The Number Ones

Released in early 2007 as part of Universal's extensive and cheaply packaged Number 1's: Temptations series (see also: volumes dedicated to James Brown and Marvin Gaye), this disc compiles 19 number one R&B singles from the Temptations. It's worth mentioning that some of the inclusions – "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "You're My Everything," "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," "Ball of Confusion" – were number ones on the Cash Box chart, rather than the Billboard chart (the usual source), and 1998's "Stay" is a bit of a stretch since it topped Billboard's Urban Adult Contemporary chart. Nothing can argue against the set as a decent introduction to the group, even though several great singles – such as "Cloud Nine" – peaked below the top spots.

Forty Licks, like Elvis' 30 #1 Hits, is a career-spanning compilation that wouldn't have happened without the unprecedented, blockbuster success of Beatles 1. Where Elvis' set is hurt by the simple fact that there are too many damn Elvis comps on the market, the Rolling Stones benefit greatly from the fact that there has not been any set that chronicles all their recordings from the '60s through the '90s…

The Nation's Favourite…' shows signify the very best in music to the British public previously including hugely iconic artists and genres such as Elvis, Abba, Queen, Bee Gees and Motown. The series has literally become the Nation's favourite music documentary and 2015 will see the brand branch out into eras as they launch 2 new shows, 'The Nation's Favourite 70s Number Ones' & 'The Nation's Favourite 80s Number Ones'. 'The Nation's Favourite 70s Number Ones' will count down the UK's most-loved hits from the decade. ITV viewers have been voting for their favourite 70s songs through the ITV website with the winner being announced at the end of the show, on air primetime 05/03/15. 'The Nation's Favourite 70s Number Ones' album perfectly reflects the show with the 20 biggest hits & names from the countdown but also includes 48 other massive number one hits, across 3 CDs, from the 70s…

Various Artists - The Nation's Favourite 70s Number Ones (2015) [3CD] {Sony Music}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.57 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 568 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Sony Music | 0825646152285
Pop / Rock / Disco / New Wave / Folk

With 68 tracks, most of which I thoroughly enjoy listening to, I had to buy this album as soon as I looked to see what new releases were in the shops. It was a particularly good day for me as I also bought three other new releases, so I've got a busy period of reviewing this week. Many of these tracks will be familiar to fans of 70s pop music, and not just in Britain where this compilation was released. Mainstream pop, rock, soul and disco music inevitably dominate, reflecting the tastes of record buyers at the time. I only started collecting records in 1977, but I listened to a lot of pop radio before then so I became very familiar with these songs. Along the way I had forgotten some, but in most cases I'm pleased to be reminded of them.

Hard to believe, but there's never been a good single-disc overview of Elton John's biggest hits available in America until 2007's 17-track Rocket Man: Number Ones. (The British release added one track and was titled Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits.) He's had plenty of collections, including a good single-disc European set that circulated in the late '90s, but Rocket Man is the first to really offer a solid career-spanning overview as a single-disc set…

The problem with the recent spate of "number one" collections from the pop elite – the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and now the Bee Gees – is that they're consistently marketed as "greatest-hits" collections. The conceptual weight of "number one" singles for the average listener is about as heavy as the slabs of wax they came out on, and compiling an entire record around them only shines the spotlight on the tracks that suffered the cut…