From: Shadsfax Issue 28 (2000) 8–9
The Shadows
"The Story"
EMI Plus (Holland) 724357610322 with bonus CD-ROM 724357610506
Released 2000
Lonesome Fella (mono) / Saturday Dance (mono) / Apache / Quatermasster’s Stores / Man Of Mystery / The Stranger / FBI / Midnight / The Frightened City / Back Home / Kon-Tiki / 36–24–36 / The Savage / Peace Pipe / Wonderful Land (true stereo version) / Stars Fell On Stockton / Guitar Tango / What A Lovely Tune / Dance On! / All Day
In the liner notes to this disc, EMI Plus (affiliated to Disky) advertise a Website, www.emiplus.com, which reveals that our “The Story” is one of many: others in the series are devoted to the likes of Carl Perkins, Del Shannon and The Ventures. Watch out for a “Marvin, Welch & Farrar” from a companion series, “The Originals”. To turn to the subject of this review, there is nothing here to tax a compiler’s ingenuity: a straight run of singles with flipsides from Saturday Dance in 1959 to Dance On! in 1962. A definite 0 out of 10 for whoever decided to use the dreary Lonesome Fella as the opener! Go and put the kettle on when it is Midnight’s turn: this is an exceptionally messy specimen of the stereo version. A novelty for hoarders of Shads CDs is the accompanying CD-ROM (for use on Windows 95/98). There is a ‘Photo-Gallery’ displaying five full-size high resolution pics, four of them in brilliant colour. Very nice.
But things go downhill after this. A ‘Biography’ of two-and-a-bit screens comes up with the kind of sketchy detail commonly found on budget compilations, while a laughable single-screen ‘Discography’ lists titles/ dates of LPs and a haphazard selection of CDs, including some from Polydor.
Are people really being paid money for this kind of feeble window-dressing? Sad really, when you think what could be done … Still, not bad overall for a mid-price issue.
MC