The Turtles - 20 Greatest Hits (1984)

Though they may not have possessed the hip cachet of The Beach Boys or The Byrds, this California combo (led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, a.k.a. Flo and Eddie) were one of the most consistently satisfying, inventive and subversive American pop acts of the '60s. Shimmering and infectious hits like "Happy Together," "Elenore," "You Baby," "She'd Rather Be with Me," and their impassioned rendering of Bob Dylan's, "It Ain't Me, Babe," remain some of the era's loveliest pop-rock tunes, embodying a good-humored sense of optimism that still sounds fresh more than two decades later. Rhino and Sundazed have done a fine job of keeping the Turtles' extensive catalogue in circulation in the CD era, but this generous single-disc best-of is an excellent place to start.