Hard To Find 45s On 18 - 70s Essentials / Var

I am using the same two opening paragraphs for volumes 17, 18 & 19. It’s too hard to say basically the same thing three different ways. The rest is all specific to each volume.It’s great to see that the Eric label is still putting out their Hard To Find 45’s series, even in 2017. In the days when there was only hard copy they were essential for serious collectors. Those were the days when collection after collection offered only the big hits of a particular year or era and the collections endlessly duplicated each other.(I must have a dozen copies of some songs). Collectors like myself often bought a collection for one song and already had all the others. If not that, you had to get a Greatest Hits collection from a one hit wonder usually full of other songs that explained why they only had one hit. People have it easy now with streaming and mp3’s but even so there are songs unavailable in those forms and every once in a while, still completely unavailable or only at an extremely inflated price on an out of print disc.Eric pretty much sets the gold standard in remastering, using original masters and also making wise choices of what songs to include. These songs sound amazingly good. Their collections show the wide diversity of the pop and rock scene from the 50’s to 70’s and lately even the 80’s. Each collection has some super-rare titles you’ve been looking for, either something from a very small label or perhaps the single version of an album original. There’s also usually a song or two you’ve never heard of, a song you had forgotten about that you now love hearing again and sometimes a song you’d rather have kept forgotten. Eric’s selections are always interesting as volumes 17, 18 and 19 show.Volume 17 has a theme beyond its decade. Over half of the songs are by European artists singing in English. Not only that, but it’s usually such idiomatic American English that no one would have thought they were of European origin unless they had read it somewhere. No one would have though Shocking Blue was a Dutch group just from hearing Venus. Some people knew that Thin Lizzy was an Irish group, but to everyone else they sounded like they came from somewhere near Bruce Springsteen’s Asbury Park. Paper Lace was British even if they sang about Chicago and both F.R. David and Patrick Hernandez were French (F.R. David was also a guy, and all this time I thought Words was sung by a woman). Paloma Blanca is pure Europop, hokey but fun, and Bobby Vinton sings in Polish, which came from his polish-Lithuanian family roots, unknown in his early 60’s teen idol days.Who could forget Dutch group Focus with Thijs van Leers inspired mix of superb hard rock, Jethro Tull-style flute, yodeling, accordion and a Spike Jones kind of craziness. I had forgotten Jud Strunk’s sweet old-timey Daisy a Day in early 1973 and had never heard the ambitious disco and pop song Music by John Miles. I had never before owned Charlene’s I’ve Never Been To Me and it was much more than the silly fluff song I had always thought it was. The lyrics were actually the opposite of what I had thought: it’s not an ode to self absorption, but rather the tale of a jet-setting woman who realizes she missed the fulfillment of family life searching for thrills. Besides, what otherwise sweet sounding pop song slips in lines like “subtle whoring”?Oliver’s only ever Greatest Hits disc on Tarragon is usually around $100.00 on Amazon Marketplace and has been for years. (Amazon needs to offer it as an mp3 as they do many other out of print discs of 60’s and 70’s artists that are offered at high prices by re-sellers). His first two hits are easy enough to find on collections but his Sunday Morning (as good as Spanky & Our Gang’s version) is nearly impossible. The real prize here is Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells in its early 1974 single version. I followed Oldfield through Five Miles Out (1982) and his several revisitations of Bells, but don’t think the single version has ever been available. I think I had to do some fancy snipping to get it on my homemade CD of Jan.-Feb. 1974 in my chronological songs 1960-1989 project.There are many other great songs in this collection, all well-sequenced by Eric. They have a knack of putting songs with some aesthetic similarity or cultural roots together that makes the disc flow smoothly. It opens with the harder rock, moves through European pop and novelties into middle-of-the-road pop, disco and 70’s R&B with Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang influence. Play it through as is or put it on shuffle to get the crazy ways one song would follow another back then (minus station I.D.s, DJ talk, news and ads).Eric has also kept their booklet notes as complete as ever at a time when many labels are shortening or abandoning them altogether. They still include photos of some really obscure acts, a real plus for songs from the radio era when you often had no idea of what a singer or band looked like. Greg Adam’s notes are entertainingly written and absolutely full of information which adds great value to the collection.

Really enjoyable and collectible.

Volume 18 of this Eric Records series collects 21 tunes from the ‘70s and early ‘80s all in stereo, all from the master tapes, and all sounding better than ever. This release includes some CD debuts, rare single edits, plus the debut of two new stereo tracks. Here are the highlights:The two new stereo tracks were both big charters in 1970: “Venus” by Shocking Blue & “Brian Hyland’s cover of “Gypsy Woman.” Both songs have only been released in mono until now. These two tracks are digitally extracted stereo (DES) recreations and sound amazing. So what exactly is DES? It involves a fairly new process known as “spectral editing” where the engineer uses several techniques to transform the original mono recording in to an authentic stereo sounding mix. These “technical wizards” spend on average 30-40 hours per song using an audio software program to create these new mixes. The truth is unless they identify which tracks are DES and which are not you would never be able to tell the difference upon listening.The one hit wonder Thin Lizzy hit it big in the summer of 1976 with “The Boys Are Back In Town.” Every CD appearance has been the LP version with the exception being an incorrect edit once issued by Time Life decades ago. That edit never matched the 45. This release finally includes the correct hit single edit on CD for the first time ever. It’s about time.The instrumental hits “Hocus Pocus” by Focus and “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield have both appeared on CD several times but for the most part never matched the correct 45 edit or 45 speed or both. Eric Records finally issues the correct 45 edits at the correct speed and length.The track "Eighteen With A Bullet" on this disc is an improvement over previously released versions on CD. Both Rhino and Time-Life issued the song with a dropout in the opening notes. Several other CD releases issued the song with some or all of the opening notes missing. I always liked the retro sound of this tune (sounds like a ‘50s song to me).One of the early ‘80s tunes included is “Tired Of Toein’ The Line” by Rocky Burnette. Previous CD appearances for this song used the LP master. This time the 45 master was found in the vault and used. Not only does the song sound much better but it is the shorter single length and matches my EMI America 45. Another one with a cool retro sound to it.Another track from the ‘80s is “Words” by solo artist F.R. David. This tune missed the top 40 in the summer of 1983 and debuts on CD here. One of those great songs that should’ve been a bigger hit and has since disappeared until now. You may not recognize the song but give it a listen and you will realize it’s a catchy upbeat number.Several tracks that rarely appear on CD and were included in this collection are “My Melody Of Love,” “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast,” “Paloma Blanca” and “Daisy A Day.” All with improved sound.In 2017 many listeners are streaming or downloading music. For example if you wanted to buy or hear “The Night Chicago Died” all you can find is a re-recorded version. Hard to believe since it was a number one record in 1974. The single edit of “Sometimes When We Touch” is another one you can’t stream or purchase these days. Both of these popular tunes appear here as well as other recognizable songs like "Fox On The Run” and “Born To Be Alive.”This CD closes with the longest song on the disc running just under six minutes long. It’s a song that did poorly on the U.S. singles chart in 1976 but was a much bigger success in England where it peaked at #3. The song is “Music” by John Miles. The same John Miles that hit the U.S. top 40 a year later with the dance tune “Slowdown.” Some collectors, like myself, will be pleased that this song was included here as the original recording is not easy to find on CD. “Music” deserved much better chart success in the U.S. and is a great finish to this excellent collection.Overall, you can’t beat the superior sound or the terrific price for this release. Over 72 minutes of music plus ten pages of informative liner notes on all the songs and artists. A must buy for collectors and fans of ‘70s and early ‘80s music.

enjoyed and undamaged thanks

product was what i expected

It was good to hear those old tunes

Only 2 songs on this volume that I didn't have before on CD, but several versions (edits or stereo debuts that I didn't have), but the sound is great, as usual! Highly recommended! My favorite rare songs on this disc are "Tired of Toein' the Line", "Eighteen with a Bullet" and "Daisy a Day". Most of the songs are pretty rare! I do love "Born to be Alive", "The Boys are Back in Town" and "Fox on the Run" too. "Good Morning Starshine" by Oliver is pretty rare and sounds great. If your a fan of 70's music and enjoy the diversity of styles, this is a great CD!

Fast delivery, undamaged and I enjoy the collection.

It’s always good to have nostalgia on tap, and from a time when music was fun, rhythmic, and guarenteed to have you singing along be it in the car, or at home. Each track a gem and brilliantly recorded. Well worth the money.

Great sound. Some tracks not actually so hard to find! Some not 70s either. Worth having though.

I'm very happy with my cds I haven't played them yet but they look ok

I liked the 70's, after all, I was in school until grade 9 in the late 70's, then all of high school was the beginning of the 80's! These songs on here all came back to my memory as I had heard them quite a bit on the radio. I LOVE having all these songs! The collection here is an excellent compilation of memorable hits and some that you just cannot find very easy at all and to have this kind of CD collection of music is second-to-none and the quality is excellent! I knew if I got a hold of a CD like this I would have a serious compilation to add to my other 70's CD's. The good thing about this set is that, as with all my other various CD's of the 70's, all the music is pretty much duplicated and there really isn't a lot of seclection on those CD's. I found this and new it would be an excellent CD to have and ya know what? I was right! I totally recommend this CD for anyone that want's to remember the good ole' days and the music is STILL excellent! See Ya!

The price is a little more than I think I should’ve paid for the amount of songs I wanted, but at least this way I have them for my collection. Some people might want more songs off this because of everyone’s music taste is different.