Best Of Reparata & The Delrons CD - Import

There have been Reparata & the Delrons compilations before this 2005 release with the bootleg Magical Musical History Tour being the most thorough. This 30-track anthology, however, has the considerable advantage of being an authorized production with correspondingly superior fidelity, as well as a 16-page booklet of historical liner notes with rare photos and comments from Reparata herself. As with every artist where you can't fit everything onto a single CD, there's room for argument on the track selection; one of their better cuts ("Summer Laughter") is missing, and there are a few unimaginative covers of girl group tunes that were hits for other acts. Still, it does include the songs everyone would agree need to be on a best-of ("Whenever a Teenager Cries," "Captain of Your Ship," "I'm Nobody's Baby Now"), as well as a few rarities credited to Reparata alone (and one to the Delrons alone). It still doesn't make an argument for them being among the best girl groups; the material's not always that strong, and the style's often derivative, whether of the Dixie Cups, the Shangri-Las, or other artists and trends. If nothing else, however, it's an impressive feat of cross-licensing, drawing from more than a half-dozen labels. And it does include some tracks that are definitely above average girl group goodies, like the Phil Spector-esque production of Jeff Barry's "I'm Nobody's Baby Now" and the moody, slightly psychedelic-influenced late-'60s obscurities "Saturday Night Didn't Happen" and "Weather Forecast." ~ Richie Unterberger

From 'Captain Of Your Ship' in the '60s to 'Shoes' in the '70s, Reparata & The Delrons were a very popular girl group on both sides of the Atlantic. Here are their hits and a selection of their album sides and rarities. 'Captain Of Your Ship' was a big hMojo (Publisher) (p.132) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[They] peddled piquant melodrama, the kind that came in tasty three-minute bites of bubblegum soul....Their back catalogue never sounded sweeter."