Orlons

This installment in the spate of releases showcasing Philadelphia's Cameo Parkway label focuses on the Orlons, a three-woman, one-man quartet that blended soulful doo-wop and R&B in the manner of contemporaries like the Shirelles and the early Miracles. The Orlons offered up several playful, rhythm-driven dance songs ("The Wah-Watusi"), but they are at their best on uptempo pop like "Don't Hang Up" and dramatic ballads like "The Conservative", which let lead vocalist Rosetta Highwater shine. Remastered sound and fine liner notes make this release a treasure for fans of doo-wop and R&B from the early '60s.

In 1962 the "rock era" had just begun, and R&B was finding massive success. This compilation gives you legendary artists singing the biggest hit songs of that celebrated year. This 2 CD set contains 50 massive hits, including 17 #1 hits! Includes hits by Ray Charles, The 4 Seasons, Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, Brenda Lee, Nat "King" Cole, Connie Francis, Dion, Roy Orbison, Neil Sedaka and more.

You Can’t Sit Down: Cameo Parkway Dance Crazes 1958 -1964, features recordings with a corresponding dance to go along with each catchy tune. Artists like Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp, The Applejacks along with Chubby Checker are featured in this collection. Seven Top 10 hits including The Orlons’, “The Wah-Watusi,” Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time,” two iconic numbers by The Dovells: “Bristol Stomp” and “You Can’t Sit Down,” plus “Slow Twistin’” by Chubby Checker and Dee Dee Sharp, Bobby Rydell’s “The Cha-Cha-Cha” and sixteen more hits dedicated to get even the wallflowers moving.

This collectors’ 3CD compilation brings together 60 original recordings from the best and most-loved girl groups of the 50s and 60s. Featuring some of the very best and sweetest pop music ever made, we celebrate The Shirelles, The Marvelettes, The Ronettes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Poni-Tails and many more.

You Got The Power: Cameo Parkway Northern Soul 1964 -1967, showcases the numerous Cameo Parkway singles that would go on to become part of the soundtrack of Britain’s Northern Soul lifestyle phenomenon. Northern Soul’s emphasis was on obscure yet danceable records, a number of which became the focus of a cult-like worship years after they were first issued, partially due to the rarity of the 45s on vinyl. Recordings by Frankie Beverly & The Butlers, Bunny Sigler, The Orlons, Evie Sands, Candy and the Kisses, Christine Cooper and Eddie Holman are highlights of the 20-track collection.

2014 collection. The Black America Sings brand of Ace's acclaimed Songwriter Series continues with a volume that salutes the songwriting genius of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The most prolific performer of Bacharach/David songs is Dionne Warwick and it's no surprise that so many other black American artists should also have dipped into their catalog down the years. LET THE MUSIC PLAY offers an engrossing cross-section of these, ranging from the Drifters, Jerry Butler and Dionne herself to '70's Soul superstars such as Bobby Womack, Gloria Gaynor and Isaac Hayes. The tracks featured provide a remarkable tribute to two men who, for more than a decade, wrote classic after classic.

This 95-song retrospective covers a period from 1955, when girl groups were just emerging, to 1963, by which time they were an established staple alongside their male counterparts. Certain groups dominate – the Shirelles appear 14 times, for example – but such success stories are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the groups here only managed one or two hits, then found themselves changing their names, personnel or style in an attempt to repeat that initial success before eventually calling it quits. Still, it's those one-hit wonders who are responsible for the really strange, aurally fascinating gems here. Miss Toni Fisher's The Big Hurt stands out, with its haunting arrangement and phasing effects, as do the Paris Sisters' Phil Spector-produced odes to heartbreak and the Bobbettes I Shot Mr Lee (a followup to their 1956 hit Mr Lee), which is a murder ballad masquerading as a pop smash. Bigger names including Little Eva, Etta James and the Supremes also appear, adding some recognisable bulk to a well-curated look at this important period in pop history.

Another classic instalment of "The Girl Group Sound", this 30-track set is Jasmine's long awaited follow up to 'Love Charms - West Coast hits and rarities from California Girls & Groups 1957-1962' (JASCD963), however, this time around the tracks are from the US East Coast, taking in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago.

To bridge the gap between volumes of “Where The Girls Are”, my oppo Malcolm Baumgart and I have taken Stephen J McParland’s recent book Bikinis, Black Denim & Bitchen Sounds* as our inspiration to concoct this fun new diversion to tide girl group buffs over. It’ll plug a few gaps in the collections of aficionados of surf, drag and hot rod music too, no doubt. The influence of California’s Beach Boys permeates “Hey, Beach Girls!” as it did the world of music in 1963. Brian Wilson and his cohorts had not long vacated the Top 3 with ‘Surfin’ USA’ when an opportunist East Coast record company exec with his eye on the latest pop fads dreamed up a plan to grab a piece of the action. Foisting the Surfer Girls moniker on a new teenage duo, he ushered them into the studio to parlay ‘Draggin’ Wagon’ to the very same tune. Meanwhile, over in Paris, France’s top girl group Les Gam’s flipped over the same Beach Boys platter to give ‘Shut Down’ their distinctive yé-yé treatment.

Will You Still Love Them Tomorrow: Courtships and Confessions of the Early Girl Groups and Pop Divas, a Various Artists Compilation Album. Released in 2014 on Fidelity Masters.