Hard as it is to believe, there was a brief time when professional nostalgia peddlers
Sha Na Na took a genuine stab at having a contemporary pop hit. That time arrived in 1972, a few years after their shtick turned into a sensation via their appearance at Woodstock but before Grease brought them back into the spotlight and, along with it, a syndicated variety show that cast their fate. In 1972, the group released
The Night Is Still Young, a record that messily intercuts silly, rose-tinted covers of '50s standards ("Sea Cruise," "So Fine-You're So Fine," "In the Still of the Night") with snappy bubblegum and soft rock aimed at AM pop radio. Such a hit never arrived, and the band's subsequent goofy doo wop obscured this experiment which is a shame, as the best parts of
The Night Is Still Young are surprisingly fun, as good as the hundreds of anonymous bubblegum pushers of the era. In particular, the giddy "Bounce in Your Buggy" delights with its propulsive acoustic guitars and compressed horns, but the low-key, bluesy shuffle "You Can Bet They Do," the mellow blissed-out "Sleepin' on a Song," the candied CSN salute "Oh! Lonesome Boy," and, especially, the sleazy
Dr. Hook rip-off "It's What You Do with What You Got" all deliver silly, hooky goods and are worthwhile for any connoisseur of prime bubblegum. These songs are so good, they overshadow the pedestrian nostalgia of the remainder of the record, songs that pointed the way to what
Sha Na Na became, while the good stuff here shows what might have been. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine