Customer Reviews

Blooming Hits

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3 star:		(1)
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Like others who have posted their reviews of this classic slice of the 1960s, I have very fond memories of this album. My parents owned this record when I was a kid and I remember it being in heavy rotation on the console stereo in our living room, especially on the weekends.
1968 happens to be my favorite year in pop music. Who could argue the significance of the monster hits that came out of that year? Hey Jude, Mrs. Robinson, Dock Of The Bay, This Guys In Love With You, Angel Of The Morning, Hello I Love You, People Got To Be Free and Love Is Blue by Paul Mauriat which spent an amazing five weeks at #1! While I probably didn't realize at that time in my young life how much the music of that year would resonate with me, now as an adult I truly appreciate the greatness of it all. Love Is Blue and the Blooming Hits album are among those I count as the best of 1968 and of all-time for that matter.
A BIG thanks to Collector's Choice Music for resurrecting a true classic. A must for every music collection.

Blooming Hits was first released around the time of Paul Mauriat's most famous hit, "Love is Blue" which came out in 1967. This album has some of Paul Mauriat's greatest hits from the 1960s. If you are after a compilation of Mauriat's work this is probably the best one you will find. I was surprised when collecting "Blooming Hits" on LP there are about 3 or 4 different versions - A New Zealand, American, Japan and French - all seem to have different songs on or song order.

Mauriat also released a 2nd Blooming Hits album "Blooming Hits II" which I hope will be re-released onto CD as well sometime in near future.

Overall, "Blooming Hits" is a well-balanced representation of Mauriat's arrangement of popular music from the 1960s. Sit back and enjoy that wonderfully symphonic "Mauriat sound"... I listen to this LP and CD many times. Definitely 5 stars !

I HAVE THE ORIGINAL LOVE IS BLUE ALBUM WITH THIS ARTWORK BUT THERE ARE SOME SONGS MISSING . MOST NOTABLY THE FLIP SIDE OF THE ORIGINAL 45 AND ALSO ON THIS ORIGINAL ALBUM , PAULS RENDITION OF THE CLASSIC "SUNNY"!
WHERE THE HECK IS SUNNY? HIS TREATMENT OF THIS GREAT POP SONG WAS ON LEVEL WITH LOVE IS BLUE AND SHOULDA COULDA EASILY BEEN A LITTLE HIT AND NOT TO MENTION PART OF THE NEW AGE MUSIC TODAY!
SHUCKS!

This is it - the album with the original Love Is Blue, which captivated my ears when I was just a little kid. A perfect slice of pop and orchestra - the rhythm section just SWINGS on this, instantly giving it a cool groove and a sound like nothing else. This is the version to buy - Mauriat made other recordings of it in the 70's and 80's with synthesizers, but they don't even BEGIN to compare. Unlike the synthesizer recordings, the orchestra in this original is recorded well, with a full, richly textured sound. And at two and a half minutes, there's not one measure wasted. Phenomenal. The rest of the album isn't so great - although the versions of Somethin' Stupid and This Is My Song are like audio cotton candy. The rhythm section is nowhere else to be found here, which is a pity. For those of you who didn't grow up with this, the album might seem to be geared only for the Lawrence Welk and/or Easy Listening crowd; in addition, the album's just under a half-hour in total length. But just $14-$15 for a few marvelous, priceless minutes? Reissue Heaven!

My family used to have this original album back in the 60's, and as a child I listened to it dozens of times. Alas, it disappeared over the years, and I had all but given up hope of ever listening to the original and haunting version of "Love Is Blue". Finally, the album has been released on CD.

Originally labelled "Album No Cinq", and later released on the English-speaking world as "Blooming Hits", it is in this one where Mauriat's version of Love is Blue first appeared (1966). If you like instrumental music untainted by synthesizers or other electronic processing, you're going to love this one!

The chorus is used in only three melodies ("Seuls au monde", "Ces Stupids Mots" and "Adieu a la Nuit"), but in a most excellent way, considering that later on Mauriat has not been so brilliant in using it. From all the disk, "Puppet on a string" and "Love is Blue" made it to the first compilation of "Paul Mauriat's Best" from 1976.

No Mauriat fan should miss this one, and anyone interested in his music should try this CD as an introduction to his "old style" (1963 - 1971).

PS: All dates in "Mauriatology" are marked from the release of this album in France, so the "10th Aniversary Edition" is 1966+10=1976, etc.

Quite simply put, this album is the exemplar of orchestral 60's pop. So subtle, yet intricate and complex, it continues to amaze me after listening to the album for more than 20 years. For the neo-lounge martini fans, this album is a must have!

I bought this ablum when it first came out in the 1960's. "Love Is Blue" was the hit, of course, but the rest of the material is wonderful, too, and has survived the decades very well.

Beautiful sound especially "Adieu to the Night", the song I was searching for a long long time.

I sure like that album cover!

When I was a young man who never seen a woman with any clothes on, well, let's just say I pulled this album off the shelf for more than just the music :)

Now for the music, it's mostly pretty good, mellow, orchestra-driven instrumental music. There's a couple good songs on here such as the version of "Penny Lane" that's remarkable to me for being pretty similar to the Beatles classic (minus the vocals).

Yes, the ULTIMATE instrumental that you've been hearing on classic rock radio for years is right here- "Love is Blue". What a beautiful song. No no, I take that back- what a MAGNIFICENT BEAUTIFUL SONG. There we go! This is the song that got me into instrumental music in the first place, along with ELO's "Fire on High".

With "Love is Blue", well, you can't bake a cake without icing...er, I mean cake. That's a poor way of me trying to describe how brilliant this song is. Just listen to it and try not to cry. Try it, you can't!

Alright, so the other songs come up a little short in comparison, but side two has some stronger material if you ask me, and not just because of "Love is Blue". There's some rather French (or Italian) themes that are rather pleasant.

Buy it now.