VA - Hooray for Love: Capitol's Great Gentlemen of Song, Vol. 1 (1947-66/1995)

Capitol presents the first in a double-dip tribute to those marvelous-to-maudlin male crooners who dominated the entertainment industries during the two decades that followed the Second World War. This was the golden age of dressing up and posing while putting across pop songs in a debonair and often sentimental manner. Some of these names became household words, like "Spam" or "Pez." First and foremost come the juggernauts of suavity: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Mel Tormé, Vic Damone, Dick Haymes, Gordon MacRae, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Capitol's co-founder Johnny Mercer. While not every singer, no matter how well groomed, could achieve such ubiquitous fame, a comparable if decidedly peripheral place in the sun was occupied by various crooners whose long-playing records existed in many a middle class record collection. Redolent of Brylcreem and Vitalis, this group included Bobby Darin, Jack Jones, Andy Russell, Bob Manning, England's Matt Monro and Australia's Frank Ifield. A special echelon is reserved for the authentically hip vocalists who actually had more than passing or forfeited connections with Afro-American culture and real jazz. They are Tony Bennett, Lou Rawls, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, and Chet Baker. Each singer on this anthology exudes a distinctive male persona. Ideal for cocktail parties, affected lounging, and aimless carousing.