A rare treat
John von Rohr | Billings, Montana United States | 04/05/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Perry Como back-up group topped the charts on several occasions. Their harmony is terrific and I treasure this CD."
Suggestions For A Re-Release
John von Rohr | 08/26/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If, by any chance, Varese-Sarabande is contemplating a re-release of this CD, may I humbly suggest they either add 5 selections to bring it up to 23 tracks, OR delete the non-hits at tracks 5, 14, 15, and 16 and replace them with the following 5 which WERE Dot hits for the sisters:
Playmates, the flipside of Rollin' Stone and a follow-along hit in 1955; Nuttin' For Christmas, a # 36 in December 1955; Lonesome Lover Blues - the flipside of Voices and a # 93 in 1956; Still - the flipside of Please Don't Leave Me and a # 86 in late 1956; and last - but certainly not least - their version of The Banana Boat Song which made it to a quite respectable # 13 early in 1957 and which is currently not available anywhere on CD. That would give us all 18 of their solo hit singles for the Dot label in one swoop.
The six pages of liner notes written by Will Friedwald in July 1994 are just fine, as are the great photos of the Rosse sisters - Marge, Bea, and Geri - who took the name Fontane when backing Perry Como on many of his hits from 1949 to 1952. They also added five hits on their own for RCA Victor in 1950/51 before leaving for Dot in 1954.
I would, however, further suggest changing the colour of the background or the printing on the reverse jacket [which contains a complete discography of the contents], since green on purple is a tad hard to read for us myopic old folks.
Those of you who remember The Fontane Sisters are well aware that they helped usher in the R&R era with their renditions of Hearts Of Stone and Rock Love and, during the early years, were seldom off the charts. When they talk of R&R's "girl groups" these ladies, along with The McGuire Sisters and The Chordettes, were the pioneers and are as deserving of recognition as any of them, including consideration for the R&R Hall of Fame.
A great compilation which can become a magnificent one with just a bit of re-tooling."