I recently caught a set by the new band of a fellow Townperson, during which they played “My Maria.” I’ve always loved this song but I only had the version by the Gear Daddys.

So I went to buy the original version by BW Stevenson on iTunes and was interested to see that he also did the original version of “Shambala,” the only song by Three Dog Night that I can stomach. Thinking that I may have stumbled onto an as-yet-untapped source of hidden pop gems, I clicked on compilation entitled BW Stevenson: His Very Best. It consisted in its entirety of “My Maria,” “Shambala,” and a remake of “Sunny.”  Three songs, that’s it.

This may be one of the first instances of honest marketing that I’ve come across, and it made me wonder, if the record labels were really being candid, which other artist are  most deserving of a “Best Of” EP or even a “Best Of” single?

One-hit wonders are excluded from consideration, obviously. But what about bands like the Mamas & the Papas (one of my all-time least favorites)? Surely, their “Best Of” could be distilled down to “California Dreaming” and one other song that I’ve never heard, couldn’t it?

Please keep in mind we’re talking about paring down a “Best Of” compilation, not an original album. I don’t want the Mod to seize this as an opportunity to reiterate his misguided notion that Exile on Main Street would somehow be better as an EP.