Re-Play 24 Original Hits by The Drifters

Background

Yesterday, I went right back to the 70s with one of my favourite childhood groups. Soul legends The Drifters are perhaps an odd choice for a 9- or 10-year-old, but there was something irresistible about their music, their singing style and their lyrics. I remember the original compilation album being advertised on television and the cartoon cover and font immediately appealed to me. At the time, it never occurred to me to put it on a wish list for Father Christmas, but 47 years after it’s original release I tracked down a really good copy at a great price and here we are. As it isn’t an album I originally owned, how does it count as a Re-play? Good question. My justification is simply that I loved the singles at the time and its an album that brought my early music listening days flooding back.

The Drifters 24 Original Hits – The Tracks

The double album is split into their early Atlantic tracks on Sides 1 & 2, and their later Bell tracks, which made me a fan, on Sides 3 & 4. I am going to pick out my personal highlights of a collection that had me smiling, singing and reminiscing from the first track on Side 1 to the last track on Side 4. We start off with an absolute classic for Track 1 Side 1 that even non-fans of the group will know. Saturday Night at the Movies just encapsulates their sound from the early 60s. It was a track recorded in 1962 and the opening riff is just as recognisable now as it was 60 years ago! The smooth singing and the unmistakeable tune make this a song that never gets old. The fifth track on this first side is Come on over to my place, which was used for a fondly remembered Wimpy advert where the word ‘party’ was cleverly replaced by the word ‘Wimpy’! That advert dates from 1987 but when I listened to this I still kept replacing the word ‘party’ in my head! The final track on Side 1 is Save the Last Dance for Me. It is an interesting treatment of the social rules of the time, where the singer tells his girlfriend that she can dance and flirt with anyone she likes all night as long as he has the final dance with her because he’s the one taking her home. It’s another early 60s track that shows off the quality of the legendary Ben E King during his year as their lead singer. Far from being resigned to his girlfriend flirting with everyone he sings with the confidence of someone who feels he has nothing whatsoever to fear.

Ruby Lewis was King’s replacement and the standout track from that era has to be the gorgeous Up on the Roof, Track 2 on Side 2, a song delivered with a serenity that tells you he really has found his escape on the roof. It was one of the early classics from Goffin and King and it stands comparison with anything they ever wrote together. The sixth and final track on the second side is perhaps the definitive version of Under the Boardwalk. What a performance this is, with the irresistible tune and those harmonies, unmatched by any other version. The only other version that stands alongside this is the early 80s remake by the Tom Tom Club which I urge you to check out.

Side 3, which is the Bell years starts off with a very interesting version of Sweet Caroline. The Drifters give it their own inimitable style, and whilst not as immediate as the Neil Diamond version, and pure Drifters class. The third track on Side 3 is my all time favourite track by The Drifters, a track that I adored as a 9 year old and one I still adore now, because it is one of those tracks that brings back a time and place as only music can. Kissing in the Back Row of the Movies was a Number 2 hit in 1974 and I loved hearing it on radio or on Top of the Pops. Now, the lyrics might be a little bit of their time (!) but they have the essential innocence of the Johnny Moore delivery to offset the more modern sensibilities of the listener. It starts with a gorgeous solo verse from Moore before the group joins in with one of their very best performances. I was in the throes of first love at the time and this really reminds me of that very special young lady. As we were both 9 years old the lyrics

Every night, I pick you up from school
‘Cause you’re my steady date
But from Monday through to the Friday night
I leave you at the gate, yeah

You know, we can’t have too much fun
‘Til all your homework’s done
But when the weekend comes
She knows where we will be, yeah

Were about two teenagers at school, but the fact that the singer was picking her up from school indicates that he himself may have been slightly older! Whatever it might seem like to modern ears, it was a record I fell in love with, and to.

Side 4 begins with the marvellous There Goes My First Love, which coincided with my own first love leaving to go to another school. As a song that reflects my feelings at the time it is perhaps perfect for my 10-year-old self and still speaks to my somewhat older self! The final track on a classic double album is the lovely Down on the Beach Tonight which just oozes quality and reinforces the picture of the US as a beach lovers paradise.

Reflection

What can I add about an album that made me feel so happy and which brought back so many lovely memories, personal and musical? Perhaps all I can add is that if you were there in the 70s this will be a trip down memory lane that will simply delight you and which will remind you of tracks long forgotten. If you weren’t, and you want an introduction to one of the great soul groups of all time, this is an album and group you will really want to track down.