Cat. No. 2864: THE FOUNDATIONS ~ GREATEST HITS. TRING INTERNATIONAL GRF176. (IMPORT).

THE FOUNDATIONS WERE A BRITISH SOUL BAND PRIMARILY ACTIVE BETWEEN 1967 AND 1970. THE GROUP'S BACKGROUND WAS, WEST INDIAN, WHITE BRITISH AND SRI LANKAN. THEIR 1967 DEBUT SINGLE "BABY NOW THAT I FOUND YOU" REACHED NUMBER ONE IN THE UK AND CANADA AND NUMBER ELEVEN IN THE U.S. THEIR 1968 SINGLE "BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP" REACHED NUMBER TWO IN THE UK AND NUMBER THREE ON THE U.S. BILLBOARD HOT 100. THE GROUP WAS THE FIRST MULTI-RACIAL GROUP TO HAVE A NUMBER ONE HIT IN THE UK IN THE 1960s.

THE FOUNDATIONS ATTRACTED MUCH INTEREST BECAUSE OF THE SIZE AND STRUCTURE OF THE GROUP. NOT ONLY WAS THERE A DIVERSE ETHNIC MIX IN THE GROUP, THERE WAS ALSO DIVERSITY IN AGES AND MUSICAL BACKGROUNDS. THE OLDEST MEMBER OF THE GROUP, MIKE ELLIOTT WAS 38 YEARS OLD. THE YOUNGEST WAS TIM HARRIS WHO, AT 18, WAS BARELY OUT OF SCHOOL. THE WEST INDIAN HORN SECTION CONSISTED OF JAMAICAN BORN MIKE ELLIOTT AND PAT BURKE, BOTH SAXOPHONISTS AND DOMINICAN-BORN ERIC ALLANDALE ON TROMBONE. THEY WERE ALL HIGHLY EXPERIENCE MUSICIANS WHO CAME FROM PROFESSIONAL JAZZ AND ROCK AND ROLL BACKGROUNDS.

THIS ALBUM CONTAINS 14 OF THE GROUP'S BEST RECORDINGS INCLUDING A SUPERB SOUL VERSION OF "SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY". SOME HAVE BEEN RE-RECORDED USING AS MANY OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS AS POSSIBLE BUT THIS SHOULD NOT DETER BUYERS AS THE QUALITY OF THE RE-RECORDINGS IS EXCELLENT AND LEANING MUCH MORE TOWARDS SOUL MUSIC. I MAY EVEN SUGGEST THAT THEY ARE BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL. GREAT MEMORIES FROM THE 1960s ****

TRACK LISTING: Build Me Up Buttercup / The Bad Bad Old Days / Baby, Now That I've Found You / Back On My Feet Again / Lonely And Sad / Born To Live & Born To Die / You Can't Fool Me / Knock On Wood / No-One Loves Me Like You Do / New Directions / Together / Love You Now / Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay / Loving You.

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