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Frankie Avalon
 Frankie Avalon - Greatest Hits $5.98 This CD was a Birthday Gift for my Father who enjoys classic oldies songs of this artist.  The Best Of Frankie Avalon $9.99 Not counting the 1976 "disco" version of Venus, recorded for the De-Lite label [# 1 Adult Contemporary/# 46 Billboard Pop Hot 100/# 97 R&B that March], Frankie Avalon had 24 charted Top/Hot 100 hit singles between 1958 and 1963 for Chancellor, including seven double-sided hits, and in this compilation Varese Sarabande gives you 18 recorded by the former child prodigy trumpet player [Paul Whiteman's Teen Club TV show out of Philadelphia and several records for RCA Victor's Vik and "X" subsidiaries]. Under the sponsorship of Bob Marcucci and orchestra leader Peter DeAngelis, Avalon then opened the "Teen And Twenty Club" in Philadelphia where, among others, he was joined by Bobby Rydell and Fabian prior to their becoming established singing stars. In 1957 Avalon became part of a group known as Rocco & His Saints and began recording for the new Chancellor label formed by Marcucci and DeAngelis, but without any national chart success. In that period he also made an appearance in the film Disc Jockey Jamboree along with Fats Domino, Slim Whitman, Jodie Sands, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Lewis Lymon & The Teen Chords, Buddy Knox, Count Basie, Joe Williams, and Sandy Singer. Following several misses, he finally scored in 1958 with DeDe Dinah and with that pubescent chant (# 7 Billboard Pop Top 100 in March b/w Ooh La La), which crossed over to the R&B charts (# 8), he was off to the races. Additional film appearances would follow, including the John Wayne 1960 classic The Alamo [his buddy Fabian would also appear in a 1960 Wayne film, North To Alaska] and, of course, the series of beach movies with Annette. Some of these details are mentioned in the six pages of liner notes written by Dawn Eden in January 1995, and these also contain several nice photos of Avalon, including one with Marcucci. On the reverse is a discography of the contents. As usual with Varese Sarabande products, the sound quality is excellent. But there are omissions which, in my mind, reduces the album by 1 star. These are: You Excite Me [his second after Dede Dinah and a # 49 Top 100 in June 1958 b/w Darlin']; What Little Girl [the flip of I'll Wait For You and a # 79 Hot 100 on its own in November 1958]; Tuxedo Junction [the flip of Where Are You and a # 82 Hot 100 in June 1960]; Don't Let Love Pass Me By [the flip of Togetherness and a # 85 Hot 100 in October 1960]; Who Else But You [# 82 Hot 100 in June 1961]; and True, True Love [# 90 Hot 100 in September 1961]. With the exceptions of track 13 [Russ Faith], track 16 [Jerry Ragovoy], and tracks 17/18 [Don Costa], the backing orchestra was that of Peter DeAngelis. A very good compilation which would have been 5-stars in my book by being expanded to 24 selections. Alkso, for the record, Beauty School Dropout could hardly be included in a volume of his "best" as it was neither a hit nor the B-side to one. |
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