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Forties toe-tappin'

Robin Benson | 11/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I came across this delightful CD set in a rather circuitous route. While watching the DVD of the 'Man Who came to Dinner' I saw that one of the extras included was a short of Six Hits and a Miss singing 'You've got to know how to dance' written by Harry Warren with lyrics by Al Dubin. It sounded wonderful so I decided to investigate if there were any compilations of forties vocal groups. The simple answer is no except this one. I came across plenty of big bands with their singers and several 'Best of' CDs by groups like the Modernaires, Pied Pipers, King Sisters or the Andrew Sisters but I could find nothing like The Groups Sing.



The fifty-two tracks, by twenty-seven groups, are an easy on the ear selection (despite the oddity of Tumbling Tumbleweeds by Sons of the Pioneers) and the recording quality is impressive too. Tracks I particularly like include Pied Pipers: Dream, Merry Macs: Mairzy Doats and Dozy Doats (for the dotty lyrics) King Sisters: Jersey Bounce, Modernaires: Stompin' at the Savoy and the Campus Kids: Love on a Greyhound Bus. The sixteen page booklet lists the groups and the well known bands backing them but unfortunately the track listing didn't include dates of each hit.



I'm still surprised that this set is the only compilation available of forties vocal groups and even more surprising that it originated from a British record company. Either way it's just what I was listening for.



***Amazon hasn't listed the tracks but I've uploaded the back cover. Click 'customer images' under the cover.

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