This 1998 release is a single CD reissue of Legrand's 2 LP set of 1984 (LG 1008 and LG 1009). In 1959, Norfolk, Virginia record store owner and impresario Frank Guida had a novel idea - appeal to the local teen market by producing a song about the local high schools. Guida proceeded to record Tommy Facenda singing what was to become the "Virginia" version of High School U.S.A., which Guida released locally as the first record on his Legrand label (Legrand # 1001).
When the tune became a local hit, Guida persuaded the Atlantic label to release 28 different "local" versions of the song for significant markets, backed by a "national" version of the tune. Thus were born Atlantic 45 r.p.m.'s # 51 through 78 - a unique series of records outside Atlantic's normal numbering scheme. Starting in mid-October, 1959, the tune charted well nationally, and this compilation contains all 30 versions of the song - Guida's original, the national, and the 28 Atlantic "locals."
You probably won't want to listen to the entire CD at one sitting - 30 versions of High School U.S.A. in succession is too much for anyone but a first-rate Tommy Facenda addict - but it IS nice to have all the versions of the song available in one place.
A year later, Guida was back on the scene pushing another potential "hit." His Legrand label released the first "wall of sound" type hit - later to be perfected by Phil Spector. Guida needed a gimmick for this tune, too, so instead of showing the singer's name, Gary Anderson, on the label, Guida, imitating the national savings bond campaign, printed "BY - U.S. BONDS." And the rest is history...
There's a Tommy Facenda biography at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame Website.
Track listing:
1. Virginia version
2. New York version
3. Nashville version
4. North & South Carolina version
5. Los Angeles version
6. Indiana version
7. Washington / Baltimore version
8. Philadelphia version
9. San Francisco version
10. Chicago version
11. Detroit version
12. New Orleans version
13. Texas version
14. Pittsburgh version
15. Minneapolis / St. Paul version
16. St. Louis version
17. Florida version
18. Newark version
19. Alabama / Georgia version
20. Boston version
21. Cleveland version
22. Cincinnati version
23. Memphis version
24. Buffalo version
25. Seattle version
26. Hartford version
27. Denver version
28. Oklahoma version
29. National version
30. Original Legrand label Virginia version
