Jan & Dean

There are two quite distinct faces to the world of the rock musician: faces so contrasting that it is little wonder that so many contemporary stars appear at times to have lost touch with any kind of reality. While mass adulation hounds and sometimes even destroys the successful ones, the road to that status remains a golden dream for generation after generation of young people. Show me a boy with an interest in pop music who never once imagined himself as a rock superstar and I’ll show you a liar. Jim Maclaine, the anti-hero of the film STARDUST, was such a boy. To him success as a star was an end in itself, and before he achieved it he never questioned what price he might have to pay for that goal. And it is the way in which he achieves his ambition and the resulting pressures and despairs that are the subject of the film. Jim Maclaine is a fictitious figure, created on screen by David Essex. But the problems he faces are known and understood by all of today’s top musicians. And ironically it is out of these problems that some of the best music of the last decade has sprung. Rock music is to do with contemporary life: with the way in which young people see themselves and their problems. On stage, or in the recording studio, an artist can, by virtue of his creativity, cast aside the self doubts and neuroses which were frequently responsible for much of his success.

Though Ernie only hit the charts once as a performer, he was a fairly successful songwriter in the New York Doo Wop/Rock & Roll scene in the first half of the 1960s. "The Wanderer" is right up there with "Louie Louie" as one of the seminal Rock & Roll songs. Here you have three versions, one of witch is the original 1957 song demo, coupled with many great Doo-Wop and 60s pop songs also written by Ernie Maresca…

The Ultimate Jukebox Hits Of The 60's is a 5CD box set which goes back to the 1960's, where music was king and queens. This is a collection of previously released compilations, combined to give you what it takes to make the 1960's music supreme. This was released by Collectables.

Having successfully brought to digital light the original mono single masters of Jan & Dean and Gary Lewis & the Playboys, we felt it was time to tackle the complete singles of another great 60s single band, Jay & the Americans! And when we say tackle, we mean we really put our shoulders into this one this set comes in at three CDs and 66 tracks strong! That s the A and B-side of every single in their original mono single mixes, virtually none of which have appeared on CD, all remastered from the original single master tapes that have laid dormant for decades, plus two promo-only tracks. Once again, Ed Osborne produced and annotated the set, and got quotes from Americans Sandy Deanne (Yaguda), Marty Sanders and Kenny Vance (Rosenberg). Single sleeves and photos round out the booklet. Includes the Phil Spector production Things Are Changing , which was written by Spector and Brian Wilson! Don't miss this magically momentous Collectors Choice Music exclusive.