Search - Various Artists :: 1953: 20 Original Chart Hits

Interesting sampler

Bruce R. Gilson | Wheaton, MD United States | 01/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This sampler is part of a series of year-based CDs composed of US Capitol and UK EMI recordings. It reflects the UK song scene of the time, which included a lot of songs recorded in the US, British covers of American songs, and a few local hits that never crossed the ocean. So one finds songs like Kay Starr's "Side by Side" (an authentic US hit), a UK version (by Gerry Brereton, who is unknown in the US) of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" (which in the US was a hit for Karen Chandler), and a song called "Isn't Life Wonderful," which never made it over the ocean, by Alma Cogan, a British singer who deserves more attention than she gets here. (I heard Alma Cogan for the first time in 2004, almost 40 years after her death! But I really like her voice.)



One problem is that only songs recorded on the Capitol label in the US and its parent, EMI, in the UK are included. So even the US songs aren't necessarily the versions that were hits here: for example, Helen O'Connell is not the singer one generally thinks of when thinking of "No Other Love" (Perry Como's, the biggest hit version of the song, was on RCA Victor). But most of the included songs still sound pretty good, and the CD gives an interesting exposure to some unusual versions.



I liked this CD, even if it is an idiosyncratic sample."