The immortal Drifters provided the prototype for R&B vocal groups and set the stage for the onset of soul with over ten years of marvelous singles beginning in 1953. Blessed with a succession of great lead singers, starting with the angelic tenor of Clyde McPhatter through Ben E. King and the Rudy Lewis/Johnny Moore tandem of the later years, the Drifters set an impossibly high standard, helped in part by the songwriting and production talents of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Leiber & Stoller introduced innovative arrangements on the Drifters' hits, including odd orchestrations that keep these classic recordings sounding fresh some 40 years later. This collection, however, comes from a later phase in the group's career, long after the hits had dried up in the U.S. The Drifters (Mach whatever), helped by disco and a revived dance club scene in the '70s, secured a recording contract with the British label Bell Records and released several singles and a couple of albums in which the group's classic sound was retooled a bit to fit into the dance clubs. That's what is here in this two-disc set, and while these tracks are interesting at times, they're mostly just an addendum at best to the classic '50s and '60s material. Steve Leggett.
Disc 1: Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies (3:32) You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book (3:17) There Goes My First Love (3:04) Hello Happiness (2:46) Summer in the City (3:33) Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good) (3:14) You've Got Your Troubles (4:04) Cut Is Deep (3:39) Midnight Cowboy (3:33) Love Games (3:07)
Disc 2: Save the Last Dance for Me (3:03) Can I Take You Home Little Girl? (3:27) Like Sister and Brother (3:24) Down on the Beach Tonight (3:03) Every Night's a Saturday Night with You (3:22) Harlem Child (3:13) Like a Movie I've Seen Before (3:15) (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me (2:24) Songs We Used to Sing (3:05) Juggler (3:23)