Customer Reviews

The Complete Hits of Vic Dana

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Though known mostly for his top-10 "Red Roses For A Blue Lady", Vic Dana placed more than a dozen songs into the top 100 of the pop charts during the 60's. After a few attempts at teen-oriented music, Dana caught his stride when he moved towards more mature, adult material. His silky-smooth tenor found him a following with such tunes as "More", "Shangri-La" and his greatest success, "Red Roses..." The material is mostly romantic ballads with strong melodies backed up by bouncy orchestrations. No musical breakthroughs here - just some very listenable smooth-sounding middle-of-the-road pop.

Of the 18 tracks on the disc, all but one appear in true stereo with a few having been remixed from the session tapes. The excellent sound quality adds to the enjoyment of the material here.

While not as well known as his contemporaries, this disc illustrates why Dana's performances should rank him with some his better-known peers.

I became really interested in Vic Dana through his version of "I Love You Drops" which in my mind is the very best version of that song with very rich orchestral backing. However, his most sucessful song has to be "Red Roses for a blue lady" which went to the top of the Pop chart. In this collection, you will encounter various styles of Vic Dana ranging from the crooners to country style. I particularly like his country style. Vic Dana in my mind did the best version of "Wild Side of Life" in the "I Love You Drop" style and backing but unfortunately this album did not include this lovely song which can only be found in his album "Town & Country".
Some of his better efforts which I particularly like in this CD are "Red red wine, Lying is all we need" and "Big and Little Sunshine". This CD is certainly worth having.

Although Vic Dana was slighted by some, his voice was actually quite beautiful to hear and I always enjoy listening to him sing. Vic's style was terrific; he could really plunge into a song and make it special with genuine feeling and emotion. This CD proves it! The quality of the sound on this CD is excellent and I like the artwork, too.

The album starts with Vic Dana performing at his usual very best on "Red Roses for a Blue Lady;" this number stuns me with its beauty every time I hear Vic sing it. The music that plays fits perfectly with Vic's vocals; and his excellent diction improves his performance all the more. I love it! "Shangri-La" was a big hit for Vic; and Vic handles the love song "More" with panache. Indeed, Vic delivers "More" without ever letting go of a single superfluous note and I'm very impressed. Vic also puts his own stamp on "More" by picking up the tempo a bit and it all holds its own very well. "Love Is All We Need" charms me with its natural beauty and the backup singers are great--not that Vic needed backup but they do sound pretty good anyway.

"Moonlight and Roses" is very easy on the ear; this number lacks nothing--this music is all THAT good. "Garden in the Rain" is also very pretty and listen for Vic to outdo even himself on "Bring a Little Sunshine (To My Heart)." "Bring a Little Sunshine (To My Heart)" features Vic Dana squarely front and center--right where he deserves to be! Vic does this passionately and that's grand. I could never tire of hearing Vic perform this ballad. In addition, "A Million and One" is very well done; and there's yet another gem when Vic sings "I Love You Drops." Listen also for Vic to do a great job on "Crystal Chandeliers" which showcases Vic Dana's vocal talent wonderfully.

"I Will" gets the royal treatment from this terrific crooner and the musical arrangement is thoughtfully done. "Very Good Year for Girls" has a bouncy, upbeat and catchy flavor to it with some mighty fine percussion; Vic sounds great and he never misses a beat! "Red, Red Wine" is another stunner; Vic performs this faultlessly. The album song set concludes with "Little Altar Boy;" "Little Altar Boy" lets Vic open up to use a bit more of his vocal range and it's very moving.

Vic Dana deserves so much more recognition than he gets these days; but maybe that will change with continued sales of CDs like this one. He was unjustly panned by some critics but when I hear Vic sing I can tell he has more talent in his little pinky finger than most "celebrities" will ever have! This is a great CD for his fans; and it makes a fine starter CD for people just discovering Vic's talent and creativity. In addition, people who like middle of the road pop from the 1960s will be charmed by this album.

From late 1961 to mid-1970, Vic Dana had 15 Billboard Pop Hot 100 singles, thirteen of which also scored on the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts, in addition to two more that made the Top 100 AC. For the Dolton label there were 13 hits from 1961 to 1966, two in 1970 for Liberty, and one in 1976 for Casino Records. And with one exception (that 1976 Casino cut, Lay Me Down (Roll Me Out To Sea) which hit # 14 AC in late 1976/early 1977) they are ALL here. For a collector of charted hit singles, this is like finding gold.

Little Altar Boy [# 45 Hot 100 in December 1961 and # 13 on the special Billboard Christmas charts in December 1965], was backed by Hank Levine's Orchestra. Moonlight And Roses (Bring Mem'ries Of You) [# 5 AC/# 51 Hot 100 in late summer 1965], and Crystal Chandelier [# 14 AC/# 51 Hot 100 in December 1965], were both backed by Tommy Oliver's Orchestra, while two 1970 hits, If I Never Knew Your Name [# 14 AC/# 47 Hot 100 in February) and Red Red Wine [# 30 AC/# 72 Hot 100 in June] had the backing of Al Capps' Orchestra. All his other hits feature the music of Ernie Freeman's Orchestra.

In addition you get one, Distant Drums, which was a # 33 AC and a # 114 Hot 100 Bubble Under in late 1966, and two non-charters in Frenchy and A Very Good Year For Girls, along with comprehensive liner notes by Rob Finnis, a London-based consultant to Ace Records.

Vic Dana is one of those artists the hyper-critics loved to pan as a purveyor of "schlock." For instance, Irwin Stambler, the author of the so-called "Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul" showed his disdain when he didn't even consider him worthy of mention. Nor did Rolling Stone in their Album Guide. But, much to their consternation, Vic enjoyed immense popularity in the 1960s.

Thank you Bill Buster and Eric Records for a most complete collection. Highly recommended.

Too bad we didn't have this on CD back in the late 50's. Its great.