V/A, The Sixties Collection – 60 No. 1 Hits of the Sixties (1988)
Along with Tour of Duty’s first soundtrack this was one of the most important albums in my musical development. The sixties reunion of the late 1980s was right place/right time for me (and my family). Mum and dad were getting back into the music of their youth, their kids grown, some money there for buying records and tapes (and CDs) and as a family we got hooked on all this stuff. I remember this album vividly. We had the 3-cassette edition. And it was so crucial. The tapes would be stacked up in mum’s little red MX5 and we’d play them over and over with the roof down and I learned about all sorts of new songs as well as putting names of bands to tunes I already knew. There were the obvious big hits that had endured well and a few near obscurities (despite the sub-title’s claim of them being No. 1 hit singles back in the day). It was a wonderful education. Like a textbook that helped to facilitate my further studies. I saw the 3-LP set recently in a second-hand store. I swear it was smiling at me…looking for a home…it had long ago found one in my heart.

Sample Track: Never My Love (The Association)

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown