Before he was the world famous crooner Frank Sinatra, he was just Frank Sinatra, crooner. And in this ‘55 compilation of early singles, he sounds just as naive as he looks on the cover.
vocal jazz
Record #176: Fred Astaire – Nothing Thrilled Us Half As Much (1957)
Fred Astaire, as you know, made a name for himself singing and dancing alongside Ginger Rogers in charming old musical pictures for Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. What made these films special were not as much Fred or Ginger themselves, but the people behind the music–namely George and Ira Gershwin. This album collects the most memorable songs from those movies (most of them from Shall We Dance, which is my personal favorite), and removes Ginger’s parts out (sadly). I own it because of the track They Can’t Take That Away From Me, which is my favorite song from a musical ever.
Record #173: Frank Sinatra – Strangers in the Night (1966)
Once upon a time, I was a counselor at a youth camp. Having grown up staying in the same dorms I was now working in, I knew that the counselors usually had some non-traditional methods of waking up the teenaged campers. Having brought a portable record player, I decided it’d be a good idea to use Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night as an alarm clock.
I was wrong. It was the BEST IDEA.