VA - – Smash Boom Bang! (The Songs And Productions Of Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer) 2012 @ 320

UK collection. The names of this cultish triumvirate spring off the page like a law firm but their business was writing and producing hits - or records that sounded like hits. Bob Feldman, Richard Gottehrer and Jerry Goldstein hit their stride in the mid-'60's with a varied portfolio that included the US #1's 'Hang on Sloopy' by the McCoys and 'My Boyfriend's Back' by the Angels - and several chart makers by the Strangeloves, the selfsame trio masquerading as a rock band. Initially, they specialized in girl groups - some real, some fabricated - and applied their distinctive touch to every one before moving into the Rock field with the McCoys, the Strangeloves and the Sheep. Ace Records. 2012.'

VA - Smash Boom Bang! - The Songs And Productions Of Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer

 01. The Strangeloves - Night Time 

 02. Bobby Comstock - Let's Stomp 

 03. The Angels - My Boyfriend's Back (Unedited Version) 

 04. The McCoys - Hang On Sloopy (Unedited Version) 

 05. The Sheep - Hide & Seek 

 06. Patty Lace & The Petticoats - Girls Don't Trust That Boy 

 07. Debra Swisher - You're So Good To Me 

 08. The McCoys - Sorrow 

 09. Ronnie Dio And The Prophets - Gonna Make It Alone 

 10. Ron Winters With The Patriots - Back In The USA 

 11. The Chic-Lets - I Want You To Be My Boyfriend 

 12. The Pygmies - Don't Monkey With Tarzan 

 13. Ray Pollard - The Drifter 

 14. The Strangeloves - I Want Candy 

 15. Bobby Comstock - I'm A Man 

 16. The Beach-Nuts - Out In The Sun (Hey-O) 

 17. Dean Parrish - Tell Her 

 18. Giles Strange - You're Going Up To The Bottom 

 19. Dion - Swingin' Street (Demo) 

 20. The Pin-Ups - Lookin' For Boys 

 21. Jerry Butler - Giving Up On Love 

 22. Diane Christian - Wonderful Guy (Stereo Underdub) 

 23. The Powder Puffs - (You Can't Take) My Boyfriend's Woody 

 24. Ron Winters - Snow Girl 

 25. Chubby Checker - (At The) Discotheque 

 26. The Jive Five - What Time Is It? 

 Review by Steve Leggett

A 1960s songwriting, production, and sometimes performing team, Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer haven't gotten the attention of similar hit-making songwriting teams of the era like Boyce & Hart, Mann & Weil, or Goffin & King, maybe because Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer sounds more like a law firm than anything else. But these guys made hits, including "Hang On Sloopy" by the McCoys, "You're So Good to Me" by Debra Swisher, and "My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels, among others, and even managed a hit performed by themselves, the immortal "I Want Candy," which was attributed to the Strangeloves. Built off a Bo Diddley rhythm, "I Want Candy" follows the team's typical production approach, featuring a huge drum sound (more often than not provided by New York session vet Herb Lavelle), plenty of room sound and reverb, and an offbeat, kinetic, and joyous energy that made the trio's productions sound big, full, and driving coming out of radio car speakers and juke boxes. The three only worked together for around four years, but as this delightful collection shows, they obviously had fun and didn't take all of this too seriously, and since they weren't trying to write a song that might earn them a place in the American Songbook, the records they made had a kind of goofy, bouncing energy that still seems fresh and immediate nearly 50 years later.

***