Spectrum Music, the European discount imprint of Universal Music, dips into the Decca Records catalog (and, for one track, Mercury Records') to assemble this double-disc compilation of the recordings of Anthony Newley between 1959 and 1964. (His later recordings for RCA Victor, MGM and other labels are not included.) Newley was already a film and stage actor of some renown when, at age 27, he starred in the movie Idle on Parade, portraying an Elvis Presley-like pop star. Decca signed him to a recording contract and issued ...
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Spectrum Music, the European discount imprint of Universal Music, dips into the Decca Records catalog (and, for one track, Mercury Records') to assemble this double-disc compilation of the recordings of Anthony Newley between 1959 and 1964. (His later recordings for RCA Victor, MGM and other labels are not included.) Newley was already a film and stage actor of some renown when, at age 27, he starred in the movie Idle on Parade, portraying an Elvis Presley-like pop star. Decca signed him to a recording contract and issued the song he sang in the picture, "I've Waited So Long," as a single that reached the U.K. Top Five, making Newley a pop star himself. Over the next three years, he placed a dozen records in the British singles charts, among them a cover of the American hit "Personality," homegrown fare such as Lionel Bart's "Do You Mind," and strictly English novelty numbers like "Strawberry Fair" and "Pop Goes the Weasel." He also developed into a songwriter, teaming with Leslie Bricusse to create the 1961 stage musical Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off, in which he also starred, singing such anthemic numbers as "What Kind of Fool Am I?" and "Once in a Lifetime." Typical of singers of the day, he leaned more toward rock and adolescent sentiments on his single records, while turning to more adult fare on LPs patterned after Frank Sinatra's "concept" albums of all rhythm numbers or all ballads. This collection devotes one disc to each style. CD one has all the hits, along with some singles that didn't chart, and concludes with that one Mercury track, the instrumental theme to the Newley TV series "Gurney Slade." The 20 selections on the second CD are drawn from the albums Tony, Love Is a Now & Then Thing, and In My Solitude, on which he essayed songs like Kurt Weill's "Speak Low," Hoagy Carmichael's "I Get Along Without You Very Well," and Duke Ellington's "Solitude." The singer is equally effective in both guises; as a singles artist, he is cheeky and charming, often employing a pronounced Cockney accent, while he stands toe to toe with contemporaries like Bobby Darin and Andy Williams on the standards. The Anthony Newley Collection is 16 tracks and more than 50 minutes shorter than the 2000 compilation The Decca Years 1959-1964, but it also should be less expensive. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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Add this copy of The Anthony Newley Anthology to cart. $9.79, good condition, Sold by Stephen White Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bradford, WEST YORKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2006 by Spectrum.