Five great 45s

It's a while since I featured some 45s on the blog, so here are five which have caught my attention. Some of them are great double siders, a couple of which I bought at a garage sale in Long Island, while the others are recent charity shop or car boot finds.
1. The Charts - Deserie/ Zoop. Everlast 5001.
The Charts were one of the doowop groups that appeared at the Long Island Doowop weekend and didn't make themselves popular on the night as a result of the lead singer complaining about the backing band. They were accused the following night of failing to provide music charts in advance - ironic, given their name. Nevertheless this double sider is a great doowop record, recorded in 1957 by this Harlem based group.  And the group was one of the stars of the weekend.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lpgdt5TJNw    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pigf-1-HHE

2. The Mark IV - (Make With) The Shake/ 45 RPM. Cosmic 704.
Here's another excellent doowop double sider featuring a white group from Chicago who had more than a touch of the Danny and the Juniors sound. Their biggest hit, apparently, was a polka styled novelty number called I Got A Wife, but this double sider takes some beating.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dayEM6WXr_A    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4B0g0YztwA

3. Soul Survivors - Expressway To Your Heart/ Hey Gyp. Crimson 1010.
Here's another great double sider, this time by a Philadelphia group. The A side is well known and an excellent Northern soul favourite - the first hit for Gamble and Huff. But the B side is a fantastic garage version of a blues song that was popularised by Donovan as the B side of his third UK single Turquoise. Great double sided 45 from 1967.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bi3J6e7Zyo    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZCPZyiQ1ms

4. Kris Jensen - Come Back To Me (My Love)/ You'e Only Got Me To Lose. Hickory 1256.
Roy Orbison's Only The Lonely was one of my favourite records of all time, but it was based it seems on this Kris Jensen song, released in the UK in 1964, which, as you can see, was written by Roy and Joe Melson. Great version of a classic.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg3VVGkA8yk

5. Dickey Lee - I Saw Linda Yesterday/ The Girl I Can't Forget. Mercury 1196.
Memphis born Dickey Lee recorded for Sun in the 50s and had a couple of major US hits in the early sixties, including Patches and the spooky death song Laurie (Strange Things Happen), but never quite made the big time. This 1963 rocker, covered in the UK by Doug Sheldon, showed that on his day he could compete with the likes of Dion. B side's not bad either. He had success in the 1970s in the country field.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcL5rz1V6dU     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuRSCkKSrzs