Hit Singles Yes - But Too Many From A U.K. Perspective Only
08/08/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This 1993 Doris Day collection from Telstar Records/Columbia in the U.K has excellent sound quality and two pages of liner notes, mainly in the form of track-by-track observations, written by Martyn Daye of The Doris Day Society in Ambleside, Cumbria, England.
For North American fans, however, many of the selections do not fit the title of Hit Singles, as none among tracks 5, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, and 23 made the Billboard Hot 100 charts over here or, for that matter, the Adult Contemporary [Easy Listening] charts which came into effect in 1961 [Doris only scored once there, and that was in 1967 with Sorry [# 19] - a strange turn of events considering that she would seemed to have been an ideal singer for those listings].
All remaining tracks are, however, among her North American hit singles, including the original late 1944 rendition with Les Brown and His Orchestra of Sentimental Journey - surely one of the all-time big band/vocalist offerings.
Other early solo hits include: 1948's It's Magic, a # 2 with George Siravo & His Orchestra from the film Romance On The High Seas; 1950's Bewitched, a # 9 with George Rarig & His Orchestra and The Mellomen from the Broadway musical Pal Joey; 1952's Sugarbush, a # 7 duet with Frankie Laine and Carl Fischer & His Orchestra; 1952's When I Fall In Love, a # 20 with Percy Faith & His Orchestra and The Norman Luboff Choir from the film One Minute To Zero; 1954's Secret Love, a # 1 [for 4 weeks] with Ray Heindorf & His Orchestra from the film Calamity Jane [tracks 5 and 9 are from the same film]; and 1954's If I Give My Heart To You, a # 3 with The Mellomen.
In what is now regarded as the Rock & Roll era [from 1955 on], Doris chalked up another 14 North American hit singles to add to the 32 she registered as a solo singer from 1948 to 1954, and here you get seven of them, including her two best - Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera Sera) which, with Frank DeVol & His Orchestra backing, hit # 2 in summer 1956 from the film The Man Who Knew Too Much [kept from the # 1 slot by Moonglow And Theme From "Picnic" by Morris Stoloff and The Wayward Wind by Gogi Grant] - and Everybody Loves A Lover, which peaked at # 6 in September 1958, again with DeVol's backing.
While a nice compilation of one of that era's greatest female vocalists, it is somewhat expensive for 26 tracks and a bit misleading in its title insofar as North Americans are concerned. In fact, since this first appeared 14 years ago there have been many more Doris Day releases which are much more comprehensive in terms of NA hit singles."
This SUPERB album was intended for European release!!!
G. Moore | london | 01/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Terribly sorry that North America has been upset about the title of DORIS DAY Hit Singles Collection. When this album was put together it was not intended for USA release. The fact that the album sold so well in Europe made CBS release in the USA. Do remember that we in the UK have had the Greatest Hits LP since 1958 which included titles which were not hits in the UK - no complaints- -because you have one of the world's truly GREAT singers to enjoy. It was myself (Gary Moore) that remastered the album and what a very pleasurable job that was."
