Hunky Dory: King Vocal Groups Vol 3 Various Artists (King)

£11.70

Genre:
Doo Wop
Label:
Ace Records
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDCHD 1048

After a bit of a hiatus, everything is HUNKY DORY again on the King Vocal Groups front. The delay between volumes 2 & 3 enables us to benefit from the expedition to the King vaults in November 2004. Part of the mission of that trip was to hunt down the previously unreleased vocal group sides and sift through those for inclusion on the next volumes in the series.

As a result, KING VOCAL GROUPS VOL 3 contains six selections which have remained unreleased until 2005. There's a couple from the Mystics (not the group of Hushabye  fame) but the group which had two singles on King and another as the Dealers on the Big Bunny label. One track is a nice rework of Earl Lewis & The Channels song Stars In The Sky; the other being a novelty item entitled Humpty Dumpty (Had A Great Fall). The Philadelphia-based Guytones feature with both the title track and the newly released Lovers And Losers. The Checkers and the Lamplighters have a track each, and rounding out the newly released sides is Bobby Freeman. Most noted for his hits Do You Wanna Dance and C'Mon And Swim, here Bobby  performs the Spaniels' song Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight backed by a female group in classic doo wop style.

Long-term King label favourites the Royals are featured here both under their original name and their much longer-held moniker the Midnighters. The group, originally from Detroit, debuted on the Federal label in 1952 with Every Beat Of My Heart. From the vaults comes an overdub of that first release and the group are also represented by Why Are We Apart, recorded in 1954 after the group had changed their name to avoid confusion with fellow King artists the Five Royales. Artists we have met before in this series include the Strangers who had 6 singles on the King label; the 'kiddie-lead' group the Chanters; Kenny Martin (most of whose sides featured a vocal group) and Cathy Ryan backed up by the Admirals.

There's still a lot of interest on the vocal group scene in single acts who recorded with a group background. Such records are much less well-known than their group counterparts and still turn up at relatively reasonable prices. Georgie Dorn was one such artist and his only two sides for King featured the doo wop sound and so qualify easily for Volume 3. Appearing for the first time in the King Vocal Group series are the New York City group the Blue Chips who had a one-shot single on the King label; the Buckeyes who hailed from Ohio and later tasted success as the Stereos; the Magic-Tones from Baltimore; and the Dikes, a somewhat unfurnately named group who were from Georgia. Ralph Bass, King's A&R man, used to scour the country to discover acts such as these and then bring them to Los Angeles, New York or Cincinnati to record. Wherever the groups came from, they'll be featured in King Vocal Groups along with the usual informative notes and label detail from Gordon Skadberg and the guys at Early Bird Records.

Peter Gibbon, April 2005





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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview Hunky Dory - The Guytones

  • 02 Preview Drop Down To My Place - The Strangers

  • 03 Preview A Friend In Need - The Checkers

  • 04 Preview Angel In The Sky - Georgie Dorn & Group

  • 05 Preview Come Back - The Blue Chips

  • 06 Preview Since I Fell For You - The Buckeyes

  • 07 Preview How Can You Treat Me This Way - The Magic-Tones

  • 08 Preview Stars In The Sky - The Mystics

  • 09 Preview Every Beat Of My Heart - The Royals aka The Midnighters

  • 10 Preview At My Door - The Chanters

  • 11 Preview Tell It To Me - The Lamplighters

  • 12 Preview Appointment With Love - The Blue Chips

  • 13 Preview Lovers And Losers - The Guytones

  • 14 Preview Darling, Please Be Mine - Kenny Martin & Group

  • 15 Preview Light Me Up - The Dikes

  • 16 Preview Begging You Please - The Buckeyes

  • 17 Preview Why Are We Apart - The Midnighters

  • 18 Preview Too Late For School - Georgie Dorn & Group

  • 19 Preview When I Kneel Down To Pray - The Magic-Tones

  • 20 Preview It's A Sad Sad Feeling - Cathy Ryan & The Admirals

  • 21 Preview Humpty Dumpty (Had A Great Fall) - The Mystics

  • 22 Preview Hoping You'll Understand - The Strangers

  • 23 Preview Don't Leave Poor Me - The Dikes

  • 24 Preview Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight - Bobby Freeman & Group

Delivery & Returns

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Press quotes

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More exquisite doo-wop balladeers from the early 50s. ★★★★

 

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