Various Artists - 25 All Time Greatest Bubblegum Hits (25 tracks) +Album Reviews

CATCHY VOCAL POP

Pieter | Johannesburg | 12/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Compared to a lot of stuff that fills the charts today, these little ditties are excellent. It may be called bubblegum, but most of this music has stood the test of time very well with its catchy hooks and lovely vocals.My favorites include the female vocal pop of The Cuff Links and Tracy, The Monkees with the melodic I'm A Believer, Dawn and their vibrant pop song Knock Three Times, Tommy James with the psychedelic pop of I Think We're Alone now and Love Grows by Edison Lighthouse with its great harmonies.Other brilliant tracks include the classic bubblegum number Sugar Sugar by The Archies, My Baby Loves Lovin' by The White Plains, Funny Funny by Sweet (who later in their career became a proper rock band), Jam Up Jelly Tight by Tommy Roe and Dancing On A Saturday Night by Barry Blue.In retrospect, I think a lot of this music was unfairly dismissed. Most of these tracks are melodic pop songs and are very well performed. This is a wonderful compilation of great hits from the golden age of pop."

The Sweet Sounds of Bubblegum

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 01/27/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"During the late-Sixties and early-Seventies, there was an explosion of popular music dubbed bubblegum music. Sweet, frothy music with little substance, but catchy as heck. This collection gathers some of the best known along with a number of obscurities. Nine of these singles sold over a million copies each, including "Easy Come, Easy go" by Bobby Sherman, "Smile a Little Smile for Me" by The Flying Machine, "Jam Up and Jelly Tight" by Tommy Roe and "Indian Giver" by The 1910 Fruitgum Co. At least sixteen of these songs cracked the Top 40, many of them going Top Ten.Another truism for many of these acts was that they existed only on paper. Groups like The Archies, The Banana Splits, and Josie & The Pussycats were cartoon characters. Some groups were merely studio creations that released singles (and sometimes albums), but did not tour because they didn't really exist outside the studio. So you had situations where Ron Dante was the lead vocalist for the Archies' No. 1 hit "Sugar, Sugar" and was also the lead singer for The Cuff Links' "Tracy." Joey Levine sang lead for the Ohio Express on the million-seller "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" and also sang lead on the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestra's "Quick Joey Small." [Levine also did backing vocals as part of Crazy Elephant on "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'."] "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains and "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse both featured the lead singing of Tony Burrows. Even The Monkees didn't exist as a real group for much of their career in that on many of their hits--including the No. 1 gold record "I'm a Believer"--the only Monkee involved in the recording was the lead singer; in this case it was Mickey Dolenz.But quite frankly, no one cared who sang or played on what record. These were uptempo songs with great hooks, and they were fun to listen to--even thirty years later. The only really glaring omission is there is nothing by The Partridge Family or The Osmonds. But this is a minor complaint for an otherwise wonderful and generous collection. RECOMMENDED"

Enjoy your Bubblegum Proudly

Amanda | Yuma, AZ United States | 12/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"According to Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs, the Bubblegum genre got its name because people used to stick wads of bubblegum in their ears in order to keep from hearing it. While Bubblegum is lightweight stuff, especially compared to today's music scene full of Eminem, Korn, and other hard-edged favorites, in its day Bubblegum was popular and refreshing. It is a welcome throwback for some listeners who want to relive those good old innocent days and escape the pessemistic, depressing music one so often hears on the pop stations."Yummy Yummy Yummy," by Ohio Express, rated by Dave Barry's bad song contest as the second worst song ever written, has a bouncy rhythm, and while the lyrics are corny, it has its charm. The classic "Love Grows" was recently featured in the Jack Black movie "Shallow Hal," giving it some air of coolness to today's listeners. "I'm a Believer" was recently remade by Smashmouth for the movie "Shrek." This CD gives a good overview of the Bubblegum genre, and a great reminder of how everything old becomes new again."

Good, but not ultimate

Long Distance Voyager | Hong Kong, China | 09/22/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the bubblegum music compilation presently available in the market which included a handful of great tunes. In my opinion, some of them should not be categoried as bubblegum music because starting from 1970, there's scarcely any bugglegum music act left in the pop scene, Tony Orlando and Dawn (USA), The Flying Machine (UK), Edison Lighthouse (UK), Barry Blue (UK) and Sweet (UK) are not Bubblegum music performers, so as Tommy James & the Shondells. The masters of this kind of Music are the American groups The Lemon Pipers, The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company and Music Explosion produced by the "Super K" production team of Jeff Katz and Kerry Kasenetz, together with Tommy Roe and The Archies, they put out lots of great bubblegum songs. This compilation missed out some of the gems, including 'Simon says' by The 1910 Fruitgum Company (in my opinion, the greatest Bubblegum music band), it also has hits like 'Goody Goody Gumdrops', 'Good good loving' and 'Special Delivery'; Tommy Roe's 'Hooray for Hazel' and 'Sweet pea' are also classic, the Archies' 'Feelin' so good' and 'Bang shang a lang', the Ohio Express' 'Chewy chewy', all of them are real gems which are not available here. Back in 1988, Buddah Record had released a CD titled 'Best of Bubblegum Music'(deleted and out of print) under the 'Pair' label which is a good benchmark collection, the songs included 'Green Tambourine' & 'Rice is nice' by Lemon Pipers, 'Simon says', 'Indian giver', 'Goody goody Gumdrops', 'Good good loving', 'May I' and 'Special delivery' by 1910 Fruitgum Company, 'Yummy, yummy, yummy', '1,2,3, Red light', 'First Grade reader', 'Down at Lulu's', 'Mercy' and 'Chewy chewy' by the Ohio Express, 'Little bit of soul' by the Music Explosion, 'The Rapper' by The Jaggerz, 'Quick Joey Samll' and 'Down in Tennessee' by Kazenetz Katz Super Circus, ' Ooh child' by Stairsteps and 'Shake' by Shadows of Knight (Ohio Express also recorded this one). If this 'Varse' collection is titled 'Ultimate collection', then the Buddah one should be named 'Genuine Ultimate collection'."

Strong single CD compilation

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 05/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"25 All-Time Greatest Bubblegum Hits: The Ultimate Bubblegum Collection has twenty-five wonderful bubblegum pop hits from the 1960s! The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is terrific. Sure, one could argue that one or two songs should have been replaced with another song or two; but still as a single CD compilation this album goes a long way-and it succeeds!

"Yummy, Yummy, Yummy starts the CD with a solid bubblegum hit; it may seem silly to some of us but I think it's a classic bubblegum hit with a catchy melody and lots of positive energy. "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees has a magnificent rock and roll beat mixed with a pop flavor that makes "I'm a Believer" a really strong hit. "I'm a Believer" is a major highlight of this album. "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" is another bubblegum hit with a heavy `60s rock flavor that really makes you want to jump up and dance practically wherever you are!

"Indian Giver" has another fine melody and this song rocks well with that `60s rock/pop flavor that makes it a great tune. Listen also for "Easy Come, Easy Go;" "Easy Come, Easy Go" was always one of my very favorite `60s hits--and it ranks high on my list of bubblegum hits, too. "Easy Come, Easy Go" is yet another major highlight of this album. "Knock Three Times" shins brighter than silver and gold combined as Tony Orlando and Dawn sing this cute love song with all their hearts and souls. "Smile a Little Smile for Me" almost sounds something like what The Beatles would have put out; but this holds its own very well regardless.

"I Think We're Alone Now" is an excellent example of bubblegum pop from the 1960s; the percussion marks the beat and "I Think We're Alone Now" is a classic hit. "Finders Keepers" also has a great tune to it that I absolutely love. "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" really shines bright--and I always loved this tune. Not only is this one of the best bubblegum hits ever, it's also a classic pop hit. "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is a song I could never tire of hearing--it's all THAT good.

"My Baby Loves Lovin'" continues the hits with a strong entry on this album; this pop tune is great to hear again and I'm sure you'll like it if you haven't heard this before. There's also "Dancin' (On a Saturday Night)" with its own infectiously catchy melody; and the CD ends strong with The Archies performing "Sugar Sugar." Sugar Sugar" has a wonderful beat and the melody is again totally upbeat and infectiously catchy, too. Great!

25 All-Time Greatest Bubblegum Hits: The Ultimate Bubblegum Collection is a strong CD and I recommend it for people who like this genre of `60s music. You won't be disappointed if this genre makes you smile.

"

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