VA - Hard to Find 45s on CD, Vol. 3: The Mid Fifties (1999)

While pop music sells in copious quantities at the time of release, its cyclical and transitory nature means that many hits just don't come around again in the reissue sweepstakes. Enter Eric Records, an oldies label, to help rectify the situation with this set of compilations, bringing together 20 big non-rock & roll hits from the 1950s. A quick perusal of the stars of this collection (Kitty Kallen, Mitch Miller, Doris Day, Al Martino, Tony Martin, Frankie Laine) will give you a strong idea of the musical content, with only Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line" bearing the tiniest resemblance to rock & roll. But the set also includes delightful one-offs by the Tarriers, Cyril Stapleton, the Four Coins, and Somethin' Smith and the Redheads. Oldies but goodies for the over-50 crowd.