Search - Coasters :: Yakety Yak: The Platinum Collection

Great rock'n'roll with a comic touch

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 04/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Coasters were formed following the dissolution of an earlier group, the Robins, two of that group being among its founder members. Many line-up changes occurred in the following years. Their record producers were the highly successful Leiber and Stoller, who also wrote most of their songs. While many of their contemporaries were either recording ballads or pursuing a more mainstream rock'n'roll sound, the Coasters stuck closely to their R+B roots.



The Coasters began their chart career in America in 1956 with Down in Mexico, but they really hit big with a double-sided single containing Searchin' (an American number one hit and a minor UK hit) and Young blood (an American number two hit). Next came Yakety yak, another an American number one hit, which just missed the UK top ten. It may now be their most recognizable song, not least because an instrumental cover by Boots Randolph was used as the theme tune for the Benny Hill show. The follow-up single, Charlie Brown, was an American number two hit and became the biggest UK hit for the Coasters, peaking at six. Poison ivy, an American number one hit and UK top twenty hit, completed the run of really big hits for the Coasters. They continued charting in America into the sixties, but there were no more UK hits until Sorry but I'm gonna have to pass (first released in 1958) became a minor UK hit following its use in a TV commercial.



All the hits I've mentioned are included among the 20 tracks in this budget collection, together with Along came Jones (later covered by Ray Stevens), which therefore includes all of the tracks that really matter."

Reviewing the Coasters greatest hits.

peter | 08/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a well thought out compilation of original Coasters hits, good value here, you can buy with confidence."