For those of you old enough to have been around during the music boom of the 1960's will have your own special memories of what you were doing at that time. Whether you still at school, had just started work, or more importantly had your first romance one thing is for sure there will always be one song very special your heart - the one that you secretly keep playing to yourself  in the hope of keeping some very event in your life alive. The musical memories from the1960's encompass so much variation it's sometimes very hard to catagorise it as just 'sixties' music as we have our own type of musical styles from that era.

At the beginning of the decade we were still embroiled with the remnants of the rock 'n' roll era which had kick started the whole affair back in 1956 via the likes of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley to name but two. After a six year run of hits for these artists the sixties were about to change and whilst the first couple of years did indeed produce some great memorable classics it wasn't until early 1964 when there was an explosion of new groups and singers gracing the pop charts.

The Beatles had already conquered America and were already established as a major chart act here in the UK. Berry Gordy's Motown empire in Detroit was just beginning to have world wide hits via the Supremes, Mary Wells, and Martha & the Vandella's, and on top of all that Britiain's Mersey Sound was becoming a force to be reckoned with as artist after artist vied for a top twenty placing. The main bulk of the major chart hits had been a male dominated affair but that was all about to change as our new fan dangled fascination with pop music was certainly not going to be one sided and the rest as they say is now history.

Universal Music's latest double CD is a fifty track compilation featuring some of the greatest pop records ever recorded by female acts some of which remained on the charts for years and others who had one hit wonders and then disappeared for ever without trace. One thing is for certain is that no matter which track you choose to play from this set you are guaranteed it is a winner.

As UK distributors of Motown Universal were quick to include some classic Motown tracks from the ladies and you will thrill at the inclusion of the Velvelettes' 1964 release 'He Was Really Sayin' Something' (a hit for Bananarama in the 80's) as well as their UK Stateside release 'Needle In A Haystack'. Fans of Martha & the Vandella's will instantly recognise their hits from the sixties including 'Dancing In The Street' 'JImmy Mack' 'Nowhere To Run', and the Motown machine continues with the gorgeous 1967 Van McCoy written 'When Your Young And In Love' for the Marvelettes. The much loved Gladys Knight gets an inclusion with her 1967 hit 'Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me'. The Supremes who often dominate these collections only have two songs featured with 'Baby Love' and 'Stop In The Name Of Love' their first release on the new Tamla Motown label in the UK in 1965.

Side one isn't just about Motown - there are some mouth watering soul classics to found as well. Check out 'Rescue Me' by Fontella Bass a song that has the most amazing opening bass-line ever and is guaranteed to fill any dancefloor, as well as the late Betty Everett whose 1964 hit 'It's In His Kiss' will always be associated with her and not the singer Cher who scored a huge hit in the UK a few years ago.  The late Dusty Springfield whose musical legacy is enriched with her love of soul music gets a brace of hit singles included with 'I Only Want To Be With You' 'In The Middle Of Nowhere' and her fabulous ballad hit 'I Just Don't Know What To With Myself''

Soul diva Ms Aretha Franklin who lit up the nation's dancefloors in 1967 with her cover version of the Otis Redding song 'Respect' ironically had a bigger hit with it and I'm surprised there were not more from Aretha included (maybe volume 2) and Millie Small's ska based ditty 'My Boy Lollipop' is not as crass as many would argue. Other tunes gracing side one include hit singles from Helen Shapiro, and Lulu whose cover of the Isley Brothers hit 'Shout' is one opening we will never forget. Three of my all-time favourites can be found here with The Crystals London American recording 'Da Doo Ron Ron' and the Chiffons with two songs 'He's So Fine' and 'Sweet Talkin' Guy' all of which appear to be re-recordings and is the only criticism I have of this set.

Disc 2 features a real mixed bag of hit songs from the 50/60's opening with Patsy Cline's million seller 'Crazy'. Smooth FM in Manchester have for a number of years played Astrud Gilberto's classic 'Girl From Ipanema' and is a jazz classic worthy of inclusion here. Good to see the late Nina Simone getting a song included with her rendition of Jay Hawkins' 'I Put A Spell On You' a nice piece of moody piano tinkling late night soul. Some of the British artists included here are Petula Clark (Downtown) Sandie Shaw (Always Something There To Remind Me)  Kathy Kirby (I Belong) Marianne Faithfull (This Little Bird) . There are that many great hit songs on this compilation I don't need to remind you of most of them. American hit singles from the Shirelles, Maxine Brown, Dionne Warwick, Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, and of course the Shangri-Las.

A great balance between British and US ladies and one compilation that is sure to sell extremely well.

Rating 9/10

Click here to see the Supremes/Mary Wells/Martha & the Vandellas performing their hits on this CD.