string(3) "dev" Various Artists (Label Stories) - The Big Top Records Story - Ace Records

The Big Top Records Story Various Artists (Label Stories)

£11.50

Genre:
Pop
Label:
Ace Records
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDCHD 1207

Label anthologies on Ace can be the most hugely enjoyable of nostalgia trips even though by definition they seem more specialised in their remit.

Big Top was run as a sideline by the plutocratic owners of Hill& Range, a New York-based song publishing empire which took in two continents. Its five-year heyday spanned the fading days of New York’s Tin Pan Alley, a period when songwriters and music publishers, rather than recording artists, ruled the record business. This was no back street label run on a wing and a prayer. Big Top shared Hill & Range’s well appointed offices in the penthouse suite of the legendary Brill Building. There was oak panelling adorned with fine art, inch high carpet pile; the fug of sweet smelling cigar smoke could be seen curling above the sound of hard nosed deal making.

Big Top was helped by the great songwriters at its disposal – such as Leiber and Stoller, Pomus and Shuman and Burt Bacharach. It was also unashamedly commercial and rarely got its motives confused. Early hits included Sammy Turner’s ‘Lavender Blue’ and Bobby Pedrick’s ‘White Bucks And Saddle Shoes’; there were also lesser successes with ‘Sunglasses’ by the Shades, a studio concoction featuring Mort Shuman and Linda Laurie and ‘Don’t Look Now But…’ by the Honeytones, a song that was successfully covered in the UK by the Vernons Girls.

In 1960, Big Top signed the hit-making instrumental band Johnny & the Hurricanes through Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik, two Detroit-based hustlers who ran a booking agency in that city. Some minor hits followed including ‘Rocking Goose’ and ‘Down Yonder’ (both bigger hits in the UK than in America). The association with the men from Detroit was to pay far bigger dividends in 1961 when Big Top signed Del Shannon. His first single, ‘Runaway’ was recorded at a split session with one Maxfield Crook, the keyboard player in Shannon’s band. As well as co-writing and playing on Shannon’s sides, Crook cut a quirky instrumental titled ‘The Snake’ which everyone concerned deemed the hit. In the event, it was ‘Runaway’ which caught the public’s imagination, reaching #1 in the USA and UK and charting throughout the western world. The rare stereo mix with miniscule variations in the performance is the version heard here, as is Maximillion’s ‘The Snake’, taken directly from a master for the first time since its original release.

In 1960, a new kid began hanging out at Big Top. His name was Phil Spector. Ingratiating himself with the powers to be at the label, he was assigned to produce Sammy Turner (‘Raincoat In The River’), former Chantels lead, Arlene Smith (‘He Knows I Love Him Too Much’ and an unknown named Karen Lake (‘Air-Mail Special Delivery’). These three 45s are reissued here legally for the first time.

By 1964, Beatlemania had taken hold and Big Top made a concerted move away from pop towards soul, one of the few areas where American product could compete successfully. Bert Bacharach’s protégé Lou Johnson became the company’s principal artist scoring with ‘Reach Out For Me’ in 1963, a year that also saw Big Top hits by Andrea Carroll and the Dynamics. Johnson’s ‘(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me’ (released on a subsidiary label, Big Hill) was only a modest hit in America but a smash in Britain for Sandie Shaw. Big Top eventually went out with a whimper. The owners didn’t really need the money or the hassle of running a label, and for the last couple of years it served as a charitable trust for sporadic Lou Johnson releases.

A top notch blend of hits, classy misses, early Spector productions and some groovy instrumentals, together with a booklet load of pics and captivating story telling make ‘The Big Top Records Story’ an exquisite souvenir of pop’s legendary Brill Building era, one which we soon hope to repeat with a follow-up volume.

By Rob Finnis

Share

Track listing

Show

Side 1

  • 01 Preview Sun Glasses - The Shades featuring The Knott Sisters

  • 02 Preview White Bucks And Saddle Shoes - Bobby Pedrick Jr

  • 03 Preview What's Your Name? - Don & Juan

  • 04 Preview The Fool - Jamie Coe

  • 05 Preview The Doolang - Andrea Carroll

  • 06 Preview Minnesota Fats - Johnny & the Hurricanes

  • 07 Preview Misery - The Dynamics

  • 08 Preview Steady Kind - Mickey Denton

  • 09 Preview He Knows I Love Him Too Much - Arlene Smith

  • 10 Preview My Private Joy - Bobby Pedrick

  • 11 Preview Suddenly We're Strangers - Marci & the Mates

  • 12 Preview Rocking Goose - Johnny & the Hurricanes

  • 13 Preview Don't Look Now, But... - The Honeytones

  • 14 Preview Lavender Blue - Sammy Turner

  • 15 Preview The Snake - Maximilian

  • 16 Preview Runaway (Alt take) - Del Shannon

  • 17 Preview Raincoat In The River - Sammy Turner

  • 18 Preview Little Town Flirt - Del Shannon

  • 19 Preview Don't Want Your Letters - Gerri Granger

  • 20 Preview Always Something There To Remind Me - Lou Johnson

  • 21 Preview Lipstick And High Heel Shoes - Valentine & the Sweethearts

  • 22 Preview True Love Never Runs Smooth - Don & Juan

  • 23 Preview It Hurts To Be Sixteen - Andrea Carroll

  • 24 Preview Midnight - Johnny Gibson

  • 25 Preview Air Mail Special Delivery - Karen Lake

  • 26 Preview Flashback - The VIPs

Delivery & Returns

Show

We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com ) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Bus Stop Mail Order Ltd, 42-50 Steele Road, London, NW10 7AS. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Bus Stop Mail Order Ltd, 42-50 Steele Road, London, NW10 7AS. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

Show

★★★★

Mojo

Customer reviews

Show

Related products

Customers who bought this item also bought