"...Gonna Take A
Miracle..."
(TONY RANDAZZO is part of Ace Record's Singer Songwriter Series)
(TONY RANDAZZO is part of Ace Record's Singer Songwriter Series)
I've
had Ace CDs that went the extra Country Mile in the Audio department before -
but this little British issued doozy goes a few 60ts furlongs further.
This
is a truly fantastic sounding CD containing Melodrama Pop, 60ts Soul, Girl
Group heartache and young boys going out of their heads whilst pining for
miracles (and not just the Smokey kind). Most of the music centres around late
1965 and into 1966 (primo 45-singles time) and at 71:43 minutes -
"Yesterday Has Gone..." is a generous slab of quality misery into the
bargain that collectors will lick their lips over.
For
sure Randazzo's overblown Phil Spector-ish I'm-gonna-die pleading
same-song-structure every time can grate after a while - and there are some
truly yucky saccharine moments with The Vogues and The Kane Triplets that will
test punters patience worse than EU Brexit negotiations. But make no mistake,
with the likes of Little Anthony & The Imperials, Timi Yuro, The Royalettes
and Derek Martin on board – musically there is also so much here to adore
(twelve are in glorious Stereo too). Let's move from the outside and start
looking in...
UK
released Friday, 27 September 2019 (4 October 2019 in the USA) -
"Yesterday Has Gone: The Songs Of Teddy Randazzo" by VARIOUS ARTISTS
on Ace Records CDTOP 1556 (Barcode 029667096027) is a 25-Track CD compilation
of Remasters in their Singer-Songwriter Series that plays out as follows (71:43 minutes):
1.
I'm On The Outside (Looking In) - LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS (August 1964
US 7" single on DCP Records DCP 1104, A-side)
2.
Can't Stop Running Away - TIM YURO (May 1965 US 7" single on Mercury
72431, A-side)
3.
Baby Are You Puttin' Me On - THE ROYALETTES (from the 1966 US LP "The
Elegant Sound Of The Royalettes" on MGM Records SE-4366 in Stereo)
4.
You Don't Need A Heart - TONY RANDAZZO (March 1965 US 7" single on DCP
Records DCP 1134, A-side)
5.
Think Before You Act - TONY ORLANDO (September 1965 US 7" single on Atco
45-6375, A-side)
6.
You Better Go - DEREK MARTIN (June 1965 US 7" single on Roulette R-4631,
A-side)
7.
It's Gonna Take A Miracle - THE ROYALETTES (June 1965 US 7"single on MGM K
13366, A-side)
8.
Rain In My Heart - FRANK SINATRA (December 1968 US 7" single on Reprise
0798, A-side)
9.
We're On Our Way - THE VOGUES (May 1971 US 7"single on Bell 991, B-side of
"Love Song")
10.
Buttercup Days - THE KANE TRIPLETS (October 1968 US 7" single on United
Artists UA 50466, A-side)
11.
Let Me Dream - GEORGIA GIBBS (December 1965 US 7" single on Bell 635,
A-side)
12.
Let Me Know When It's Over - ESTHER PHILLIPS (September 1965 US 7" single
on Atlantic 45-2304, A-side)
13.
Lonely Girl - ANNABELLE FOX (May 1966 US 7" single on Satin S-402, A-side)
14.
Better Off Without You - RITCHIE ADAMS (November 1966 US 7" single on MGM
K 13629, B-side of "You Were Mine")
15.
I'm Lost Without You - BILLY FURY (January 1965 UK 7" single on Decca F.
12048, A-side)
16.
Or Not At All - JIMMY RICE (April 1965 US 7" single on Red Bird Records RB
10-027, A-side)
17.
Good For A Lifetime - AL HIBBLER (January 1966 US 7" single on Satin
S-401, A-side)
18.
Goin' Out Of My Head - DIONNE WARWICK (from the 1970 US LP "Very
Dionne" on Scepter SPS 587 in Stereo, produced by Bacharach & David)
19.
Better Use Your Head - MEL TORME (from the 1966 US LP "Right Now!" on
Columbia CS 9335 in Stereo)
20.
I Watched You Slowly Slip Away - HOWARD GUYTON (February 1966 US 7" single
on Verve VK-10386, A-side)
21.
Yesterday Has Gone - ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS (May 1968 US 7" single on
Veep V-1285, A-side)
22.
Think Twice Before You Walk Away - PORGY And THE MONARCHS (December 1966 US
7" single on Musicor MU 1221, B-side of "My Heart Cries For
You")
23.
Hurt So Bad - THE DELFONICS (from the 1968 US LP "La La Means I Love
You" on Philly Groove PG 1150)
24.
Love At First Sight - THE STYLISTICS (January 1979 US 7" single on Mercury
74042, A-side)
25.
A Million To One - THE MANHATTANS (October 1971 US 7" single on DeLuxe
45-137, B-side to "Cry If You Wanna Cry")
Tracks
1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24 and 25 are in STEREO
Tracks
2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,20 and 22 are in MONO
The
24-page colour booklet is the usual classy affair from Ace Records of the UK -
each artist and song given promo photos, those rare US labels repro'd and of
course photos of our elegant songwriting hero - Brooklyn's Tony Randazzo. Soul
and R&B Music aficionados IAN CHAPMAN and MICK PATRICK both do a bang-up
job of filling in the 60ts details - Patrick quite rightly pointing out that
Randazzo's co-writers Bobby Weinstein, Victoria Pike, Lou Stallman, Bobby Hart
and Roger Joyce all deserve to be spoken of in the same voice of respect that
is afforded the affable Randazzo. You might argue that TR is so closely
associated with the orbit and success of Little Anthony & The Imperials
(that's him sat in the control booth with the boys around him on the front
cover of the booklet) - that more of their classic output should have been
featured here - but Little Anthony's catalogue on End, DCP and Veep Records has
been done extensively elsewhere. For
sure by the time you reach The Stylistics in 1979, the end of the CD is putting
up mediocrity instead of magic - but the rest is fabulous 60ts melodrama and I
suspect collectors will accept the rough with the smooth that comes with
all-encompassing compilations like this. Besides NICK ROBBINS - long-time Audio
Engineer at Ace Records and a guy who’s transferred literally hundreds of full-length
compilations from every conceivable type of master-tape box - has excelled
himself. The Audio is properly gorgeous.
"Yesterday
Has Gone" opens with a killer one-two - a magisterial Stereo cut of Little
Anthony & The Imperial's masterpiece "I'm On The Outside (Looking
In)" followed by the Mono beauty of Timi Yuro with "Can't Stop
Running Away" (a tune she apparently also recorded in Italian for the Euro
market). The Royalettes two slices of 60ts Soul live up the word elegant in
their US LP title (they are given a beautiful full-page black and white
publicity photo on Page 13 of the booklet) – while the Derek Martin smoocher
and one-time Fireflies vocalist Ritchie Adams are me discoveries of the month.
I can honestly live without the Sinatra workmanlike rendition of "Rain In
My Heart" and the aforementioned syrup-overloads of The Vogues and The
Kane Triplets (no matter how gorgeous their blond hair looks on Page 17) –
stuff like the Jimmy Rice cut and the Howard Guyton slowly slipping away
melodrama (recorded with The Five Pearls in 1954) are the business.
Not
all genius for damn sure, but this is a CD compilation that for many has been a
long time coming. I suspect collectors everywhere are going top be well pleased
– and frankly – yet another feather in the cap of Ace Records – a cap that
after 40 years of quality reissues must weigh a few tons by now...
