One of the big problems with a band like the Coasters is you tend to hear the 15 or so big hits a lot, to the point where they lose their appeal but the more obscurer tracks which are generally more interesting are hard to get hold of. This compilation of 50 sides is not cheap and you will no doubt have Down In Mexico et al so you are probably going to pay a fair bit of money for the the ones you don't have, but to have a song by Will 'Dub' Jones that you haven't played to death may well be worth it. The above page on Amazon gives you a break down of what you will get and you can hear samples to see what is what. I had not heard 'the Slime' (on disc 2) before but you can bet I have been playing it about 10 times a day since I got it. It seems unnecessary to charge so much for something so old - maybe you can download individual tracks somewhere - (I don't know anything about legal downloading). If that's the case get Besame Mucho if you've not heard that - it's part of a run of classic covers the Coasters did alongside Zing! Went the Strings and Brazil. Basically all the Coasters songs are pure brilliance - songwriting, session musicians, vocals are all the best in music at the time and what you are hearing is the best you are ever going to hear - you'll never hear sax better than King Curtis, or hear better lines than those written by Leiber and Stoller and so on. Maybe some of the subject matter may seem a bit like stereotyping black people but it's no different than what people like 50 cent does now - criminal behaviour is popular with the public unless it involves them! So until someone uploads that clip of the Coasters singing What is the Secret of Your Success? we won't have any clips to watch but until then - drive your family nuts and buy this compilation and play it to death. It's pure herringbone.
All music guideThe Coasters
Ralphadeus. Music movies comics feature in this look at life from Somerset.
