Search - Various Artists :: Chartbusters

Mostly British Invasion music at a bargain price

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 03/06/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is nice little oldies compilation that will appeal to, mainly, British Invasion music fans. The songs offered here have all been licensed from Castle Copyrights which, at the time of this CD's release, owned the catalog of England's Pye Records (Sanctuary Records now owns the catalog). Pye was a major player in the 1960s and early 1970s. For me, the standout tracks here are the two songs by The Kinks and The Searchers' "Love Potion Number 9" and, while I personally like the Greg Kihn Band's "The Breakup Song," it is really out of place on this compilation; it's the only song from the 1980s on a compilation that includes songs mostly from the 1960s. The surprise find here is David Bowie's "Do Anything You Say." In 1966, Bowie released three singles for Pye, all of which failed. Pye's philosophy was, for all practical purposes . . . "three strikes and you're out" and young Bowie was no exception. So, from a music history point-of-view, this CD gives you a chance to hear one of Bowie's earliest recordings.This CD was released by Retro Music, a Canadian company that also does business under the name of St. Clair Entertainment Group. Most of Retro Music's oldies collections are simply re-recordings performed by "one or more members of the original group" years after the original songs were recorded. Fortunately, this release features the original recordings. As with most compilations, there are some good songs, a few songs that you won't care about, and the occasional tune (like the Bowie song) that you might be hearing for the first time. For me, there's enough here to merit four stars.NOTE: It's highly unlikely that Retro Music will be issuing any more songs from the Pye Records catalog as the rights are now owned by Sanctuary Records. Sanctuary has already released their own British Invasion CD, "The British Are Coming, Volume 1" and they have also released CDs of the orignal albums of The Kinks and a six song compilation ("A" & "B" sides) of Bowie's Pye singles. At six bucks, Retro's "Chart Busters" is a decent bargain."