Various - Sheen, Bobby Anthology 1958 - 1975

the landscape of pop music is dotted with unsung heroes: brilliant artists who, for any number of reasons, were held back from stardom by the vagaries of the record business. shortly before her amazing breakthrough, after 40 years of striving, bettye lavette attributed her obscurity to 'snakebit luck'. nobody ever explained it better. bobby sheen laboured long and hard in the music biz, amassing a tremendous body of work that went mostly unheard during his lifetime. his one moment in the top 10 sun occurred under a pseudonym, and most casual fans would be hard pressed to recognise his name. ace is proud to remedy that situation with this sweeping survey of sheen's recordings covering 18 years and a stunning variety of styles. whether a solo artist or group frontman, whether doo wop or disco, soul or pop, bobby sheen delivered the goods. the earliest tracks here were cut by sheen as the lead vocalist of the robins, the doo wop group he joined as a 16 year-old in 1958. by 1962 he was recording for producer phil spector, and are are proud to be able to include the wall of sound classics 'zip-a-dee doo-dah' and 'the bells of st mary', released as by bob b soxx and the blue jeans. turning solo, bobby joined capitol records in 1966, debuting with 'dr love', which became a northern soul favourite. a later stint at warners yielded another dance floor-filler, 'something new to do'. this compilation is the brainchild of the ace a&r department's mick patrick and tony rounce, the guys who put together ace's recent anthology of the recordings by sheen's friend and colleague darlene love. the accompanying 20-page booklet contains a 5,000-word essay by dennis garvey and a cornucopia of rare photos and memorabilia, much of it courtesy of bobby's family.