Best Of – LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS*****

Goin’ Out Of My Head/Take Me Back/Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop/Hurt So Bad/Tears On My Pillow/I Miss You So/I’m On The Outside (Looking In)/Hurt/Reputation/Our Song/Never Again/Get Out Of My Life

Sweet sounding R & B vocal group Little Anthony & The Imperials had several American top thirty hits during the sixties, including the most successful version of the plaintive standard Goin' Out Of My Head. (US:97)

"The writing/producing talents of Teddy Randazzo, Anthony Gourdine and his Imperials created some of the most memorable, superbly crafted pop tunes of the rock era, several of which have become standards. Goin' Out Of My Head, Hurt So Bad and I Miss You So represented some of the most polished landmark tunes to come out of the mid-60s."

"One of the foremost doo-wop groups of the late1950s and early '60s, Little Anthony & The Imperials enjoyed a succession of hits with classic rock & roll era songs like Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop, all of which combined lead singer Anthony Gourdine's distinctive falsetto vocals with the group's sophisticated harmony backing."

"The Imperials' vocal mastery expressed something essential to the soul of rock & roll. Anthony Gourdine's quintet (later a quartet) was an exemplar of the golden age of doo-wop at its most heart-wrenching. Their signature tunes are nothing less than majestic."

"The group would team up with producer Teddy Randazzo to make some of finest pop records of the period. To this day Hurt So Bad is still one of my all-time favourite records. After listening to this LP I am confident that you will agree with me that there is not a bad song to be found." "They could very well have been the very first adult contemporary group, establishing a new level of class and sophistication never before seen in R & B groups, while at the same time never abandoning their doo wop roots."

"Tunes such as Goin' Out Of My Head and Hurt So Bad have become standards that put to shame most of what has come out of popular music for decades since. Their rich harmonies carried the music to levels barely reached by others."