1966 as documented by the releases of the UK’s most famous source for US rock’n’roll, pop and R&B.
London’s releases for 1966 reflected the way music trends were moving mid-decade. There were soul singles aplenty and, as the year progressed, a deeper investment in the proto-psychedelic rock that we now know as garage. For all that, London’s biggest hits of the year came courtesy of old standby Roy Orbison and producer Phil Spector, the latter bringing the label its greatest success with Ike & Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep – Mountain High’, which ends our CD on a high.
Just like London always did, our collection offers a musical menu that embraces rock, soul, country and straight-ahead pop, with a little quality MOR on the side.
By 1966 London’s output was a long way down from the 200+ singles of the early 60s, but the label was still in the hunt for hits and still picking up some of the more interesting independent releases in the face of stiff competition from rivals such as EMI, Pye and Philips/Fontana.
Our selection comprises 28 tracks that have never been issued on Ace before. Wherever possible we have mastered from tapes used to manufacture the original mono London 45s (except, that is, where the label used disc dubs). On the whole, what you have is an excellent representation of what London got up to in 1966.
Tony Rounce
