The Best Of The Orlons 1961-1966

Note also, this is a great job of both mixing and mastering - the sound is terrific all way through."I'll Be True" It might be better off forgetting this is supposed to be the Orlons when listening to this one - it's an exceedingly beautiful and intense old-style doo-wop ballad. Still it's a fine introduction to the CD, and segues neatly into the next song. [5 stars]"The Wah-Watusi" (Billboard #19) - what to listen for if you only remember this great tune and subsequent Top 5 hits from listening on a bargain-basement 6-transistor radio in 1963: the drums are unbelievably crisp sounding, the grooves are wonderful! [5 stars]"Don't Hang Up" (Billboard #4) - infectious, infectious, infectious! [5 stars]"The Conservative" - retro, kind of do-wop, with great melody, background harmonies/riffs, and very interesting lyrics in the form of a story-song. Another reviewer calls it lame probably based on the fact that he dislikes conservatives. Remember, this was 1963, and probably referred to a guy who dressed and acted like what used to be called "straight", but who was the type the singer was turned on by; i.e., not necessarily someone who would've voted for Barry Goldwater back in the day, or Rubber Dubya at present. [5 stars]"South Street" (Billboard #3) - Probably the best of their three top 5's - note that the phrase "Where do all the hippies meet?" doesn't pertain to the usual meaning of the term - remember this was only 1963. Back then the word hippie was more likely a synonym for hipsters, jazz/dance aficionados, and the like. There also was a group on the same record label as the Orlons who were named the Hippies, but it's unlikely they made up the name, but themselves borrowed it from then-current urban subculture (Harlem, the Village, etc.). [5 stars at least]"Cement Mixer" - a great novelty-party tune that verges on calypso. "See the mello-rooney come out! Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!" [5 stars]"Not Me"(Billboard #12) - a remake of Gary U. S. Bonds' "New Orleans", with an entirely different set of lyrics - country-hopping rather than sticking to Louisiana - with one verse each for California, Alabama, and Virginia. [5 stars]"Crossfire" (Billboard #19) - with a terrific storyline about happenings at a dance, melody with mournful touches and haunting backgrounds, great arrangement and hooks - this is possibly their best hit song. It also includes a recurrence of the aforementioned term in the phrase "like the hippies do". [5 stars at least]"Don't Throw Your Love Away" - before the sublime Searchers version went top 20 in '64, there was the Orlons version, every bit as good after you've listened to it a number of times. Check out the matchless piano accompaniment, and their spunky doo-wop ending with its killer ground-shaking harmonies. [5 stars at least]"Bon-doo-wah" (Billboard #55) - Another infectious tune/arrangement - call-and-answer song - the instrumental and vocal riffs/bridges are incredible here; and there's great rhythm/meter interplay. [5 stars at least]"Everything Nice" One of the best mid-to-uptempo feel-good songs I've ever heard - with heartwarming singing and wonderful riffing organ. [5 stars at least]"Shimmy Shimmy" (Billboard #66) - Good up-tempo dance tune. [4 stars]"Rules of Love" (Billboard #66) - Thinly-disguised version of "What I Say" - with different lyrics that gradually take on a sinister aspect: if you do what I say, "I'll let you graduate" - echoes of Lennon-McCartney's "Run For Your Life". [4 stars]"Heartbreak Hotel" - It's hard to imagine an arrangement/recording that rivals the one by Elvis, but this one does it, as it gets better and better with each listen. It may end up being my favorite on this CD. There are a few slight alterations of melody and rhythm as compared with the original, but it's basically the overall arrangement (background vocals, etc) that sends this one into the High Heaven of rock and soul. [5 stars at least]"Knock! Knock! (Who's There?)" (Billboard #64) - nice uptempo doo-wop dance tune, with great spoken statement and answer format at the end fade-out. [4 stars]"Goin' Places" terrific feel-good "travel" song, with very inventive melodies. [5 stars]"Envy (In My Eyes)" This is the song that sounds the most like Motown, specifically Martha and the Vandellas (more specifically "Dancing in the Streets", "Nowhere to Run"), though not quite. It retains a lot of that NYC feel, and keeps giving me chills all the way through. [5 stars at least]"Don't You Want My Lovin'" - the groove has the drive of Blondie's "Call Me" from fifteen years later, though at a slower tempo; similarly, the singing has the intensity of Ike and Tina with the Ikettes. An unbelievably expressive sax section is the main compositional force behind the band, and dirty organ licks and the occasional piano chord provide subtler punctuation. [5 stars at least]"Spinning Top" - more Ike and Tina sound, more uptempo, amalgamated with a Four Tops feel (fitting in terms of the song title) - unbelievable arrangement, vocals, vocals, vocals, with a bit of "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" style piano riffing mixed in subtly with a Stax-Volt lilt. [5 stars at least]"Mr. Twenty One" - old style doo-wop, recorded earlier in '61 and thus out of sequence chronologically. Somewhat inferior to the rest. [2-3 stars]

Typical fare of the Era. Easy to listen too. If you are of this age bracket it is well worth getting as one of the groups that went under the radar as most of the tunes are pretty good so not bad value. Easily as good as many better known at the time. Chris Webb

Great memories

My dad was very happy. This just took a lot longer then expected for delivery. He purchased the actual CD

I first heard the Orlons on the Sirius XM 50's channel, and I was immediately taken by their tight, upbeat sound. When I heard another track and I was once again impressed, I headed to amazon to see what I could find in terms of a collection. If you like catchy, upbeat, positive Motown-esque songs, this collection is for you.

There have been no problems with the CD. I buy this era music CD's for the groups or individuals that I don't have as it is the music I grew up listening to.

best edition of "their" hits. no extras but solid excellent transaction

More of the great Motown sounds of my younger and fun days and nights. Great songs, great collection on one CD.

It is really too bad that the catalogue of CAMEO-PARKWAY Records had been sold to the late Allen Klein.Yet another accountant that stumbled onto the lucrative record production and marketing field, ditto for lawyers, that later ran or outright owned some wonderful labels, purely by accident if you will, unlike the label owners of yester-year who actually LOVED the music they produced, such asArt Rupe, Johnny Otis, Bobby Robinson, Al Silver, Jerry Blaine, George Goldner, Mayo Williams, and Paul Winley just to name a few, while our Mister Klein opted to sit on the masters of CAMEO-PARKWAY for years, despite many requests from fans and other labels to release the material.It is said that he, Klein, thought the longer he kept the material under-wraps, the more the value would increase, ergo, more money. Okay, so maybe we will not mention, he started out auditing the books for the likes of Roullette Records, taking 25% of the artists royalties to do so, then messed-up the Beatles contracts, fired as the manager of The Rolling Stones, by the early 70s had some 40 lawsuits pending against him, and finally did some time for tax-evasion. Oh, The Orlons? GREAT-GREAT-GREAT and just for laughs, the hit track South Street from erly 1963, happens to be the first-ever hit record to mention the word HIPPIES as opposed to the people who claimed to have created the word in 1966, and just to add, The Orlons, like some of their counter-part CAMEO-PARKWAY acts like The Dovells, had that shooting star that blazed across the Rock N Roll sky for such a short time, but what brightness it introduced to those of us that were there to witness it, and it still shines today on a very different world..The Hippies died, The Orlons live on, and will continue to do so for th music lovers of generations to come.NOT FROM ANY LINER NOTES

The orlons hailed from West Philadelphia and were assigned to the cameo parkway label .They were more popular in America than they were in this country they had one hit with (don't hang up) which is on this CD.Along with shirrells the chiffons they paved the way for female groups at Motown and later the female groups like the three degrees when Philly sound arrived in the seventies.This CD contains some of their big hits in America.A good CD well worth listening to it you like reminiscing of the fifties and sixties

fantastic tracks

1.I'LL BE TRUE2.THE WAH-WATUI(62年6月2位）3.DON'T HANG UP(62年10月4位）4.THE CONSERVATIVE5.SOUTH STREET(63年2月3位）6.CEMEN MIXER7.NOT ME(63年6月12位）8.CROSSFIRE!(63年9月19位）9.DON'T THROW YOUR LOVE AWAY10.BON-DOO-WAH(63年12月55位）11.EVERYTHING NICE12.SHIMMY SHIMMY(64年2月66位）13.RULES OF LOVE(64年5月66位）14.HEARTBREAK HOTEL15.KNOCK!KNOCK!(WHO'S THERE)16.GOIN' PLACES17.ENVY(IN MY EYES)18.DO'T YOU WANT MY LOVIN'19.SPINNING TOP20.MR.TWENTY ONEペンシルヴァニア州フィラデルフィアから、たくさんのティーン向けのダンス・ヒットを放ったカメオ/パークウェイ・レコード。その一端を担ったのが、本CDの主人公であるジ・オーロンズです。オーロンズの前身は、AUDREY&THE TEENETTESというグループ。このグループのメンバーだった女の子3人が、THE ROMEOSというグループのメンバーだった男性のSTEVE CALDWELLをグループに誘い、新しいグループを結成、新グループはTHE ORLONSと名付けられました。MARLENA DAVISSHIRLEY BRICKLEYROSETTA HIGHTOWER(LEAD)STEVE CALDWELL(男性TENOR)オーロンズは、カメオ・レコードのオーディションに合格し、契約を結んで1.「I'LL BE THERE」でデビューしますが、残念ながら不発。セカンド・シングルの20.「MR.TWENTYONE」も不発で、レーベル・メイトのディー・ディー・シャープやボビー・ライデルのバックに甘んじる日々が続いたようですが、1962年の6月に出した2.「THE WAH-WATUSI」がついに2位まで昇る大ヒットを記録し、一躍人気グループになりました。その後も3.「DON'T HANG UP」、5.「SOUTH STREET」、7.「NOT ME」（ゲイリーUSボンズのカヴァー）、8.「CROSSFIRE!」などのビッグ・ヒットを連発しています。オーロンズは、基本はガール・グループなのですが、男性ヴォーカルが一人いるところがミソで、このスティーヴのヴォーカルが所々に合いの手のように顔を出し、良いアクセントを加えています。個人的に好きなのは、3.「DON'T HANG UP」です。これはアップ・テンポのダンス・ナンバーで、リードのロゼッタとスティーヴのヴォーカルの絡みがカッコよく、間奏のサックス・ソロが抜群です。本CDは、彼らのヒットが全て収録されたベスト盤で、オリジナル・マスターからの正規盤のため音質も良いのでおすすめできます。

私のお気に入りの、サウス　ストリートが　予想外れで別バージョンでした車で、聞いているバージョンはとても迫力だありすごい低音が聴けますが　　　同じグループとは思えないですね？アップテンポの曲が少ないですね　試聴ができないと、買えませんね！！