We scour piles of old 45s for the very best in all Rock'n'roll and soul genres to feature snippets in our online jukebox. This podcast gets the jukebox to you in a great new way.
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Strange Kind of Love by Darlene Love
Label: Philles/Coll. 3210
Year: 1963
Condition: M
Price: $18.00
The A side was originally released on Philles 111. However, the B side of this limited-edition release on Collectables was never released, before or since, on vinyl or CD. (That's why I don't tag this 45 as a reissue.) I had a bit of a jaw-dropping moment when listening to it, for as a huge fan of Spector's Philles productions, it was like discovering a long lost, never released Beatles studio recording. For those who aren't already fans of Darlene Love, she was, in the view of many, the best singer in Phil Spector's stable of talented girl-group vocalists. Aside from the handful of classics she released under her own name, she also sang lead vocals on the Crystals' "He's a Rebel" as well as on "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," a hit for Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. You'll notice that Dave Marsh places two of her 3 chart singles in his list of the 1001 greatest singles of all time — this one and "Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home." In addition to these, Love hit Billboard's Hot 100 with the amazing "A Fine Fine Boy."
But somehow, Strange Kind of Love must have got lost on one of the studio tapes, only emerging when Collectables got the rights to reissue some of Spector's material. If any reader knows more details about this recording, please drop me a note! I'd love to hear the whole story.
Incidentally, the tune's writers (who actually recorded on their own under various names, including the Trade Winds) have credits to numerous classic 1960s hits, including "New York's A Lonely Town,""Do I Love You?" by the Ronettes, and "Soldier Baby" by Candy & the Kisses.