Rick Astley

This one brings us up to date 2016 to be exact some great new songs and a more mature voice than his earlier hits...well worth a listen to...even if you wasn't a fan of his earlier work !!

Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is a British singer, songwriter and radio personality. He rose to fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman; his 1987 recording of their song "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number 1 hit single in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. His 1988 single "Together Forever" became his second single to top the US Billboard Hot 100, and was one of his eight songs to reach the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. By the time of his retirement in 1993, Astley had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.His first single was the little-known "When You Gonna", released as a collaboration with Lisa Carter, with little promotion. It did not chart. His first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", recorded on New Year's Day 1987, and released eight months later, in August. Astley's distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance-pop made the song an immediate success,[15] spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. The song was also a worldwide number-one hit, topping the charts in 24 other countries, including the US, Australia, and West Germany. It was the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 hit singles for him. "Never Gonna Give You Up" won Best British Single at the 1988 BPI awards (now called the BRIT Awards), and he performed it in front of a global audience of 100 million.

In April 2016 Astley released "Keep Singing", from his forthcoming album 50. Interviewed by Amanda Holden on the Lorraine show on 7 April, Astley explained that turning 50 had prompted him to release the single. He said, "It was a big milestone. I got back in the studio and friends were telling me the material I was working on was pretty good. So I decided to go for it." On 31 May, the release date for Astley's 50 was revealed to be 10 June 2016. The album reached number one on the Official UK Album Sales charts in the week of 17 June 2016 to 23 June 2016.

AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  [-]

Celebrating his 50th birthday with his first album in 11 years, Rick Astley has never seemed as subdued as he is on 2016's 50. Blame it on age: not only wouldn't the exuberance of "Never Gonna Give You Up" suit a man in his middle age but Astley's instrument has weathered with age, no longer quite as booming or insistent. Such changes actually benefit Astley, who is humanized by his years, especially as this light grit adds a little bit of heft to the immaculate adult pop of 50. His first set of original pop music since 2001's Keep It Turned On isn't especially in tune with the times -- it exists in an adult contemporary netherworld, sounding as if it could've been released any time between 1999 and 2016 

        8. Somebody Loves Me

Teddi King

Back to a great forgotten singer singing some great classic standards....

Teddi King (September 18, 1929 – November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. Born Theodora King in Boston, Massachusetts on September 18, 1929, she won a singing competition hosted by Dinah Shore at Boston's Tributary Theatre, later beginning work in a touring revue involved with "cheering up the military in the lull between the Second World War and the Korean conflict." Improving her vocal and piano technique during this time, she first recorded with Nat Pierce in 1949, later recording with the Beryl Booker trio and with several other small groups from 1954–1955 (recordings which were available on three albums for Storyville). She then toured with George Shearing for two years beginning in the summer of 1952, and for a time was managed by the famed George Wein. King later began performing for a time in Las Vegas.

Ultimately signing with RCA, she recorded three albums for the label, beginning with 1956's Bidin' My Time. She also had some minor chart success with the singles "Mr. Wonderful" (which made the Top 20 in 1956), "Married I Can Always Get" and "Say It Isn't So" (both of which made the Hot 100 from 1957–1958). Her critically praised 1959 album All the Kings' Songs found her interpreting the signature songs of contemporary male singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole (the "kings" of the title). In the 1960s, she opened the Playboy Club, where she often performed.

AllMusic Review by Jason Ankeny

The basic concept behind All the King's Songs is simple -- recast signature hits by male vocalists including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Billy Eckstine as torch songs for Teddi King, ably supported here by arrangers Lew Douglas and Johnny Richards. To her immense credit, King makes the music here her own -- her rich contralto and serene phrasing reveal rich new meanings in familiar material like "Unforgettable" and "This Love of Mine," quickly evolving the project past novelty status to explore with sincerity and depth the transformation of the popular song as it passes from one gender to the other.

1. April Showers

2. A Cottage For Sale

3. That's For Me

4. Temptation

5. Unforgettable

6. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now

1. Flamingo

2. June In January

3. You Brought a New Kind Of Love To Me

4. This Love Of Mine

5. When its Sleepy Time Down South

6. Let's face The Music And Dance

        4. Temptation

Teddi King - Am I Blue

The exceptionally gifted and senstive vocalist from Boston, Teddi King, who sadly passed away 

at 48 in 1977 of Lupus,performs at "Playboy After Dark".

Ricky Nelson

With this compilation you get 31 tracks which covers Pop's Standards & Country tracks of the 60's which I guess would be made up from singles and L/P's (Albums) !!....a very pleasant voice but nothing fantastic so if you are a "Ricky" fan then this could be for you !!...and it is good !!

Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985), known professionally as Ricky Nelson until his 21st birthday when he officially dropped the "y" and simply became Rick Nelson, was an American rock 'n' roll star, pop pioneer, musician, singer-songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1957, he began a long and successful career as a popular recording artist. As one of the top "teen idols" of the 1950s, his fame led to a motion picture role co-starring alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson in Howard Hawks's western feature film Rio Bravo (1959). 

 

       10. Love Is The Sweetest Thing

Sleepwalk Mania..VA

Great if you like the tune !!...annoying if you don't !!....BUT it's cool to hear all the different interpretations, even if all the beginning's sound the same it's the middles and end that does make a difference even if it'a a slight one !!

  2. The Spotnicks

So Rare..VA

So now we have something different !...from the 30's and 40's....I guess that most of these recordings were from 78's as seen on the front cover held by Dame Edna Everage!...Ooops Barry Humphries !!

If you like vintage music then you will enjoy this...and if you are curious give it a download you will get hooked !!.....this comes from "The Vintage Music Blog"....thanks Marty !

       22. The Moon Got In My Eyes

        9. She Didn't Say Yes

Sallie Blair

Here's a new singer to me that is...not forgotten because there is plenty about her if you "Google" her but she does have a great voice.....she only recorded two L/P's 

Sallie Blair (1934 – February 17, 1992) was an American jazz singer. She began her career performing as a band act with Johnny Otis and Duke Ellington before joining Cab Calloway's Cotton Club Revue. Blair recorded for Bethlehem, MGM, but she was best known for her live performances. Because of her voluptuous figure and blonde hair, Miles Davis called her the "brown Marilyn Monroe."

Blair's second album, Hello, Tiger!, arranged and conducted by Neal Hefti, was released on MGM Records later in 1958. The album was chosen as one of Billboard's spotlight winners of the week (November 3, 1958): "A striking cover (featuring the sultry thrush on a tiger-skin rug) while the canary's sexy, intimate vocalizing makes the LP's sure-fire Jockey programming. Gal shines on a group of standards and show tunes, including the infectious 'Daddy,' 'Fever' and 'Witchcraft.'"

During her Gig at the Versailles nightclub Miami, Blair's electrifying performances captivated her audiences especially during her closing number of "That Old Black Magic" when she would kick off her shoes. Celebrities who attended her shows included syndicated columnist Walter Winchell and jazz bandleader Cab Calloway.........Blair didn't achieve success on the charts with her records, but she gained a following for her sensual barefoot performances. While performing at the London Palladium, Blair kicked of her shoes in front of the royal family. She became more known for her voluptuous figure and her sexy stage appearance than her music. Her natural hair color was auburn, but she dyed it different colors such as platinum blonde, silver, red, green, black, and white. Early in Blair's career, the press referred to her as the "blonde bombshell," but by 1963, when she appeared at her nightclub gig at New York's Living Room, she was sporting dark brown hair and her stage persona became more sophisticated.

1. Witchcraft

2. Whatever Lola Wants

3. When the Sun Comes Out

4. Fever

5 That Old Black Magic

1. Daddy

2. Early Winter

3. Don'cha Go Away Mad

4. When The World Was Young

5. I'm Through With Love

6. Everyhing I Have is Yours

        4. When The World Was Young

Percy Faith

Just a reminder of music of Mexico & Cuba....that makes you wonder when can everybody start to enjoy the holidays once more !...with no restrictions....Ah well eventually I hope !!..till then enjoy the music !!!......all well known tunes that will be recognisable to everyone !

Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listening" or "mood music" format. Faith became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Though his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, Faith refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.

1. Mama Inez

2. Tabu

3. El Manisero

4. Malaguena

5. Siboney

6. Andalucia (The Breeze And I )

7. Tumbando Cana

1. Mexican Hat Dance

2. La Cucaracha

3. La Paloma

4. El Rancho Grande

5. Granada

6. Chiapanecas

7. Guadalajara

        5. Siboney 

Judy Garland Classic Duets 1

Judy on the radio !...Judy from soundtracks !....Judy on 78's....All re-mastered fantastically not a hiss or scratch or fades heard... could have been recorded yesterday!!...BUT all tracks are from 1936 to 1943 !!

1. Opera Vs Jazz...with.Deanna Durbin... (M.G.M. Film Every Sunday).1936

2. Everybody Sing...with.Sophie Tucker...(M.G.M. Film Broadway Melody Of 1938)

3. Why Because...with.Fanny Brice...(M.G.M. Film Everybody Sing)..1937

4. If I Only Had A Brain...with.Ray Bolger...(M.G.M. Film The Wizard of Oz)..1939

5. We're Off To See The Wizard...with Ray Bolger...(M.G.M. Film The Wizard Of Oz)

6. Hayride...With Ray Bolger...(M.G.M. Film The Harvey Girls)...(Outake)..1945

7. Opera Vs Jazz....Part 1..with Betty Jaynes...(M.G.M. Babes In Arms)..1939

8. Opera Vs Jazz...Part 4..with Betty Jaynes..(M.G.M. Babes In Arms)..1939

9. Good Morning...with Mickey Rooney...(M.G.M. Babes In Arms)..1939

10. Good Morning.. with Mickey Rooney..(Babes In Arms)..Screen Guild Theater

11. Our Love Affair..with Mickey Rooney..(M.G.M Strike Up The Band)..1940

12. Our Love Affair..with Mickey Rooney..Lux Radio Theater..1940

13. Do The La Conga..with Mickey Rooney..(M.G.M.Strike Up The Band)..1940

14. How About You..with Mickey Rooney..(M.G.M. Babes On Broadway)..1941

15. How About You..with Mickey Rooney..Lux Radio Theater..1941

16. Hoe Down...with Mickey Rooney..(M.G.M. Babes On Broadway)..1941

17. God's Country..with Mickey Rooney..Babes In Arms..Screen Guild Theater..1941

18. Could You Use Me..with Mickey Rooney..(M.G.M. Girl Crazy)..1943

19. Could You Use Me..with Mickey Rooney..Decca 78rpm..1943

20. I Wish I Were In Love..with Mickey Rooney..(M.G.M. Words And Music)..1948

21. Frienship..with Mickey Rooney..Decca 78rpm..1940

22. Don't Get Around Much Anymore..with Johnny Mercer..(Personal Album)

23. Salt lake City Blues..with Johnny Mercer..(Personal Album)

24. Takin' a Chance On Love..with Johnny Mercer..(Personal Album)

       13 Do The La Conga

Jackie Trent

Here's a Jackie Trent Fest !!.....someone has gathered 64 of her 45's and some L/P tracks... so whoever it was it's a great treat so thanks !!..all from the 60's...And yes it is "Once More With Feeling " !!.......oops!!!.we might have a stowaway on track 34 !!

Jackie Trent (born Yvonne Ann Burgess, 6 September 1940 – 21 March 2015) was an English singer-songwriter and actress. She was best known for co-writing (with Tony Hatch) the theme tunes to the game show Mr & Mrs for Border Television in 1975 and the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 1985.

Her first single, "Pick Up the Pieces", was released in 1962 on the Oriole label, but it was not until Pye Records and three years later that she scored her first hit with "Where Are You Now", written by Tony Hatch and Trent, who at that time were involved in a successful professional collaboration with Petula Clark. The song was featured in the popular TV series It's Dark Outside. "Where Are You Now" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in May 1965, topping the chart for one week. The song was written and recorded in just four days after Hatch was asked by Granada TV to produce a song for the female lead in the programme to be seen on screen playing to herself. The lyrics were written by Trent on Christmas 1964, just before she embarked on a three-month tour of South Africa.When the song first hit the TV screen, people contacted TV Times to ask where they could buy the record with sales accelerating. The song went to number one in May 1965, replacing the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride".....Although she recorded several singles and albums, both as a solo artist and with her husband, Trent was more successful as a songwriter than a singer. In addition to their compositions for Clark, over the years she and Hatch wrote extensively for other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jack Jones, Nancy Wilson, Des O'Connor, Val Doonican, Shirley Bassey, and Vikki Carr.

In a recording career spanning 1962–1990, Trent issued a total of twelve albums, five compilations and 51 singles...

1. 7-10 From Suburbia......2. Alles Okay......3.Autumn Leaves......4. Baby Are You putting Me On

5. Bye Bye My Love (Auf Wiedersehen).....6. Can't Give It Up No More.....7. Close To You

8. Come Home To My Love.....9. Corner Of The Sky.....10.Cranes Flying South.....

11. Didn't I Say I Love You.....12.Don't Stand In My Way.....13. Either Way I Lose....

14. Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon.....15. Everybody Rejoice.....16. Faces.....

17. Fly Me To The Moon.....18. Goin' Back.....19. Here's That Rainy Day.....20. Hollywood

21. How Soon.....22. Humming Bird.....23. I Heard Somebody Say.....24.If You Ever Leave Me

25. If You Go Away.....26. If You Love Me.....27. I''ll Be Near You.....28. I'll Be There

29. I'll Be With You.....30. I'm A Fool To Want You.....31. It's All In The Way You Look At Life

32. Its Not Easy Loving You.....33.Just A Little Piece Of You.....34. Little Andy....35. Look At The Rain

36. Love Can Give.....Love Is Me Love Is You.....37. Make It easy On Yourself....38. Melancholy Me

39. My Love.....40. On The Other Side Of The Tracks.....41.Only One Such As You.....

42. Open Your Heart.....43. Reach Out I'll Be There.....44. Remember Me.....45. Send Her Away

46. Send In The Clowns.....47. So Did I.....48. Somewhere In The World.....49. Such a Small Love

50. Take Me Away.....51. That's You.....52. There Goes My Love There Goes My Heart

53. This Time.....54. Time After Time.....55. To Show I Love Him.....56. To Late.....57.We Need You

58. When Summertime Is Over.....59. Where Are You Now.....60. With Every Little Tear

61. You Baby.....62. Your Love Is Everywere.....63. You're Gonna Hear From Me

64. The Two Of Us....

        26. If You Love Me

Joyce Carr

Here's a forgotten singer doing some great interpretations of some great standards that should be heard more often !.....so folks spread the word !!

Artist Biography by Bruce Eder

Joyce Carr abandoned her studies at the University of Montana at the age of 19 to become a successful pop vocalist. After testing the waters of performing in Montana, she left her home state for New York, where she intended to pursue a career in musical comedy. Instead, she ended up in Washington, D.C., where she soon began singing in a local club, where she was seen by other musicians. Word of mouth began to spread about the 20-year-old, who soon found herself a winner on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout television show. From there, it was on to entertaining President Eisenhower at the White House, and a six-year engagement at the King Cole Room in D.C., where she became a top attraction for foreign dignitaries visiting the city. After that establishment was sold, she moved on to other top venues in the city. She cut albums for Seeco and appeared on television, as well as performing with orchestras in concert. Then, in the mid-'60s, Carr left music.... At the end of the '70s, after a decade away from performing, she returned to music, singing at Charlie Byrd's club in Georgetown. She also resumed recording in 1981 with Joyce Carr on the Audiophile label, accompanied by Bob Vigoda, Jay Leonhart, Bill Gibson, and Dick Thomas........Love kept Joyce Carr from travelling, so she sang at the same nightclub in Washington, DC for more than twenty years. Her phrasing and delivery of the lyrics put her among the best cabaret singers of the 20th century. Ellis Larkin, the famous New York pianist (Little Carnegie Tavern) accompanies her on half the tunes, Bob Vigoda the rest.

 1. I Wish You Love

2. Every Time

3. Skylark

4. I'm Glad There Is You

5. It Never Entered My Mind

6. I Get Along Without You Very Well

7. As Children Do

8. Yesterday

9. The Folks Who Live On The Hill

10. Here's That Rainy Day

11. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry

12. You Don't know What Love Is

13. Make The Man Love Me

14. Talk To The Trees

15. My Future Just Passed

16. Most Gentleman Don't Like Love

17. Rolling Road

18. I Got it Bad

19. Hi Lili Hi Lo

20. Little Girl Blue

21. Sad Sad Sad

22. I Know What The Score Is

23. They All Laughed

24. When All The World Is Young

 

Billie Holiday

 No need for any introduction for this great singer !!....From 1956 complete with readings from her bio...this makes great listening !!

Billie Holiday’s famous back-to-back concerts on November 10, 1956, began at the beginning: “Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was 18, she was 16, and I was three.”Narrating from the stage between songs, Gilbert Millstein of The New York Times read excerpts from Holiday’s recently published autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. The unpolished prose describes moments from a childhood listening to Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith in the brothel where she ran errands, to her arrest in 1947 and the Carnegie Hall concert she gave just 10 days after her release. Although the book was ghost-written (and suspected to have been a less-than-perfect representation of Holiday’s experiences), the vignettes create a sharp and theatrical self-portrait when paired with her singing, the bluntness and bygone innocence of her story mirrored in her voice. Reviewer Nat Hentoff, who was in attendance, described her sound as “almost unbearably wise in disillusion and yet still childlike.”

1. Reading From "Lady Sings The Blues"

2. Lady Sings The Blues

3. Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do

4. Reading From "Lady Sings The Blues" with Trav'lin Light 

5. Reading From "Lady Sings The Blues"

6. Billie's Blues (aka I Love My Man )

7. Body And Soul

8. Reading From "Lady Sings The Blues"

9. Don't Explain

10. Yesterday's

11. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

12. I'll be Seeing You

13. Reading from " Lady Sings The Blues"

14. My Man

15. I Cried For You

16. Fine And Mellow

17. I Cover The Waterfront

18. What A little Moonlight Can Do

       1. Reading From "Lady Sings The Blues"

       2. Lady Sings The Blues

Betty Bennett

Once more we delve into the realm of the forgotten classy singers !

Artist Biography by Ron Wynn

An experienced, sometimes sultry singer, Betty Bennett also studied piano while attending Drake University. She sang with Georgie Auld in 1943, then performed in a number of bands after completing time in the navy in 1945. These included orchestras led by Claude Thornhill, Alvino Rey, Charlie Ventura, Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton. She married Andre Previn in the mid-'50s, made two recordings with him directing. She later divorced Previn and married Mundell Lowe. By the late '80s she was touring Europe with Lowe, and was a featured performer for opening night of Wolsey's club in London.

1. I Love To Sing / it's Easy To Remember

2. It Isn't So Good

3. Over The Rainbow

4. Like Someone In love

5. All At Once

1. Who Cares

2.Young And Foolish

3. Love Isn't Born

4. Then I'll Be Tired Of You

5. Down With Love

6. It Never Was You

       2. Young And Foolish

Andre Previn

André George Previn KBE (born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three prongs: Hollywood, jazz, and classical music. On each he achieved success, and the latter two were part of his life until the end. In the movies, he arranged music and composed. In jazz he was a celebrated trio pianist, a piano-accompanist to singers of standards, and pianist-interpreter of songs from the "Great American Songbook". In classical music he worked as a pianist too but gained television renown as a conductor, and during his last thirty years created his legacy: as a composer of art music.

Before the age of twenty Previn began arranging and composing for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He would go on to be involved in the music of more than fifty films and would win four Academy Awards. He won Grammy Awards as well, ten of them, for recordings in all three areas of his career.And then one more, for lifetime achievement.

1. Who's Sorry Now

2. Love Is Just Around The Corner

3. There Will Never Be Another You

4. Skylark

5. Back Home in Indiana

1. Love Walked In

2. Nevertheless

3. My Shining Hour

4. This Heart Of Mine

5. Thinking Of You

       2. Love Is Just Around The Corner