Greatest Hits

I bought this from a bargain bin at either Best Buy or some other big box retailer thinking that I would have the definitive collection of The Ventures’ classic instrumental guitar rock and roll. The neckerchiefs and wide collars on the cover should have been a dead giveaway for the disco-tinged crap that fills this CD. With the possible exception of “Hawaii Five-O,” I think all these songs are remakes of the originals. Remakes with funky bass lines and that steady boom-tiss disco beat that have more in common with Giorgio Morodor than Dick Dale. The songs border on being Meco’s “Star Wars & Other Galactic Funk” and straight up elevator music. There is a cheese-factor to this record that prevents me from getting rid of it, but it remains one of the most disappointing records I ever bought.