MINT SHRINK 1968 ORIG "CHEWY CHEWY" THE OHIO EXPRESS SMASH POP-CRAFT CLASSIC

$

32

             
         ---- The OHIO EXPRESS -----

                      Chewy Chewy

                    USA - Buddah Records ~ BDS 5026

Original 1968 original first pressing ...

A BEAUTIFUL ***TOP COPY *** IN FACTORY CELLOPHANE = MINT!

NOT just another group out of the midwest -- Mansfield, Ohio, to be precise -- the Ohio Express had little inclination that they would become the first, and best, Bubblegum super group. Early on the group consisted of Dale Powers (lead guitar), Doug Grassel (rhythm guitar), Jim Pfayler (keyboards), Dean Kastran (bass) and Tim Corwin (drums). Their first single, Beg, Borrow And Steal, was a Rare Breed performance recorded in 1966 and added to their first album of the same name. In 1967 they teamed up with Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, and signed with Neil Bogart's Buddah Records (of course) and released what is regarded as the first Bubblegum *classic* in "Chewy Chewy," which became their biggest hit, reaching the Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. Joey Levine had a hand in writing eight of the eleven songs on the album and the first one, the title song Chewy Chewy, is possibly the best example of classic Bubblegum ever to come off the line. There may have been more well-known examples but this song has it all. The pounding Indian train (now there 's a song title!) rhythm, repeating title chorus, hand-claps, ever-present farfisa keyboard and that sexual innuendo thing. Plus Joey was pleased with his singing here as opposed to Yummy, Yummy, Yummy where it was just a demo track. The other gem here is Down In Tennessee which not only kicks off the whole "bubblegum across the states" theme in the genre but acts as a solid bookend for the album.

One would have to do some research to determine if Joey simply laid his vocals over the same instrumentation of 1,2,3 Red Light or Simon Says used for the 1910 Fruitgum Co. group --this was a 60's thing for label producers to do by having multiple groups cover the same songs in hopes of striking gold on the charts by throwing out sheer numbers. That one may like the Fruitgum versions more may only be because of hearing them on the transistor radio.

Nothing Sweeter Than My Baby and Firebird remind a bit of their great previous album, original-group attempts at writing hits. They're a lot of fun and in a world that is right, should be treasured for all time. The rest of the songs are almost equally as fun to chew on. So Good, So Fine rises above the rest with Let It Take You being memorable for Joey's unique scream set to a catchy "cool" arrangement and fun for adding a bit of class to the proceedings.

                                           SIDE 1  

                                      Chewy, Chewy
                               Nothing Sweeter Than My Baby
                                    So Good, So Fine
                                      1,2,3 Red Light
                                          Yes Sir
     
                                        SIDE 2

                                    Let It Take You
                                       Little Girl 
                                          Fun  
                                        Firebird
                                    Simon Says 
                                  Down In Tennessee

CONDITION: The cover: rated: MINT in factory cellophane, TOP COPY from 46 years back ...hard to find THIS clean, most first pressings were played to death by the kids of the '60s... There are no delete marks, no split seams, no bends, and no writing  ... VERY collection worthy ... agesol d original price code on outside of the cello-wrapper

The vinyl: Rated: M- Top copy ... extra-clean playing with minty CLEAN audio  ... both Buddah labels are clean

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record