VA - You Baby: Words & Music by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri

Of all the brilliantly gifted songwriters who created Top 40-bound confections for '60s hitmakers, Philip "Flip" Sloan remains the most enigmatic. Originally from New York City, Sloan moved to Los Angeles with his parents and by his late teens had already become a prolific tunesmith. Teaming up with the equally young and talented Steve Barri, Sloan came up with demos given to r'n'b and surf combos as well as female pop vocalists—compositions which would often get released by acts on the Dunhill label (home of The Mamas and the Papas and The Grass Roots).

This long-overdue comp features several of the hits penned by Sloan and Barri, along with many more obscure gems. It makes no difference if we're talking Beach Boys-like harmony surf-pop by Jan and Dean, jingle-jangling folk-rock by The Turtles and The Searchers, irresistably infectious Merseybeat-style melodicism by Herman's Hermits, or the most infamous doomsday protest song of 'em all by Barry McGuire, this dynamic duo excelled at crafting instantly and eternally memorable material. After having listened a couple of times to the twenty-five tracks here, the odds are good that you'll be eager to hear more.

The aforementioned enigma of P.F. Sloan basically involves his failure to establish himself as a singer-songwriter in his own right despite having proven himself so successful a hitmaker for others. After releasing two albums that flopped in the marketplace, his label, Dunhill, apparently forced him out of the music biz when he refused to curtail his attempts to forge a solo career and instead stick to churning out radio-friendlier tunes for hire. Sloan, for all intents and purposes, eventually disappeared, even if his knack for folk-rock introspection peppered with his unique pop smarts was compelling. It's quite a sad story, one that nevertheless finally ends on a redemptive note, with the 2008 reissue of Sloan's solo recordings, not to mention this new anthology of the hook-filled singles he co-wrote with Steve Barri.