[.ca] The Hit Singles Collection

From Amazon.com:
Bobby Darin was one of the most personally complex and unpredictable artists of the rock era. Indeed, it's hard to find another major artist who reinvented himself with the deceptive ease and overwhelming success chronicled on this 20-track highlight disc. After scoring three lively and considerable Top 10 successes in the space of a year in the late 1950s ("Splish Splash," "Queen of the Hop," "Dream Lover"), Darin traded in his teen idol sweater 'n' slacks for a tux and tie (evidence suggests he considered rock a passing fad!) and went gunning for Sinatra and the Rat Pack. The immediate results were the Grammy-winning No. 1 legend "Mack the Knife" (adapted from Kurt Weill's "Moritat" in The Threepenny Opera) and the enduring, French-inspired Top 10 hit "Beyond the Sea." If Darin spent the early '60s alternately goosing standards from the American songbook ("Clementine," "Bill Bailey," "Lazy River," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," etc.) and mending a few rock-pop fences ("Multiplication," "Things"), he still had another surprise in store. His Top 10 take on Tim Hardin's dolorous "If I Were a Carpenter" cast him all too convincingly as conscientious '60s folkie. Other highlights here include his irresistible, swinging take on the lyrically bleak "Artificial Flowers" and his successful, self-penned nods to the '60s Nashville sound, "You're the Reason I'm Living," and "18 Yellow Roses." Darin was considerably more than the first postmodern lounge Revivalist, and herein lies the evidence. --Jerry McCulley

Ultra Cool:
Bobby Darin, like Dean Martin, had a cool demeanor that always came across in everything he touched, be it movies or music. This collection of his hits has just about everthing that was great about him and is a pleasure to listen to. All these songs have nice arrangements backing up Darin's catchy style and phrasing. You need only look at the list above to see all the great songs included in this package. There is an overall light and breezy feel to this CD and it fits Darin's career perfectly. It is always hip, sometimes romantic, and definitely like nothing you'll hear today. Harry Connick Jr. sometimes catches the swing and swagger of Darin's style in his lighter moments, but this IS Bobby Darin, a true American origional. How cool was Bobby Darin? "Beyond the Sea" was playing in a scene in Pacino's "Sea of Love" and an entire episode of televisions own approach to cool, "The X-Files", was built around this song. You'll have no doubt once you pick this up, Macky is indeed, back in town....

Excellent CD:
This CD has all my favourite songs into one. Beyond the Sea, Mack the Knife, Dream Lover, Splish Splash, Things, 18 Yellow Roses, and If I were a Carpenter and some new ones that I heard on the radio but never knew it was Bobby Darin singing. It's a must have for all Bobby Darin fans.

Darin does Sinatra does Tim Hardin.....:
Bobby Darin could croon with the best---his take on Sinatra was surpassed only by Frank himself but the real treasure here is his cover of "If I were a Carpenter" which rivals Tim Hardens own version. Get this if for that track only and the rest will fall in place.....

Bobby Darin, The Underrated:
Ooh Bobby Darin. Ya can't beat that voice. The soothing sounds of Bobby Darin's honey coated voice. Just too sweet! This CD, is perfect in everyway. His songs are addictive, and get stuck in your head forever. These songs, are my drugs, I get a totally pure 'High' off of them. Ladies and Gentlemen Bobby Darin.

Almost all of Bobby Darin's Top 40 hits on one CD:
"The Hit Singles Collection" comes to us courtesy of Rhino, which means you know you are going to get not only 20 choice tracks which include (almost) all of Bobby Darin's Top 40 hits but also solid liner notes from Bill Dahl. The chief attractions are the Top 10 hits, which would be "Splish Splash" (#3), "Queen Of The Hop" (#9), "Dream Lover" (#2), "Mack the Knife" (#1), "Beyond the Sea" (#6), "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby" (#5), "Things" (#3), "You're The Reason I'm Living" (#3), "18 Yellow Roses" (#10), and "If I Were a Carpenter" (#8). As you can see, that is half the album right there. Overall the songs reflect the wide range of Darin's career, where he did everything from popular standards to rock 'n' roll with a bit of folk-rocker and Vegas hip cat in between. Darin is often dismissed as a junior grade Frank Sinatra, but you have to give him credit for refusing to be limited to a particular type of music. This was a man who sang songs written by both Kurt Weill and John Sebastian, and who covered Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones in his nightclub act. Is this a complete hits collection? Well, there are a pair of Top 40 hits missing ("If a Man Answers" and "Nature Boy") and Darin easily had another dozen songs that made the Billboard charts that could have been picked over. But these would be minor quibbles over all and you will be hard pressed to find a better single CD collection of Darin songs than "The Hit Singles Collection." Darin died relatively young (in 1973 during open-heart surgery) and his election to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 recognized that whatever his limitations his body of work is rather significant in terms of both the overall quality and the diversity. For those looking for something more ambitions Rhino also has a four-CD box set, "As Long As I'm Singing: The Bobby Darin Collection," which is more comprehensive in terms of not only hits but also B-sides and other obscure recordings. But I am happy with this one for now.

• Splish Splash
• Early In The Morning
• Queen Of The Hop
• Plain Jane
• Dream Lover
• Mack The Knife
• Beyond The Sea
• Clementine
• Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey
• Artificial Flowers
• Lazy River
• You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby
• Irresistible You
• Multiplication
• What'd I Say
• Things
• You're The Reason I'm Living
• 18 Yellow Roses
• If I Were A Carpenter
• Lovin' You