Golden Years part 2

We all love a good music compilation.  Well I do, anyway; they can act as a gateway into an artist, genre or even time span.  Recent CD purchases have included best-ofs by The Fall, Ella Fitzgerald, The Small Faces and Nina Simone - all artists with a lengthy back catalogue where a compilation can give the listener a fair overview of their career.  Others include collections of doo-wop, 60's garage/psych and Chicago house, which can provide a toe-dip into a vast ocean of music.

Recent car boot sales have thrown up a few good comps.  I was very pleased to find Island Life by Grace Jones for just 50p last Sunday:

Grace Jones - Island Life (1985)

Inner gatefold

This is a great compilation of songs from her debut album Portfolio (1977) through to 1985's Slave To The Rhythm.  I love Grace and my favourite tracks here are those dubby ones from her collaborations with Sly & Robbie, e.g. Walking In The Rain and of course the smash hit Pull Up To The Bumper.  If Island Life also included Warm Leatherette it would be perfect.

Glen Campbell's Greatest Hits cost £1 a couple of weeks ago:

Glen Campbell's Greatest Hits (1971)

This covers a dozen hits from 1967's By The Time I Get To Phoenix up until 1971's Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream), taking in the evergreen Galveston and Wichita Lineman.

A Shirelles greatest hits from Pye's Golden Hour series cost £1:

The Shirelles - Greatest Hits (1973)

This comprehensive collection from the original girl group packs 26 hits into a "Golden Hour" of listening pleasure, including songs written by Goffin & King, Del Shannon, Burt Bacharach and Phil Spector.  Hits include Mama Said, Baby It's You, Tears On My Pillow, I Met Him On A Sunday and one of the most perfect pop songs of all time Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.

I rarely buy cassettes these days but couldn't resist this sixties comp. at just 50p:

Sixtie Mix Two (1988)

Like part one of this series which I got on vinyl in a charity shop earlier this year, it's a continuous mix of top ten 60s hits, boasting 60 tracks from The Applejacks, Animals and Amen Corner to, er, Zager & Evans.  With a cassette player in the car, we listened to it all the way home last Sunday.  This kind of thing was very popular in the eighties, providing a non-stop mix for parties, except of course for turning over/changing the record or tape!

Here are the Shirelles...