AMG Review of Chancellor Records Story, Vol. 2

Cub Koda
All Music Guide

This second volume chronicling the history of Philadelphia's Chancellor Records holds more musical surprises than its reputation as an execrable teen-idol label would lead you to believe. Never really a rock & roll label in the pure sense of the term, Chancellor was responsible for foisting Frankie Avalon and Fabian on an unsuspecting public, and it's Avalon and Fabian who account for eight of the tracks here, all of them big hits. But the inclusion of rockers, country-pop and R&B tunes like "I'm Happy" by the Four Dates, "Party Lights" and "Walkin' Through a Cemetery" by Claudine Clark, "Tag Along" by Johnny Burnette, "Lonely Heart" by the Five Satins and "Blue Summer" by the Royalettes show that the label nonetheless had their ear to the ground and were willing to experiment beyond their standard teen idol fare.