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Although a lot of the musical focus in the years after the cataclysmic mid-‘50s arrival of rock ‘n’ roll in the charts was on the personality singers, there were several strands of instrumental music which featured highly in the charts, and although the music comes from the rock ‘n’ roll era, by no means all of the records were rock ‘n’ roll-based. On the rock ‘n’ roll and R&B front, there were the guitar groups like the Ventures in the USA and The Shadows in the UK, plus the organ-based sounds of Johnny & The Hurricanes, Bill Black and Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez. There were plenty of orchestral hits, often with movie themes, plus some piano pieces and hangovers from an earlier era, along with Latin tunes, dance craze tunes, country records and novelty items. This 87-track 3-CD collection comprises most of the instrumental hits that made the US Top 10 and UK Top 5 from these years, plus some selected collectable obscurities and wild cards. It makes for fascinating listening, looking at the charts from a particular angle, and many of the records will spark special memories for baby-boomers who grew up through those years.
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