100 Hits: The Best 60s / Various

If you’re into oldies collections, this is a fantastic bargain! At least one reviewer here claimed that there aren’t enough hits, or that there are too many cover versions or remakes. Don’t believe it. There are a staggering 70 Top 40 Billboard (USA) hits in this collection! Yes, seventy! That number includes 51 Top 10 hits as well as 19 #1 hits! Disc 2 alone has 17 Top 10 hits! And that’s not to say that the rest of the songs aren’t any good. A few were hits in the U.K. and some, such as Kris Kristofferson’s version of Sunday Morning Comin’ Down (which he wrote), are just very good songs, regardless of their lack of success on the Billboard charts. As for cover version and remakes, that might be a reference to songs like Jose Feliciano’s version of the Doors song, Light My Fire. Feliciano’s version reached #3 in 1968, a year after the Doors topped the charts with it. Another example might be You Were on My Mind by Crispian St. Peters, which reached #36 two years after We Five had a #3 hit with it. These were legitimate Top 40 hits in their own right. Also included is Piece of My Heart by Erma Franklin (Aretha’s sister), which charted in the Top 100 (#62) in 1967, and even though most people are more familiar with Janis Joplin’s #12 hit, her version didn’t enter the Billboard charts until almost a year after Franklin’s. So it was Joplin who actually had the cover version! At any rate, as far as I can tell, I think these are all original recordings and the sound quality is very good compared to other releases I’ve heard. I paid $8.99 for this collection. As of today, I see it’s going for $11.99. But where else can you get seventy Top 40 hits for that price? Will you like every song? Probably not, but even if you only like 1 in 5, it’s still a pretty good deal. Personally, I think this set would be a steal at double the price!

This 2017 Demon/ Sony Music 5-disc 1960s music set makes a good companion set to the Spectrum 5-disc 101 60s Hits (the playback volume between these 2 box sets is comparable, so ripping/ burning favorite tracks via computer is pretty consistent – a few tracks, however, are very low in playback volume, especially on this box set, like Eve of Destruction). This set has 20 tracks/ disc, at 57, 53, 55, 59 & 56 minutes each. It is better than the Spectrum set in that song title/artist/composer/label/date are listed on each inside flap of the 5-fold cardboard case. Each disc slides into separate open-at-each-end slots & are very hard to slide out – luckily since the discs are only partially full, if the disc must be grabbed to assist in sliding out, you aren’t going to get fingerprints on any encoded part of the disc. Just like listening to 60s AM radio – rock, psychedelia, jazz, bubblegum, R&B, folk, reggae, cross-over country tracks. All tracks seem to be original recordings (a few may be album versions – I noticed The Count Five’s Psychotic Reaction has a different ending); the majority are in stereo; selections lean slightly to the British side, so some songs may not be familiar to the casual music fan. Sound is great (re-mastered??). BTW, Windows Media Player recognizes all the disc info.

There are five discs with each respective disc housing 20 songs. There are many songs from very respected artists whose audience is considered Middle of The Road. Voices like Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Jim Reeves, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Marty Robbins, Neil Sedaka, Henry Mancini, Percy Faith & His Orchestra, Nina Simone, Doris Day, Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra, Anita Harris, Buddy Greco, Laura Greene, Jose Feliciano, and perhaps more, however, those who are interested in these respected recording artists check the index closely as there are many songs recorded that are not necessarily how you would identify these artists. There are also a few recording artists whose names I even now have never heard of, some examples of this "The Trashman", "The Gun", "The Herd", "The End", "Clodagh Rodgers", "The Creation", "Family Dogg". There are as well those songs whose artists are akin to rock and roll success with great recordings from Scott McKenzie, The Byrds, The Moody Blues, The Lovin Spoonful, The Guess Who, Fleetwood Mac, The Yardbirds, Santana, The Lemon Pipers, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Lou Christie, The Delfonics, Sly, and The Family Stone. The Tokens, The McCoys, Jimmy Dean, The Box Tops, Skeeter Davis, The 5th Dimension, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Dave Brubeck Quartet Blood Sweat & Tears, Dobie Gray, Unit Four plus two, Bobby Darin, The Statler Brothers, Crispian St.Peters, Bobby Vinton, The Isley Brothers and more. I'am sure there maybe someone I did not mention however I wish to add something more, The songs sounded great. I listened to the discs and listened again , it was that enjoyable. I just wish to mention this purchase was not steep and it has brought me a good deal of pleasure.

To whom it may concern.I am very satisfied with myPurchase from you today.