Going To The Ventures Dance Party – THE VENTURES***

Mr Moto/Theme From Come September/Ya Ya Wobble/Night Drive/Venus/The Intruder/Gandy Dancer/Sweet & Lovely/Limbo Rock/Lolita Ya Ya/Loco-Motion/Gully-Ver

Going To The Ventures Dance Party was an album of upbeat dance instrumentals from The Ventures, but is disappointing in that only three are originals. (US:97)

“Rather than focus on one particular dance fad, this album is about dancing in general, although some of the songs have no obvious connection to dancing. There are nine cover versions of other people's songs and three original tunes. No hits this time around, although the great Night Drive has become somewhat of a cult favourite among Ventures fans. The rest of the album is pretty solid, as usual.”

“This is a pleasant album, though some of it lacks the edge and focus of its direct predecessor.”

“Side two was a killer, either as dance music or a virtuoso musical showcase, perfectly balanced even as pop music in the sweetly lyrical renditions of Limbo Rock and Lolita Ya-Ya. One wishes that they tried to pull off Loco-Motion without the female chorus, but the mix of an almost-breathless, sotto voce female chorus and Nokie Edwards guitar is fun and almost impossible to resist.”

“Ventures Dance Party features a range of dance-craze numbers from the early '60s, including Loco-Motion and Limbo Rock. Their version of the surf classic Mr. Moto is sizzling and Theme From Come September is rich with the cinematic lure of the Mediterranean.”

“Perhaps the only ones you know by name are Limbo Rock and The Loco-Motion, but any fan of guitar music should dig this. There's some excellent, beautiful guitar interplay, as well as some different tones to compare and contrast. The drums sound excellent, they're really pumped up in the forefront and give the songs a lot of power. As for originals, there are three on here, and two of them - the gallant, swingin' Night Drive and energetic, good time Gandy Dancer are as great as any cover they've ever done. They were capable of writing excellent songs - they just were never terribly prolific at it.”