One Hit Wonders: 60's 1

The Dick Bartley "One Hit Wonders" series has a lot more than one thing going for it. These discs feature a wide variety of music that placed on the Top 100 Charts during the 1960s. Volume One features classic vocals like the Wee Five's "You Were On My Mind", the lesser known but much better Barry & the Tamerlanes "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" (as opposed to the Tommy Boyce/Bobby Hart single of the same name), and Joey Powers' "Meet Me At Midnight, Mary." There are also popular instrumentals like David Rose's "The Stripper", Kai Winding's "More" and the beautiful "Cast Your Fate to the Wind."As with any Rhino collection, the mastering is superb and the sound magnificent. Yes, I only gave it five stars, but this disc (and the one's that followed in the series) rates enough stars to fill a small galaxy. Don't miss it!

I've sometimes purchased CDs just to get one cut. In this case, two of the entries made the price of the disc worth the cost. I had not heard 'Do it Again, Just a Little Bit Slower' by Jon and Robin since it was on the top 40 radio station WHLO in Cleveland when I was a teen, so I was surprised to see it available on CD. It's one of those songs that you can listen to over and over again without tiring of it. Also, 'Midnight Mary' was one of my favorites back then, though I thought the full title was 'Meet Me at Midnight Mary', which is probably why I hadn't found it before. The mastering job done by Rhino is commendable. Most of the cuts are in true stereo. A very worthwhile purchase.

Sometimes, you want a special song, and you buy a complation of this type. More often than not, that song just dosent sound right. That is NOT the case with "One Hit Wonders". You will NOT be disapointed. Every song sounded even better than I remembered. These Cuts are the ones that played on the radio. They are NOT, re-recorded, or different "takes". At least I believe that is the case. Either way you will enjoy these unique songs.Dan White

All tracks are fun and representative of the one hit wonders of the day. Only a couple were not familiar to me, but I enjoyed those as well.

It's a pity that Rhino records is no longer manufacturing CD titles of this type. And, it's a pity that the solid gold oldies channels are fast becoming things of the past. I wish there were more Baby Boomers who are willing to buy CDs that feature this kind of music.

I grew up in the 60's. That's when I really started listening to music, and the one hit wonders are the hardest ones to find.

I never thought I'd hear "Do It Again Just a Little Bit Slower" on my own CD player! Jon and Robin and the In Crowd created a masterpiece when they recorded this quirky little pop tune. I had long sought "Midnight Mary," too, and here they are on the same collection. Technically speaking, each song has a terrific sound, too. Rhino really knows how to pick 'em!

I posted a review on Vol.2 of this "Dick Bartley Presents One Hit Wonders Of The 60s" yesterday so today I'll post a review on this Vol.1. It's not as strong as Vol.2 but it does have its high points. There are two Top 20 US Pop songs here and eight Top 10's here and three of the Top 10s were Chart Toppers. Those three were David Rose's "The Stripper" (it was #1 in May 1962), The Rooftop Singers "Walk Right In" (it was #1 in January 1963) & Jimmy Soul's "If You Wanna Be Happy" (it was #1 in March 1963). There is also one song on here that evidently never was a US Pop Hit However it went all the way to #1 on The Adult Contemperary Chart and that song is the romantic Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto 1964 Summer Classic "The Girl From Ipanema". This version is the shorter 2:43 version. I also have the long version at 5:19 on their 20th Century Masters CD and it's even better! Three of the biggest Highlights on this CD didn't top the Charts at all and they are Jon & Robin & The In Crowd's May 1967 #18 Hit "Do It Again A Little Bit Slower", J.Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers September 1964 #2 Hit "Last Kiss" and We Five's July 1965 #3 Hit "You Were On My Mind". Spanning the years 1962-1967: these songs take me back to a simpler time. Considering all but one of these songs Peaked before 1967: Sound Quality on this Rhino CD is good and like Vol.2: this package comes with an eight page foldout leaflet with liner notes and photos in a standard plastic protective case. It's a Must for collectors like myself.