NOW Yearbook Presents - The 60s - Volume 1: 1960-1962 (4CD)

Step back to the dawn of the 1960s – an era of rock ’n’ roll, classic pop, timeless ballads and the birth of soul. NOW Yearbook Presents – The 60s – Volume 1: 1960–1962 features 87 unforgettable tracks across 4 CDs.

CD1 kicks off in style with The Everly Brothers and their 7-week chart-topper ‘Cathy’s Clown’ ahead of two more true legends, Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. Cliff, along with The Shadows on ‘The Young Ones’ from 1962, and Elvis with his fifth #1 ‘It’s Now Or Never’ from 1960. Evergreen pop gems from Bobby Darin, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons and Chris Montez are up next along with floor-fillers 1962-style from Little Eva with ‘The Locomotion’ and Chubby Checker with ‘Let’s Twist Again’ – both reaching #2. Rock ‘n’ Roll influenced hits from Dion, Del Shannon and Susan Maughan lead into the 1961 #1 ‘Walkin’ Back To Happiness’ from Helen Shapiro and then to a run of jukebox gold from Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Billy Fury, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, Bruce Channel and the US #1 ‘Duke Of Earl’ from Gene Chandler. Brian Hyland’s #3 ‘Sealed With A Kiss’ comes ahead of a trio of superb ballads closing the first disc: Roy Orbison’s chart debut and #1 ‘Only The Lonely’, Bobby Vee with ‘More Than I Can Say’ and the timeless and beautiful ‘True Love Ways’ from Buddy Holly.

Disc 2 opens with a stellar run of early ‘60s soul classics; ‘Stand By Me’ by Ben E. King which finally became a UK #1 26 years after its original chart run, Dionne Warwick made her debut with the sophisticated ‘Don’t Make Me Over’ and The Drifters hit #2 with ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’, along with US chart-topper ‘Please Mr Postman’ from The Marvelettes, and The Crystals with ‘He’s A Rebel’. Pop nuggets from Shelley Fabares, Connie Francis and Brenda Lee lead to #1s from The Shadows and Frank Ifield. Easy-listening gems are up next from Bobby Vinton, Matt Monro, and the classic instrumental ‘Theme From “A Summer Place”’ from Percy Faith & His Orchestra and the #1 ‘Moon River’ (from “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”) by Danny Williams. Closing the disc are enduringly popular jazz-infused singles from Dinah Washington with ‘Mad About The Boy’ and ‘At Last’ from Etta James.

The third disc dances into life with second appearances on this collection from Chubby Checker (celebrating the craze ‘The Twist’), Dion and Bobby Vee. Eddie Cochran hit the top with ‘Three Steps To Heaven’ in June 1960, and a month later Cliff Richard & The Shadows did the same with ‘Please Don’t Tease’ whilst a month after that ‘Shakin’ All Over’ from Johnny Kidd & The Pirates also reached the summit. Next up, more rock ‘n’ roll and doo-wop #1s from The Marcels and Emile Ford & The Checkmates, plus #1 pop smashes from Ricky Valance and another from Elvis Presley. Top 5 hits from Connie Francis, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Karl Denver, Jimmy Jones and Joe Brown & The Bruvvers lead into a run of #1s that close this disc: Adam Faith with ‘Poor Me’ from 1960, Mike Sarne with ‘Come Outside’ featuring guest vocals from ‘Are You Being Served’/’Eastenders’ actress Wendy Richard, #1 in 1962 and Lonnie Donegan & His Group with the 1960 comedic chart-topper ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’. The Temperance Seven hit #1 in 1961 with their salute to 1920s jazz ‘You’re Driving Me Crazy’ and to close, the instantly recognisable ‘The Stripper’ by David Rose – which topped the US chart in 1962.

The final disc opens with four massive instrumental hits: The Tornados became the first British group to top the US charts when ‘Telstar’ repeated its UK success, and The Shadows’ debut hit (away from Cliff) ‘Apache’ hit the top spot in 1960. Dave Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’ remains one of the most influential and biggest selling jazz tracks ever, and the smooth ‘Stranger On The Shore’ by Acker Bilk was 1962’s biggest selling single in the UK – and a US #1. Shirley Bassey enjoyed a #1 with ‘Reach For The Stars’, and at 14 years old Helen Shapiro became the UK’s youngest ever chart-topper with ‘You Don’t Know’ in 1961. Stylish pop from Connie Stevens and Linda Scott feature along with another appearance from Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Bobby Darin and Brian Hyland. Ear-worm smashes ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)’ and ‘Venus In Blue Jeans’ come ahead of 1960 #1 ‘Why’ from Anthony Newley, and 1961 chart champs Eden Kane and Frankie Vaughan. Petula Clark’s first #1 ‘Sailor’ leads into a pair of truly timeless collection closers: Patsy Cline hit the US Top 10 in 1961 with ‘Crazy’, a song that would become an enduringly popular ‘standard’ over the decades – and to finish, a stunning ballad ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ from Elvis Presley. Making his third appearance here with his tenth UK #1, one of an incredible 9 of them that hit the top during the three-year span of this collection.

NOW Yearbook Presents - The 60s - Volume 1: 1960-1962 – a celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of the magical years of the early 60s.