Customer Reviews

Billboard Pop Memories: 1940-1944

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"Billboard Pop Memories: 1940-1944" is the third collection in this series from Rhino dealing with the pre-rock years of popular music. The first two albums were restricted to an entire decade, which is rather limiting when you are only going to have 10 tracks, but at least for the 1940s we get a pair of albums dividing the decade in half. At this point in American music history (the years of World War II) the big bands are still dominant, which means big names like Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Artie Shaw (and their orchestras), all of who get one hit apiece here including the classics "In the Mood" and "Stardust." This speaks to what might be the biggest problem with this album: if you are a fan of big band music you must already have these songs in your music library. Der Bingle is the biggest singer in the land and you probably already have his hit "Swinging on a Star" as well, same thing with "Don't Fence Me In" by the Andrews Sisters. What you might find new and of value here would by "Paper Doll" by the Mills Brothers and "You'll Never Know" by Dick Haymes & the Song Spinners. As is always the rule with the Billboard hit collections, the question is whether you can find five or more tracks you do not already own that make picking up this CD worth it.

This CD may not be the most extensive compilation of hits from the years 1940-1944, but it's a fine place to start if you don't have much of a collection of music from that era. As another reviewer correctly notes, fans of this genre of music will probably have most if not all of these tunes already on other CDs.

These songs are all easy on the ear from "I've Heard That Song Before" to "Frenesi;" "I'll Never Smile Again;" "You'll Never Know;" "Don't Fence Me In" (a personal favorite of mine); the dynamic "In the Mood" and the closing track, "Stardust."

There is some surface noise but you'll still be more than able to thoroughly enjoy the high quality of this music. This is classic music that could never truly go completely out of style and that's grand.