Track List
Cd1
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1 Desert Island Discs (By The Sleepy Lagoon)
Eric Coates
2 Softly, Softly
Ruby Murray
3 Unchained Melody
Jimmy Young
4 When I Fall In Love
Doris Day
5 Everywhere
David Whitfield
6 No Other Love
Perry Como
7 Mr Sandman
The Chordettes
8 Three Coins In The Fountain
Frank Sinatra
9 Sh-Boom
The Crew Cuts
10 Suddenly There's A Valley
Petula Clark
11 Changing Partners
Bing Crosby
12 Don't Laugh At Me
Norman Wisdom
13 The Moulin Rouge Theme
Mantovani And His Orchestra
14 Cry
Johnnie Ray
15 Someone Else's Roses
Joan Regan
16 Money Burns A Hole In My Pocket
Dean Martin
17 Too Young
Nat King Cole
18 Little Things Mean A Lot
Kitty Kallen
19 The Story Of Tina
Al Martino
20 I Need You Now
Eddie Fisher
21 To Each His Own
Ink Spots, The
22 I'm Walking Behind You
Dorothy Squires
23 Hey There
Rosemary Clooney
24 Hold My Hand
Don Cornell
25 Blue Tango
Ray Martin And His Orchestra
Cd2
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1 Family Favourites (With A Song In My Heart)
Andre Kostenanetz And His Orchestra
2 Eternally
The Hilltoppers
3 I Went To Your Wedding
Spike Jones
4 Daddy's Little Girl
Steve Conway
5 I Love The Sunshine Of Your Smile
The Radio Revellers
6 Serenade
Mario Lanza
7 The Happy Wanderer
The Obernikirchen Children's Choir
8 The Wheel Of Fortune
Kay Starr
9 There's Always Room At Our House
Guy Mitchell
10 I Still Believe
Ronnie Hilton
11 The Shifting, Whispering Sands
Eamonn Andrews
12 My Son, My Son
Vera Lynn
13 Stranger In Paradise
Tony Bennett
14 O' For The Wings Of A Dove
Ernest Lough
15 Count Your Blessings
The Luton Girls Choir
16 The Anniversary Song
Anne Shelton
17 I've Got You Under My Skin
Stan Freberg
18 Home Cookin'
Bob Hope
19 Give Me Your Word
Tennessee Ernie Ford
20 Finger Of Suspicion
Dickie Valentine
21 Hymne A L'Amour
Edith Piaf
22 P.S. I Love You
The Hilltoppers
23 Oh, Mein Papa
Eddie Calvert
24 Everyday Of My Life
Malcolm Vaughan
25 Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo
Alma Cogan
Cd3
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1 Music While You Work (Calling All Workers)
Symphony Orchestra
2 Hear My Song
Josef Locke
3 How High The Moon
Les Paul
4 A-Round The Corner
The Stargazers
5 The Navy Lark (Trade Wind Hornpipe)
Tommy Reilly
6 Happy Days & Lonely Nights
Frankie Vaughan
7 Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane
Ray Ellington Quartet
8 Lady Of Spain
Winifred Atwell
9 Music, Music, Music
Teresa Brewer
10 Wonderful Copenhagen
Danny Kaye
11 On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Jo Stafford
12 American Patrol
Glen Miller & His Orchestra
13 Open The Door, Richard
Louis Jordan
14 Tico, Tico
Edmundo Ross
15 T'aint What You Do
Ella Fitzgerald
16 Inka Dinka Do
Jimmy Durante
17 Opus One
Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra
18 Why Don't You Do Right?
Benny Goodman
19 Busy Line
Rose Murphy
20 She's A Lady
Ted Heath And His Orchestra
21 C'est Si Bon
Louis Armstrong
22 April In Portugal
Les Baxter & His Orchestra
23 If I Knew You Were Coming
Eileen Barton
24 Rag Mop
The Ames Brothers
25 Goodnight Irene
The Weavers
Cd4
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1 Housewives Choice (In Party Mood)
Charles Williams & His Orchestra
2 Friends & Neighbours
Billy Cotton
3 Meet Me On The Corner
Max Bygraves
4 My Old Mum
Max Miller
5 I Don't Do Things Like That
Tommy Trinder
6 All In Favour Say 'Aye'
Geraldo & His Orchestra
7 The Archers Theme (Barwick Green)
New Concert Orchestra
8 There's A Small Hotel
Bebe Daniels And Ben Lyon
9 Life Begins At Forty
Sophie Tucker
10 Powder Your Face With Sunshine
Donald Peers
11 I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
Reginald Dixon
12 Brahn Boots
Stanley Holloway
13 Little Red Monkey
Joy Nichols
14 The Bluebell Polka
Jimmy Shand & His Band
15 The Pig Got Up & Slowly Walked Away
Frank Crummit
16 The Coronation Girls
Elsie & Doris Waters
17 On The Good Ship Lollipop
Shirley Temple
18 The Laughing Policeman
Charles Penrose
19 Little Old Lady
Gracie Fields
20 Confidentially
Reginald Dixon
21 The Bee Song
Arthur Askey
22 Peaceful Street
Ernest Butcher
23 Kitton On The Keys
Semprini
24 Dandy's Broadcasting Station
Sandy Powell
25 We Can't Let You Broadcast That
Norman Long
All tracks here date from 1955 at the latest, mostly from the fifties but with a fair selection from the forties and a few earlier. The music reflects British mainstream popular taste of the era including a few novelty songs. Conspicuously absent are any R+B (except one track by Louis Jordan) or country recordings. The fusion of those styles produced rock'n'roll but you won't even find Bill Haley here. So this very much an easy-listening collection, but I knew that when I bought it, and I'm very pleased to have a compilation like this, containing as it does many tracks that I don't already own on CD, as well as plenty that duplicate what I have on other multi-artist compilations or on releases by the individual artists. Some of the tracks that I hadn't already got on CD sound very familiar anyway, either because I have other versions of those songs or because they were a part of my childhood.
Each of the four CD's is based around a radio show or station of the era. The first CD, titled Desert island romance, opens with the theme to Desert island discs (still broadcast on BBC Radio 4, having become something of a tradition), with the remainder of the CD occupied by 24 love songs, many of them ballads but also including a few up-tempo songs such as Mr Sandman (Chordettes). Overall, I think that this is the strongest CD of the four, including as it does Softly softly (Ruby Murray), Unchained melody (Jimmy Young), When I fall in love (Doris Day), No other love (Perry Como), Three coins in the fountain (Frank Sinatra), Suddenly there's a valley (Petula Clark), Moulin rouge (Mantonavi), Cry (Johnnie Ray), Someone else's roses (Joan Regan) and Little things mean a lot (Kitty Kallen). Yes, that really is the same Petula Clark who later became famous for Downtown. It's also worth noting that Doris Day had the American hit with When I fall in love, but the song became a huge British hit for Nat King Cole in 1957, too late to make his version eligible for inclusion here.
The second CD, titled Family favorites, starts with the relevant theme, the remaining 24 tracks having no obvious linking theme. Although not quite as strong as the first CD here (at least to my ears), there is plenty of great music here too, including Eternally (Vic Damone), Serenade (Mario Lanza), The happy wanderer (Obernkirchen children's choir), Wheel of fortune (Kay Starr), I still believe (Ronnie Hilton), My son my son (Vera Lynn), Stranger in Paradise (Tony Bennett), Give me your word (Tennessee Ernie Ford), The finger of suspicion (Dickie Valentine) and Oh mein papa (Eddie Calvert). On this CD, Margaret Whiting duets with Bob Hope on Home cooking. I hadn't heard this track before buying this compilation (though I later bought a 4-CD boxed set of Maggie's music that included it) and although it's very good, I'd have preferred Maggie to be represented by one of her classics such as Moonlight in Vermont, A tree in the meadow or Far away places. Still that's fairly typical of this compilation, where obvious tracks are interspersed by obscure but delightful tracks.
The third CD, titled On the medium wave, begins with the theme to Music while you work, a theme tune that I heard frequently for a few years, but never heard again for several decades prior to it turning up here, sounding exactly as it always did. As with the second CD, there is no obvious theme to the remaining 24 songs, but the quality is similarly high. The highlights include How high the moon (Les Paul and Mary Ford), Happy days and lonely nights (Frankie Vaughn), Music music music (Teresa Brewer), Wonderful Copenhagen (Danny Kaye), On the sunny side of the street (Jo Stafford), American patrol (Glenn Miller), Open the door Richard (Louis Jordan), T'ain't what you do it's the way that you do it (Ella Fitzgerald), Why don't you do right? (Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee), C'est si bon (Louis Armstrong), If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake (Eileen Barton) and Goodnight Irene (Weavers).
The final CD, titled Legends of the Light programme, opens with the theme to Housewives' choice. To my ears, this is the weakest CD here but even this CD has plenty of good music. However, it also has several novelty songs that you may or may not like. You must make up your own mind about (for example) The laughing policeman, which I didn't like as a child and still don't. Much better are There's a small hotel (Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon), Life begins at forty (Sophie Tucker), Powder your face with sunshine (Donald Peers), I do like to be beside the seaside (Reginald Dixon) and the Archers theme.
If you've ever wondered what music was like before rock'n'roll changed the face of popular music forever, this compilation will give you a fair idea even though it avoids most of the obvious classics. And if anybody wonders why there was so much fuss about Elvis Presley, on the basis that his music seems (to them) nothing special, play some of the music here, then play some early Elvis. Nobody can then be in any doubt. I am a huge fan of Elvis, but I also love a lot of the earlier music as represented by this collection. In liking both, I may be in a small minority, but that's fine by me.
Whether you are new to the music of the pre-Elvis era or already a fan of such music, this is a great compilation despite the occasional questionable selection. With 100 tracks, many of them obscure, it's unlikely that any but the most avid collector will have a substantial proportion of these tracks already.
Enjoy !!
Mp3 as stated
