Wedding on The Beach

Between 1967 and 1973, the 5th Dimension enjoyed 29 U.S. hit singles on the Soul City and Bell labels. This compilation selects all of their Top 40 hits (bar two live tracks) and tops up the running order with five lesser hits. Top-notch material by Jimmy Webb, Laura Nyro, Neil Sedaka and Bacharach & David is rendered as exquisite harmony pop by the vocal group and their producer Bones Howe. Although "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" (from the musical "Hair") and Nyro's "Wedding Bell Blues" were the chart-toppers, Webb's "Up, Up And Away" is the archetypal 5th Dimension sound. That the songs still sound remarkably fresh is due to the avoidance of formulaic writing, with no one writer or team being allowed to dominate. From the first hit, tellingly a cover of the Mamas & The Papas' "Go Where You Wanna Go," via material by Tony Macaulay, Sloan & Barri, and Ashford & Simpson, the quality never diminishes.

The purveyors of the past at Collectors' Choice Music deserve major props for their top-shelf restoration of the 5th Dimension's Soul City and Bell Records catalogs. Contained on this CD are the vocal quintet's fifth and six studio titles, 1970's Portrait and 1971's Love's Lines, Angles and Rhymes. These projects find the 5D boasting the considerable talents of Lamonte McLemore, Ron Townson, Billy Davis, Jr., Marilyn McCoo, and Florence Larue at the peak of their prowess, building upon a streak of pop hits that had already yielded such timeless entries as "Stoned Soul Picnic," "Wedding Bell Blues," and the definitive '60s anthem "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)."

Hawaii's Greatest Hits Volume One is the 1968 album by The New Hawaiian Band. Originally released by Decca Records, the group also feature help from Ohta-San, Pua Almeida, Barney Isaacs Jr. and a few others. This CD was released by MCA sometime in the mid to late 1980's.

Voice memos, care packages, hours-long phone conversations, treasured traditions that go back decades, glasses held aloft during wedding toasts, hands held at funerals, first cuddles with newborns, lunches with work wives, taking it to the group chat – our friendships touch and enrich every part of our lives. But how often do we stop to consider them deeply?