The Golden Age of American Popular Music: Hard-to-Get Hot 100 Hits From 1956-1965

This first of a spin-off series from Ace's Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll was launched with trepidation, as some within Ace weren't too sure that the wide range of material making up the 28 tracks would appeal to a large enough audience. I don't know details of their sales, of course, but I can say that, to inveterate collectors like myself, it is a gold-mine of extremely hard-to-find hits, something embellished by Ace's usual high quality in both sound and packaging (a complete discography is on the reverse).Also, producer Trevor Churchill made certain there were just enough familiar songs/huge hits to grab the attention of those not heavily into collecting, such as those by The Four Preps, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Earl Grant, Billy Grammar, Jerry Wallace Dorsey Burnette and Vic Dana. Each would be instantly familiar to anyone who lived in that era and loved the music being played. A bit less familiar, but still significant hits, are those by a pre-Dawn Tony Orlando, Paul Petersen, The Duprees, The Playmates, Gene McDaniels, The Rover Boys, Adam Wade, and Dicky Doo & The Don'ts.But what attracted me were the One-Hit Wonders and several with just a couple of hits that, to this point at least, just never seemed to be available in a quality CD. The first of the One-Hit Wonders in order of appearance are The Dolphins, a trio backed by The Driving Wind Orchestra, who had a # 69 Hot 100 in late 1964/early 1965 with Hey-Da-Da-Dow on the Fraternity label. Next up is My Lucky Love by Doug Franklin with The Bluenotes, a release in 1958 by Colonial Records that hit # 73 Hot 100 in September, followed by one that you do see now and then on compilations, See You In September by The Tempos, a quartet from Pittsburgh backed by the Billy Mure orchestra. It reached # 23 Hot 100 in summer 1959 on the Climax label (in 1966 The Happenings would have a # 3 cover hit).In early 1957, Roulette picked up Hey! Little Girl, a release on the small Stars label by The Techniques, and it made it to # 29 Top 100, while in December 1958/January 1959, Teasin' by the Philadelphia string band calling themselves The Quaker City Boys made its way to # 39 Hot 100 on Swan Records. Another from that label, and backed by Earl Sheldon & His Orchestra, were The Upbeats who had their only hit, Just Like In The Movies, stall at # 75 Hot 100 in August 1958.Continuing with the One-Hit Wonders, some might remember Pete Drake And His Talking Steel Guitar do his 1964 hit version of Forever, but four years earlier, in February/March 1960, a quartet calling themselves The Little Dippers had their original rendition go to # 9 Hot 100 on the University label. In early 1958, the NY City quintet, The Voxpoppers, had Wishing For Your Love come out on Amp 3 1004, but it wasn't until Mercury picked it up did it start to climb the charts, finishing at # 18. And finally there is Tony Perkins, made famous as Norman Bates in Psycho, whose only hit record, Moon-Light Swim, hit # 24 late in 1957 backed by the Frank DeVol orchestra on RCA Victor.Those with more than one hit, but no less easier to find, are: Bob Beckham, an erstwhile Country singer who had a # 32 Hot 100 with Just As Much As Ever in September 1959 for Decca; The Rivieras (not to be confused with a group of the same name who had a 1964 hit with California Sun), whose cover of the Glenn Miller hit, Moonlight Serenade, reached # 47 Hot 100 in early 1959 for Coed; The Highlights, whose first of two hits, City Of Angels, finished at # 19 Top 100 in late 1956 for the Bally label (their second hit, To Be With You, would be billed as The Highlights featuring Frank Pisani - both were backed by the Lew Douglas orchestra).The 15-page booklet, which contains artist- and track-by-track notes written by Brian Gari and Rob Finis, is full of pictures of things like vintage radios, posters, 45 rpm records, and photos of a young Tony Orlando, Billy Grammar, The Dolphins, Paul Petersen, The Tempos, Bob Beckham, The Rover Boys, The Rivieras, Dorsey Burnette, The Little Dippers, The Voxpoppers, Adam Wade, The Highlights, The Playmates, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis, Gene McDaniels, Jerry Wallace, and Earl Grant.

If you are a serious collector of American popular music then this is one disc that should really float your boat. "The Golden Age of American Popular Music" features a generous total of 28 great pop tunes culled from the Billboard Hot 100 between the years 1956 and 1965. You probably already own a few of them, have several of them on you own "want" list and may have never even heard of some of the others. As other reviewers have already indicated, Ace records has really outdone itself with this collection."The Golden Age of American Popular Music" contains a few hits by artists most of us over 50 are familiar with. You'll hear the great 1957 Johnny Mathis hit "It's Not For Me To Say" as well as the late Bobby Darin talkin' 'bout "Things". But mostly, you will get to hear songs by long forgotten artists who had relatively short careers or by those who only managed to crack the Top 100 once or twice. Remember the great Gene McDaniels? "Tower of Strength" was a huge hit for him in 1961. I had not heard it in years. Adam Wade was another very popular artist for a few years in the early 1960's. Enjoy once again his great hit "As If I Didn't Know". Yes, he does sound a lot like Johnny Mathis! If you love group harmony like I do then you are sure to enjoy the original version of "See You In September" by the Tempos, "Hey Little Girl" by the Techniques and "City of Angels" by the Highlights. Along those same lines I finally got to hear the Rover Boys hit recording of "Graduation Day" from back in 1956. Great version! There are also some real oddities on this disc not the least of which is a hit record by Tony "Norman Bates" Perkins. "Moonlight Swim" climbed all the way to #24 in 1957. And you also get to sample a solo hit by one Tony Orlando nearly a decade before the advent of his 1970's group Dawn. Check it out! Finally, I was introduced to 7 or 8 songs that I had never seen nor sampled before. Of these, I most particularly enjoyed the Quaker City Boys "Teasin" and Dicky Doo and the Don'ts "Leave Me Alone (Let Me Cry)". I have to tell you that this was one CD I just had lots of fun listening to."The Golden Age of American Popular Music" features a remarkable 16 page booklet that includes information on all of these artists. Everything about this disc is absolutely first rate. I don't believe I have ever been disappointed by anything I have ever purchased from Ace records over the past 20 years. Very highly recommended!

First, do not mistake "Hey! Little Girl" by The Techniques as anything remotely related to Dee Clark's classic, Bo Diddley-beat rocker. Second, skip over the "What the heck was that?" mistakes "Teasin" and "Just Like In The Movies", and Tony Perkins' "Moon-Light Swim". I am as nostalgic as you, but these will make you wish you could flip the dial on your old AM radio. Then, you are left with very enjoyable cuts from Dorsey Burnette ("Tall Oak Tree"), Adam Wade ("As If I Didn't Know"), Tony Orlando ("Bless You"), and a few others that are hard to find on CD. Probably you, as I, already have "My Own True Love" by the Duprees on other CDs, but I did not have the great song "In The Misty Moonlight" by Jerry Wallace. So what I am saying is that it's worth it to buy this high quality Ace CD if there are enough gems on here for your liking - and hope that they scrounge up 28 more records for a Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll, Vol. 12.

For me this CD was worth the price for one song number 18, Forever by the Little Dippers, I have been looking for that song for the last 3 months and was so glad that I found it here. The rest of the cd is good stuff also, really happy with this CD.

This CD was a little disappointing to me. I only found about 5 or 6 tunes that I was familiar with. However, I was delighted to find the tune "Forever" was what I had been looking for (for a very, very long time). It was the reason I ordered this one. That one song made the CD worth it for me.

This CD has many "Trips Down Memory Lane." My personal favorite is the track of the Little Dippers' Forever. Their vocals, along with the instrumentation, make it an unforgettable classic.

Très bon produit à un très bon prix. Je recommande ce produit à tous les bons collectionneurs de musiques souvenirs.

All good 👍