Hard to Find Jukebox Classics 1957: Pop Gold / Various

Who knew when Hit Parade launched its audiophile-quality reissue series with Hard To Find Jukebox Classics 1956 that popular demand would warrant two big volumes for 1957 - a very good year for music! Hard To Find Jukebox Classics 1957: Pop Gold throws its spotlight on the astonishing breadth of music that graced the popularity charts that year: Calypsos, polkas, skiffle, and all manner of pop tunes for listeners of every age. Many people thought rock `n' roll was just a craze back then, so traditional pop styles were doing very well, thank you. This pure pop installment of Jukebox Classics shows exactly how well. Digitally remastered and lovingly presented, these 25 hits sound more vibrant than you've ever heard them!

In 1957, the teenagers swooned to Ricky Nelson's recording debut and earliest hits for Verve Records, A Teenager's Romance and You're My One And Only Love, while the grown-ups delighted to traditional pop classics such as Jane Powell's version of True Love. Tony Bennett waxed the biggest hit of his career with the hard-to-find In The Middle Of An Island, and Johnnie Ray and Gale Storm notched their last major hits with Yes, Tonight Josephine and Dark Moon.

Rusty Draper brought the British skiffle style to the Top 10 on the American charts with the folksy Freight Train, and the Fontane Sisters joined the calypso craze with their spirited rendition of The Banana Boat Song. Will Glahé's Liechtensteiner Polka broke out of its niche to become a major national seller alongside the hits of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, and yet it has never appeared on CD until now!

And who could forget the dreamy vocal groups of the era, represented here by such rare gems as the Four Esquires' Look Homeward Angel and the Four Voices' Lovely One, both of which make their CD debuts. Other first-time-on-CD cuts include Eydie Gorme's second-biggest hit of the `50s, Love Me Forever, and Jim Lowe's rare country-pop crossover hit, Four Walls.

With an incomparable selection lasting over a full-hour and a fact- and photo-filled 12-page booklet featuring a 4,000 word essay on the music by noted music writer Greg Adams, Hard To Find Jukebox Classics 1957: Pop Gold is truly worth its weight in gold. (also see: Hard To Find Jukebox Classics 1957: Rhythm & Rock)