Album review : FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS – You Were Made For Me, The Complete Recordings, 1963-70

January 25th, 2026 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date: 30.01.26]

The Complete Recordings’ Boxset is a feat of logistics and research in itself, for which it deserves 5 stars, never mind the music.
136 tracks, 5 CDs.

In the “Swinging Sixties” Manchester band Freddie And the Dreamers hitched a ride on the Merseybeat bandwagon, notching up hit singles in the UK and the USA.

Anyone who was remotely interested in the unstoppable rise of Pop Music in the Sixties will recognise the “singalong” singles, ‘If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody’ (no.3 in UK Charts, 1963). ‘I’m Telling You Now’ (no.2 UK, no.1 USA in same year). ‘You Were Made For Me’ (no.3 UK, no.20 USA, again in 1963).

More hits ensued of course, ‘Over You’, ‘I Love You Baby’, ‘Just For You’ and the Christmas Classic ‘I Understand’ all made the UK charts. These are all here.

Like every band who made it, there were limits, initially, to their songwriting skills. And so they looked for material written by proven Tin Pan Alley hit writers like Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook (who’d together written hits for The Hollies, The Fortunes, Gene Pitney and Scott Walker): similarly John Carter and Geoff Stephens (hit songwriters for Herman Hermits, Brenda Lee and Mary Hopkin) and Gordon Mills, another successful writer (penning hits for Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and Gilbert O’Sullivan).

These names and others are sprinkled liberally across the credits on the boxset’s 5 CD liner notes.

Freddie and his band were effectively leading two lives. One, as hitmakers all over the world, and two, through their wacky dance routines and zany children’s talent shows. As a result they widened their fan demographic and lengthened their career considerably.

That in turn led to them going big on Disney creations, like ‘Whistle While You Work’, ‘Zip-a-de-doodah’ and ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ to name but three. As well as standards that include ‘I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now’, previously recorded by Danny Kaye; An old Connie Francis hit, ‘Who’s Sorry Now’, and the much covered ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, which became a no.1 hit For Art Garfunkel in 1975.

The band dabbled in madcap movies too, along with contemporaries, variously with John Leyton, Mike Sarne and Joe Brown.

Theirs was a career summarised in his usual dry prose by Lester Bangs, “Freddie and the Dreamers had no masterpiece, but a plenitude of idiocy and enough persistence to get four albums released …. and as such should be not only respected, but given their place in history.” ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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