The Shadows String of Hits

Since their re-emergence in 1973, the Shadows had established themselves among the most tasteful guitar instrumental bands of the age. True, their greatest singles hits tended to be vocal numbers – the Eurovision Song Contest smash "Let Me Be the One" paramount among them. But mention the Shadows to the average record buyer, and still the first thought that comes to mind was of seamless, sweet, and soaring guitar epics – which was precisely the thinking behind this set. Despite a track listing which featured three of the band's most recent 45s, String of Hits was not titled for the band's own singles success…

The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll including the fact that they were the first home-grown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts; or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either.

The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll – including the fact that they were the first homegrown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts, or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either.

The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll - including the fact that they were the first homegrown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts, or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either.