VA - The Answer to Everything: Girl Answer Songs of the 60s (2007)

2007 collection of those infamous novelty 'answer songs' that would be rush-released once a particular hit rose to the top of the charts. Bertelle Dache's 'Not Just Tomorrow, But Always', a riposte to the Shirelles' smash 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow', is among the sought-after highlights of the set. Others include Gerri Granger's sinewy 'Just Tell Him Jane Said Hello' in the wake of Elvis' 'Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello', Tracey Dey's 'Jerry (I'm Your Sherry)', which features a couple of the 4 Seasons on background vocals and Jody Miller's Grammy award winning 'Queen of the House', which became a smash to rival 'King of the Road'. Even wackier than the original is 'They Took You Away - I'm Glad, I'm Glad' by Josephine, a timely 'answer' to They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!' by Napoleon XIV. Many of the titles on this extremely potent and novel compilation appear on CD for the first time and all are sourced from the best master tapes. It is the only comprehensive answer song compilation on the market and we have given it our best attention.

For every major hit that posed a lover’s question, or had you crying in your beer back in the 60s, there was the reassuring certainty of the ‘answer’song. Answer records were a prevailing American phenomenon. Usually rendered by female artists, they were an expedient way to hitch a ride on the coat tails of an existing hit. Deejays favoured them for their topical value and many answer records from the Golden Age made the charts in their own right.