One of the best reissue series out of the UK has to be Acrobat Records’ series of America’s Greatest Hits. These multi-disc sets include all of the hits on the airwaves for specific years, and they are grand reflections of the changing tastes of the public. By 1949, we learn that The Swing Era of big bands like Goodman, Ellington, Basie and Herman were losing their popularity, and singers from those bands such as Perry Como, Doris Day, Frankie boy and Der Bingster were all the rage. This four disc, 103 song collection is filled with a who’s who of vocalist that had their careers start during these years and most of them carrying on until the Philistines of Rock and Roll finally knocked down the walls of the city.
You could easily divide the categories of vocalists into 1) Italian crooners 2) perky white chicks, 3) comedian/jivers 4) vocal groups and 5) classy swingers. There are few if any instrumentals these days, with Les Brown still able to attract ears and dancers with “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” and Tommy Dorsey with “Down By The Station”. Of the Italians, there’s a laundry list of Tony Martin (“Comme Ci, Comme Ca”), Vic Damone (“Again”), Perry Como (“By The Way” and Frank Sinatra (“The Huckelbuck”) while the big toned crooners like Tony Martin fill he room with “Riders On The Storm” or Vaughn Monroe with “Someday”. Lots of novelty pieces such as Tennesse Ernie Ford on “Mule Train”, Jogi Jorgesson on “Yingle Bells” and the timeless Spike Jones on “Dance of the Hours”. Girl next door cutie pies coo along, such as Jo Stafford (“Here I’ll Stay”), Doris Day (“Canadian Capers”) and Dinah Shore (“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”). There were still some vocal groups such as the Ames Brothers harmonizing on “You, You, You Are The One” and The Mills Brothers bringing velvet voices and a guitar to “I Love You So Much It Hurts Me”. Of course there is always Bing Crosby, and he was still dominating the airwaves with hits like “Galway Bay”.
After WWII, people either wanted to dance or smooch, so romance was in the air. Although bebop was starting to brew, no one on the white side of the tracks was listening; as people started moving to suburbia, they wanted calm and assurance, not challenges, and these song delivered sounds to a world looking for rest, and delivered it well.