Search - Frank Sinatra :: Radio Years

Take a walk, boy!

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 05/11/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Your Hit Parade" was a popular radio program which was broadcast between 1935 and 1955. The show's format featured a countdown of the most popular songs of the week, which would be performed by cast members of the show. Frank Sinatra was a regular on the show between 1945 and 1949. These 2 CDs features recordings of Frank's performances from the radio show. While the shows format supposedly featured the most popular songs of the week, many of the songs here weren't hits at all, or were hits several years before the show was broadcast. I guess they sometimes debuted new songs or played old favorites. A few of the songs here are duets between Frank and an unidentified female singer, who may or may not be Doris Day. Oddly a couple of songs ("They Didn't Believe Me" and "What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry") appear twice, in the same version no less. The recording quality is not that great, as you might expect of old radio broadcasts. Sinatra had a great voice, but he hadn't reached the height of his vocal maturity at this point. There are a lot of great songs here, and also a few rather forgettable songs. The arrangements aren't always that great even on the good songs. The highlight is a fantastic version of "You Make Me Feel So Young", which Sinatra later recorded to great effect on his Songs for Swingin' Lovers! album. The head scratcher of the bunch is "It's All Up To You", which seems to be advocating socialized medicine. This collection is really only for serious Sinatra fanatics who have to have everything he ever did. Here is the complete track listing. Some titles seem to be wrong, but I am listing them the way they appear on the CD case:



Disc 1



1. Suddenly It's Spring

2. Lillie Bolero

3. You're the Top

4. Lilly Belle

5. A Wing and a Prayer

6. A Good Man is Hard to Find

7. Right Kind of Love

8. Night and Day

9. They Say It's Wonderful

10. Just One of Those Things

11. On the Sunny Side of the Street

12. You are Love

13. They Didn't Believe Me

14. Out of Nowhere

15. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

16. For You

17. I'll String Along With You

18. After I Say I'm Sorry

19. A Lover is Blue

20. Dance Ballerina Dance

21. Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

22. S'Wonderful

23. Blue Skies

24. Begin the Beguine

25. Ol' Man River

26. It's All Up to You



Disc 2



1. Don't Blame Me

2. Laura

3. You Do Something to Me

4. The Music Stopped

5. Hair of Gold

6. I'm in the Mood For Love

7. They Didn't Believe Me

8. A Hundred Years From Today

9. What Can I Say After I'm Sorry

10. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance

11. It All Depends on You

12. I Fall in Love With You Every Day

13. Long Ago and Far Away

14. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

15. My Heart Tells Me

16. Speak Low

17. Mimi

18. How Soon

19. Serenade of the Bells

20. Love Me or Leave Me

21. Somebody Loves You

22. You Make Me Feel So Young

23. You've Got a Hold on Me

24. Some Other Time

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