By 1962, the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway housed 165 different music companies. There, and in similar music hothouses nearby, were such songwriting titans as Leiber and Stoller, Bacharach and David, Goffin and King, Pomus and Shuman, Mann and Weil, Boyce and Hart, all having their mighty works interpreted by singers including The Drifters, Dionne Warwick, The Cookies and more.

Truly, theirs was a golden age of pop, and we want you to tell us the best way of immersing in it on CD. Transposing the era of the seven-inch single into compilations makes this a different kind of How To Buy than the usual run down of best LPs, true, but we know you’re up to it.

Please let us know your thoughts – as ever, the best comments and recommendations will appear in the magazine. Cheers!

First have it surveyed and valued.

A great selection of Brill building hits, captures the sound perfectly. Worth it alone for Bessie Banks' Go Now.

A fantastic overview of the Brill Building era...so many of the great songwriters are featured (Bacharach/David,Leiber/Stoller,Pomus/Schulman,Goffin/King,Barry/Greenwich,etc)and these 2 discs go from R&B (Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles,Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton) to teen pop (Loco-Motion - Little Eva,Splish Splash - Bobby Darin) to the more sophisticated melodrama stuff (Walk on By - Dionne Warwick

A better representation of the era you'd be hard=pressed to find!

The Songmaker's Collection: Music from the Brill Building

1. Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
2. It's Great to Be Young and In Love [Demo Version]
3. Teenager in Love - Dion & the Belmonts
4. This Magic Moment
5. Husabye - The Mystics
7. Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters
8. Houng Dog - Big Mama Thornton
9. Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King
10. Charlie Brown - The Coasters
11. On Broadway - The Drifters
12. Saved - LaVern Baker
13. Stand by Me - Ben E. King
14. Yakety Yak - The Coasters
15. Shoppin' for Clothes - The Coasters
16. Is That All There Is? [Demo Version]
17. Is That All There Is? - Peggy Lee

Disc: 2
1. Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles
2. I'm into Something Good - Earl-Jean
3. Up on the Roof - The Drifters
4. Loco-Motion - Little Eva
5. Some Kind of Wonderful - The Drifters
6. Pleasant Valley Sunday - The Monkees
7. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin
8. It's Too Late - Carole King
9. Splish Splash - Bobby Darin
10. Dream Lover - Bobby Darin
11. Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin
12. Baby It's You - The Shirelles
13. Walk on By - Dionne Warwick
14. Chapel of Love - The Dixie Cups
15. Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-Las
16. Breaking Up Is Hard to Do - Neil Sedaka

That's a pretty much boss collection Mike.

Heres the tracklisting to the REDBIRD STORY..


1. Bossa Nova Baby - Tippie & The Clovers
2. Big Bad World - Cathy Saint
3. Everybody Come Clap Your Hands - Moody & The Deltas
4. He Ain't No Angel - Leola & The Lovejoys
5. Go Now - Bessie Banks
6. Don't Think My Baby's Coming Back - Dee Dee Warwick
7. Chapel of Love - The Dixie Cups
8. Soemthin' You Got - Alvin Robinson
9. I Wanna Love Him So Bad - The Jelly Beans
10. I Know He Loves Me - Chi Chi McCauley
11. Top Down Time - The Rockaways
12. People Say - The Dixie Cups
13. Remember (Walking' in the Sand) - The Shangri-Las
14. Goodnight, Baby - The Butterflys
15. Fever - Alvin Robinson
16. Down Home Girl - Alvin Robinson
17. Baby Be Mine - The Jelly Beans
18. You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked at Me - The Dixie Cups
19. Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-Las
20. Talk to Me, Baby - Barry Mann
21. I Wonder - The Butterflys
22. Little Bell - The Dixie Cups
23. Gee, Baby, Gee - The Butterflys
24. Boy From New York City, The - The Ad-Libs
25. New York's a Lonely Town - The Trade Winds
26. I Got a Dream - The Soul Brothers
27. I'm Gonna Put Some Hurt on You - Alvin Robinson
28. Iko, Iko - The Dixie Cups
29. Out in the Streets - The Shangri-Las
30. Our Love Can Still Be Saved - Jeff Barry
Red Bird Story Songs DISC 2:
1. Having a Party - Ronnie Mitchell
2. Girl From Greenwich Village, The - The Trade Winds
3. Hold on Baby - Sam Hawkins
4. Bas as They Come - Sam Hawkins
5. He Ain't No Angel - The Ad-Libs
6. Give Us Your Blessings - The Shangri-Las
7. Welcome to My Heart - The Bouquets
8. Dum Dum Ditty, The - The Goodies
9. Gee, The Moon Is Shining Bright - The Dixie Cups
10. Take Me For a Little While - Evie Sands
11. Run Home to Your Mama - Evie Sands
12. You Don't Know - Ellie Greenwich
13. I Won't Be Me Anymore - Vic Donna
14. If There's Anything Else You Want - Roddie Joy
15. I Hear You Say (I Love You Baby) - Andy Kim
16. Keep It Up - The Soul Brothers
17. I Know It's All Right - Sam Hawkins
18. I Can't Let Go - Evie Sands
19. I'm Just a Down Home Girl - The Ad-Libs
20. Sophisticated Boom Boom - The Goodies
21. I Hurt on the Other Side - Sidney Barnes
22. Fugitive From Love - Linda Jones
23. Doo Wah Diddy - The Jelly Beans
24. You Hit Me Like TnT - Linda Jones
25. Let the Music Play - Didi Noel
26. It Will Only Make Me Love You More - Ral Donner
27. He Will Break Your Heart - Kane & Abel
28. Past, Present and Future - The Shangri-Las
29. It Was a Lie - Bobby Moore & The Fourmost
30. Dressed in Black - George "Shadow" Morton (Demo)
Red Bird Story Album DISC 3:
1. I'll Still Love You - Jeff Barry
2. Baby - Ellie Greenwich
3. I'm So Glad - Sidney Barnes
4. Hey, Little Girl - Jimmie Cross
5. Whisper Sweet Things - The Jelly Beans
6. Amy - Barry Mann
7. Another Boy Like Mine - The Dixie Cups
8. Standing By - Dee Dee Warwick
9. I'm Loving You More Every Day - Ronnie Mitchell
10. Dance Marie - Vic Donna
11. It's Mighty Nice - Love Joys
12. You've Got Me Uptight - Evie Sands
13. Memory Lane Without You - Chi Chi McCauley
14. Ask Anybody - The Ad-Libs
15. My Baby Loves You - The Tams/Little Floyd
16. It Sounds Like My Baby - Bessie Banks
17. Payin' (For the Wrong I've Done) - Love Joys
18. Super Duper Man - Jimmie Cross
19. Love Me With a Wallop - Roddie Joy
20. Come Back Baby - Roddie Joy
21. Grass Is Always Greener, The - Jimmy Rice
22. Or Not at All - Jimmy Rice
23. Nobody Buy You - Jimmy Rice
24. Here I Am - The Tams/Little Floyd
25. Love Isn't Like That - Ral Donner
26. Johnny My Boy - The Ad-Libs
27. All Grown Up - The Dixie Cups
28. Wrong Direction - The Dixie Cups
29. Trophy Run - Bob Moore & The Temps
30. Braggin' - Bob Moore & The Temps

ya can't go wrong with any of these, in addition to that Red Bird set mentioned above!!

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