In 1977, the tribute album had yet to come into its own. This innovative package pays homage to a producer, not a band, and on that level it is truly pioneering. There are strange sound effects on Roger C. Reale's version of Da Doo Ron Ron, and that a Beatles song is included, The Two of Us from the Spector version of Let It Be performed here by the Nelson Adelard Band to good effect, is also admirable. It is a quite nice version, by a competent band; but for a disc taking on the work of a crazed teenage genius, well, that wall of sound which made George Harrison's What Is Life so extraordinary, is missing. This sounds like a version by Badfinger, and a latter-day Badfinger at that. The phasing on the last verse is more reminiscent of the Small Faces' Itchycoo Park than the Spector density that, after all, is the reason for this tribute. Pulling ex-Deviants/New Wave Mick Farren out of the moth balls to do a very Ramones version of Spector's humble beginnings, To Know Him Is to Love Him is actually a stroke of genius. Spector recorded what was perhaps the Ramones' biggest selling record. Ex-Sparks member Hilly Michaels does a weird version of Instant Karma. Again -- rather than run through these tunes, one would've hoped for a new insight, like what Mitch Ryder and Detroit did when they ripped apart the Velvet Underground's Rock Roll spawning countless versions of their arrangement. This record is cute, and fun, and because of the history of some of the players, has some significance. The Scratch Band's Robert Orsi version of He Hit Me (and it felt like a kiss), is perhaps the highlight of the disc. This early paean to Battered Wife's Syndrome works, not only as a rearrangement, but as clever as Bryan Ferry's remake of Lesley Gore's It's My Party, sounding more chic as it descends into the netherworld of gay domestic violence. Vince Whirlwind's rendition of Breakin' Up is so new wave, it sounds like an outtake from the Genya Ravan production sessions for Ronnie Spector. The Scratch Band's And Then He Kissed Me is a revelation, too, if not sounding like Spector, at least being unique. Phillip Rambow's Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart is a Beatlesque reading of Spector through the eyes of New Wave. The album has charm and is worth seeking out. ~ Joe Viglione, Rovi

1		He Hit Me
2		Breakin' Up
3		Then He Kissed Me
4		Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts?
5		Love Like Yours
6		Instant Karma!
7		Uptown
8		I Can Hear Music
9		This Could Be the Night
10		All Grown Up
11		Da Doo Ron Ron
12		Two of Us
13		To Know Him Is to Love Him

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