Chess Doo-Wop

Side 1
1. White Cliffs Of Dover - The Bluejays
2. Darling I Know - The El-Rays
3. Shoo Doo Be Doo (My Loving Baby) - The Moonlighters
4. Newly Wed - The Orchids
5. Show Me The Way - The Five Notes
6. Give Me (A Simple Prayer) - The Ravens
7. Nadine - The Coronets
8. Ding Dong - The Quintones

Side 2
1. 4 O'Clock In The Morning - The Tornadoes
2. I Want To Love - The Sentimentals
3. Teardrops - Lee Andrews & The Hearts
4. Soft Shadows - The Monotones
5. I'm So Young - The Students
6. So Far Away - The Pastels
7. This Broken Heart - The Sonics
8. False Alarm - The Ravels

Ah, the age-old question - what becomes of the broken-hearted? Well, I’ll tell ya what becomes of the broken-hearted. First of all we (I mean THEY) pull out this old doo-wop comp from a pile of mouldering vinyl and slap side 2 down on the turntable. Then we (no, THEY) reach into the drinks cabinet for a bottle of the real hard yet mellow stuff. Twelve-year old Scotch single malt should do the trick. This isn’t a job for mere wine. Pouring ourselves (no, themselves) a more than generous dram with a wee sensation of water to release the flavour, we (oh, I give up) return to the turntable, glass and bottle in hand and drop the tone arm straight on to “4 O’Clock In The Morning” by the Tornadoes. “It’s four o’clock in the morning, where can my baby be?” pleads our lovelorn, two-timed sufferer. That sets the mood.

Now we’ve gotta remain on the floor by the hi-fi on turntable duty ‘cos we’re going to skip a few tracks here. ‘Scuse me while I take another sip. Forget The Sentimentals, they’re sub Frankie Lymon pre-pubescent strictly for the kids merchants, so just go straight to the phenomenal Lee Andrews & The Hearts. “I sit in my room looking out at the rain …” He’s thinking of a lost romance. I gotta pour me another one.

“Soft Shadows” by The Monotones is another pleader “I’m crying, my poor heart is dying … Please don’t leave me, don’t ever go …” Lord have mercy. “I’m So Young” by The Students is another slow, but it’s more kids stuff, so we’re gonna skip it and go straight to the coup de grace, two absolute killers if you’re feeling emotional, guaranteed to finish me (them, we, you, the bottle, what the hell) off for once and for all. “So Far Away” by The Pastels which reeks of soulful longing and then just when you think it can’t get any deeper you get hit by “This Broken Heart” by The Sonics. “But no other heart will love you like this broken heart of mine.” Too late, she’s gone off with another guy.

The bottle’s nearly empty and I’m face down on the carpet. Just gotta raise enough effort to push the tone arm past the final track by The Ravels as it doesn’t fit the mood. I guess that’s why God invented PCs, media players and playlists. You can stay in your armchair with the bottle by your side, have your selections on repeat play and listen to the same tracks hour after hour before passing out. And they’ll keep on playing …

Ripped from tearstained vinyl at 320 kbps. Password = greaseyspoon

Download the LP from here:

http://www25.zippyshare.com/v/D7eIfLem/file.html