
I’m not sure I remember Michael or Raindrops, but would probably recognize them if I heard them. Agree that this is really a mixed bag of time periods. There are just a few of these that I really love, but most I enjoy.
Shoop Shoop Song, Surf City and One Fine Day are my favs.
Maggie, the CD is worth the 25 cents I paid for it!
What Bill said. This is a very good collection. “I’m Walkin'” is one of my favorite Fats Domino songs. Jackie likes “Tell Laura I Love Her,” which I have in a great CD called LAST KISS: Songs of Teen Tragedy, along with Teen Angel, Leader of the Pack, Last Kiss (obviously), Endless Sleep, Patches (Dickie Lee), Ebony Eyes, and the totally insane , once-heard-never-to-be-forgotten I Want My Baby Back by Jimmy Cross.
I see another of Jackie’s personal favorites, “One Fine Day” by The Chiffons. Also “Twistin’ the Night Away” (which was used in ANIMAL HOUSE). And, of course, everyone needs to hear Bill Crider’s barbershop quartet doing “Wimoweh” aka “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” “Mother-in-Law” was a classic written and produced by Allen Toussaint.
I used to do the early rap/patter of Garnett Mimms & the Enchanters’ classic “Cry Baby,” written by Bert Berns and later covered memorably by Janis Joplin.
When it comes to this music, I know it all! As to dates, “Be-Bop-a-Lula” was 1956 and “I’m Walkin'” 1957. Most of the others were early 1960s (or late 1950s). The latest were “Judy in Disguise” (1967) and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” (1969).
Jeff, the songs on this CD seem completely random. As you point out, “I’m Walkin'” is from 1957 and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” is from 1969. That’s quite a span of time and musical styles.
Don’t remember I want my baby back, and after listening to part of it, am thankful for that
Of course I remember (almost) all these songs – they were played round the clock by Radio Luxemberg which was the station for teens in Europe.
My favourites must be The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) – but sung by Cher and of course the Fats Domino song while my sisters preferred the more romantic or as I would say “kitschy” songs.
PS:
The last song Be-Bop–A-Lula reminds me of another classic “Tutti Frutti”.
Maybe I’ve told that story already, but I enjoy it so much …
I was on an information trip re computers in Japan withan international group and we spent one night in spa hotel (forgot the name of the city). We were told to wear kimonos everywhere, all the time – even when going out after dinner to a karaoke bar. There our Japanese hosts asked us foreigners to do some karaoke and went wild when a really nice US woman sang “Strangers in the night” – she was joined by one of the japanese hosts/mangers/salesmaen that accompanied our group. Then it was inevitable that we Germans were also asked but no member of the group could sing, so in the end I agreed and looked for a song on the karaoke machine’s program that I might be able to perform and found “Tutti Frutti”.
So I stood up in that kimono (a kind of white bathrobe) and started screaming something like:
A-bas-ba-la-ooba-a bas bam-boo – Tutti Frutti whole rutti …
And I got so much applause!
You have to know that I’ve always had long hair and a beard – so even in Japan people sometimes looked at me kind of surprised sometimes …
Great story, Wolfi! You can’t go wrong with that.
That reminds me of one of my favorite opening scenes of a movie, the (somewhat fictionalized) Alan Freed movie AMERICAN HOT WAX. The opening shows Freed (an excellent Tim McIntire) walking into the studio to do his show. He sees a pile of 45s with a note from the program director: “DON’T PLAY THESE!” He takes the top record off the pile, cuts it up, and says something like, “I’m Alan Freed, and this is rock & roll,” at which “Tutti Fruitti” blasts out of the speakers.
The movie had me at that moment.
Jeff, I remember when “Tutti Fruitti” was all the rage! Every local pop music station played in incessantly!
Wolf, when I was in France in 2002, I was surprised at the music played in a swanky French restaurant we were dining in: The Beach Boys!
The Beach Boys and their style of music was liked by everybody all over Europe – even I had to sing along!
The whole movie is on youtube!
I got it exactly right, except it was “This is Alan Freed…” .
All of them.
“I got a 32 wagon and they call it a woody,
it’s not very cherry, it an oldie but a goodie…
Rick, I love Jan & Dean as much as I love The Beach Boys!
I like the Beach Boys better, if only for the variety of music and the volume. Brian Wilson was a genius.
I’ve been trying to get a DVD of AMERICAN HOT WAX for years. Not available. Now I discover the whole thing is on youtube and we can watch it whenever we want to. If you remember that era at all (granted, Alan Freed was really a few years before my time) or just love the music – Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. – and haven’t seen the movie – I highly recommend it. A favorite scene is when they are in the studio recording a song (“Come Go With Me”). It may or may not be how it really happened, but it feels real to me.
Laraine Newman, of all people, plays the Carole King character, and Jay Leno does a creditable acting job as Freed’s driver. Arnold McCuller, one of the singers in The Chesterfields, is well known now as one of James Taylor’s backup singers.
Jeff, it’s amazing what’s available on YouTube!
Watching a movie on you tube is like watching a 3rd generation vhs dupe.
True, but if there’s nothing else available….
Yes, in these days of HD I always get a strange feeling seeing something/hearing music on youtube – my wife won’t even listen to her favourite artists’ clips because the low sub-hi-fi gives her a headache she says!
Strangely, whenever I start to sing one of these great old songs (or any song, for that matter) people beg me to stop.
Jerry, those people don’t appreciate Great Music!
Of course I remember all of them and can sing most of them. Unlike Bill, however, my voice sucks. And there is no truth to the rumor that Bill sings Tutti Frutti just like Pat Boone.