CoronaVinyl Day 423 (F): The Very Best of The Fleetwoods by The Fleetwoods

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "F," and I went with the 1975 "very best of" compilation of hits by the '50s doo wop group The Fleetwoods.

The group formed in Olympia, Washington in the late '50s, with high school classmates Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxel.  They signed a record deal in 1959 and had a string of hits in the following few years until Troxel, who had been in the Navy Reserves, had to fulfill his active duty requirement.  Hence, the photo on the album cover with Troxel in his naval uniform, flanked by Christopher and Ellis.

The group's sound was a little on the softer and more syrupy side of doo wop, but the three-part harmony and mixed-gender lineup made the group a little unusual.  Between 1959 and 1963, they had nine Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including three Top 10s and two #1s.

Spotify doesn't have the exact album I have, but there is a larger "very best of" album with 28 songs, so that's what I embedded below.  Here are the songs on the album I have, along with each song's highest charting position on the Billboard Hot 100:

Side 1
1.  "Come Softly To Me" (#1)
2.  "He's The Great Imposter" (#30)
3.  "Graduation's Here" (#39)
4.  "We Belong Together" (N/A)
5.  "Mr. Blue" (#1)

Side 2
1.  "Tragedy" (#10)
2.  "Run Around" (#23)
3.  "Goodnight My Love" (#32)
4.  "Confidential" (N/A)
5.  "Outside My Window" (#28)

As I mentioned above, the group parted ways when Troxel had to go into the Navy, and then with the changing landscape of music in the early '60s, doo wop was no longer en vogue anyway.  The group has seen several reformations by individual members over the years.  In 2006, they were inducted into both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Doo Wop Hall of Fame of America.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "He's The Great Imposter"
Perhaps playing off the success of The Platters' hit "The Great Pretender" from 1955, this one was co-written by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley.  It's a standard tale of some '50s mimbo.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Outside My Window"
A study in '50s teen voyeurism, this one is all about some creep watching some chick walk by his house.