Rome Records
only existed for about two years, and the label's main claim to fame was that it recorded the early sides of
the High Hatters
, who renamed themselves
the Earls
and subsequently scored a pair of memorable
doo wop
hits --
"Remember Then"
and
"Never"
-- on the
Old Town
label. This 27-song CD contains virtually the complete output of
and the related
Power-Martin
label, other than
' tracks, which were not available. The CD opens with three genuine rarities: two 1959 vintage, pre-
Rome
sides by
Johnny & the Jokers
-- the catchy up-tempo
novelty
tune
" "Do-Re-Mi-Rock"
and the romantic
ballad
"Comic Book Romance"
-- and one side by
, the slow-tempo
"It's You."
Most of
's output was in this vein: white
aimed at dancers;
were one of the busier acts on the label other than
, and their mid-tempo work, such as
"Learning About Love,"
is achingly beautiful and has a great beat.
Del & the Escorts
were also one of the better outfits to cut for the label, their version of
"Someone to Watch Over Me"
being one of the better reworkings of a
pop
classic, while
"Baby Doll"
features some extraordinary vocal acrobatics by the group; producer
Don Davis
evidently thought so much of the arrangements and the backing vocals that he wiped the lead singer's voice and recorded someone credited as
Jo-Ann
on lead vocals for a reissue on the
Raven
label in 1964. Also featured on this disc are more generic
-oriented
outfits such as
the Glens
(who get down to sounding really soulful on the achingly beautiful
"More"
"I Feel Great"
) and an early-'60s outfit called
the Pretenders
. The latter group's sound varied wildly from record to record based on the evidence of what's here, from lively, upbeat
R&B
-based
teen pop
in the vein of
Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
on
"I'm So Happy"
to
Frankie Avalon
-style crooning on
"Could This Be Magic"
Dion & the Belmonts
' street-corner harmonizing on
"Guardian Angel,"
and then they turned into a scaled-down version of
the Ray Conniff Singers
on their version of
"A Very Precious Love"
(from the movie
Marjorie Morningstar
). Evidently their name spoke literally about their abilities in terms of morphing their sound. Ultimately, little of what's here -- other than the bridge on
by
and that stunning moment where the singers take off on
' version of
-- is close to earth-shattering, but it's all extremely enjoyable even to the casual listener, and some of it is downright stunning. All of what's here is evocative of a beautiful and innocent era in
rock & roll
; indeed, this is that rare kind of collector's anthology that can make converts of non-fans of
music. The sound quality is exceptional and the annotation, given how little is known about any of these artists (not even photos have survived), is reasonably thorough. ~ Bruce Eder