"Super Stars, Super Hits, No.2" continues the formula with middling success. Yes, they include some bona fide hits; "Brown Eyed Girl" (Van Morrison), "The Letter"(Box Tops), "How Can I Be Sure" (Young Rascals) and "Do You Believe In Magic" (Lovin' Spoonfu), among others. But it's the more obscure songs that make it interesting.
Some of the highlights/lowlights include;
Out Of The Blue (Tommy James & The Shondells) This song was released as a single within' a year or so of a lot of his big hits but it failed to make the charts in the US. It did hit the lower reaches of the top 40 in Canada. The song was written by Bo Gentry and Richard Cordell who co-wrote other Tommy James tunes like "Mirage", "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony, Mony". One of the reasons for it's lack of succsess could be that it sounds like Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Perhaps the kids didn't realize it was Tommy James. Maybe it is an homage to The Four Seasons. Who knows. A rather weird entry in his catalog.
You Better Sit Down Kids (The Union Gap) A terrible but fascinating song by Gary Puckett and the gang. The song was written by Sonny Bono and was a top ten hit for his then wife Cher. A pretty bad song even when Cher does it, this version is even worse with the slowed down tempo and way over the top sixties "kitchen sink" pop production (schmaltzy strings, Vegas horns, corny background vocals etc..) "You Better Sit Down Kids" is a divorce song. It's the words of a Father saying goodbye to his children with fluctuating time signatures and confusing stops and starts. This is a poigniant subject and the Union Gap pull at the heartstrings for all they're worth. It was probably pretty controversial in it's time but the subject matter was covered more creatively by other artists
We Belong Together (Peaches & Herb) An interesting cover of the old Ritchie Valens' classic. Stays pretty loyal to the original but with a nice sixties soul twist.
Pennies (The Cowsills) A great slice of sixties pop from the Cowsills. This is from their self-titled debut, the same album that spawned the hit single "The Rain, The Park And Other Things". The Penny Lane-esque trumpet makes the song. I have seen the 'Sills three times over the past couple of years. How many people outside of Rhode Island can say that!
My copy of this record is really scratched and beat up.. It was obviously played many, many times and not well taken care of. One of the things I enjoy about collecting used records is that it is actually an artifact from another age. I don't believe this album was ever reissued which means my copy is almost sixty years old. By the unhip song selection and the condition of the disc, I imagine it was owned by someone between, say, twelve and sixteen. Maybe it was a birthday or Chrismas gift. They probably played it on a cheap plastic record player in their room. Maybe they played Twister or Operation while listening to it. Come to think of it, it seems like the type of record one of the Brady Kids would have owned back then. Maybe Greg had a copy in his pre-Johnny Bravo days. Alice and the kids probably grooved to it all night long or at least until Mike came home for dinner.
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| Greg Brady; Pre-Johnny Bravo |
