Sweets For My Sweet

This is a strange 15-song compilation -- the logic to it, beyond getting the group's first three U.K. hits and their big U.S. hit, "Love Potion No. 9," together on one budget-priced disc, is elusive. It does have those songs plus a good selection of catchy and familiar LP cuts, all off their early albums. Neophytes and listeners seeking a diverting (albeit random) 35 minutes of the group's output could do worse -- the sound is better than on a lot of early CD reissues, the selection features good covers of American R&B, including the title cut, "Stand By Me," "Money (That's What I Want)," and "Twist and Shout," plus their pioneering efforts at what became known as folk-rock ("Where Have All the Flowers Gone"); and the cover boasts the kind of really cool color picture, of the four members on the set of a television variety program, that would really have sold this as an LP. And that's what it resembles, an improved version of the kind of compilations that used to come out of the Pye Records label during the late '70s and early '80s. ~ Bruce Eder|