When folks wax nostalgic about the good old days of rock 'n' roll (and rhythm & blues and Doo Wop for that matter), the seminal recordings found on this collection of nonstop hits are precisely what they're referring to.

These classics helped to define rock's primordial era, and their impact hasn't faced one iota with the passage of time --witness their continuous play on every respectable oldies station across America. They pack the same joyous wallop today as when they first impudently crashed the uppermost levels of the charts, American teenagers throwing off the shackles of Your Hit Parade and turning their collective back on staid pop crooners twice their age or more to embrace the savage, pounding rhythms of rock's groundbreaking first wave.