The Lovin' Spoonful

There are like 3,000 greatest-hits collections for the Spoonful -- but so what? Their hits are as good as any by the Byrds or the Beach Boys. It's timeless stuff, really. As renowned jug band archivist Todd Kwait once said, it's romantic music perfect for spring afternoons and daydreaming about girls. And that's no accident. Listen to the way "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," for instance, was engineered for tranquil reflection: the ringing guitars, bubbling organ, floating harmonies and so on.