Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits

Jonathan & Darlene Edwards | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Corinthian Records
• ASIN: B0000010KB
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,823 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Comedic Music > General

Editorial Reviews

The alter egos of the husband-and-wife team of Paul Weston and Jo Stafford team up for riotous renditions of Stayin' Alive; Take the "A" Train; I Am Woman; Alabamy Bound; The Last Time I Saw Paris; Autumn in New York , and more. Also includes an exclusive interview.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE PARTY ALBUM TO END ALL PARTY ALBUMS, March 11, 2001

By 

MOVIE MAVEN (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Two extremely talented performers: singer, Jo Stafford and her husband/pianist/arranger/conductor, Paul Weston evidentally used to entertain at parties by performing as the UNtalented Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Their "act" became so popular that recordings had to be made. Everyone knows that there are 8 notes in a scale from Do up again to Do. Not for Darlene. I have a feeling there are 23 notes in her scale and not many of them sound 'right' to normal ears. And her sense of rhythm? Whoa! Jonathan, of course, is right there next to her pumping away at his piano adding more notes & flourishes than the composer actually wrote. Some of the songs on this hysterical album were unknown to me ("You're Blase")and others are famous, such as Cole Porter's "I Love Paris." Every song is done in a version you'll never hear anywhere else....or maybe, if you're really unlucky you will hear your own Darlene and Jonathan whenever friends of yours sit down to entertain you. Perhaps you could give those friends a copy of this album and they'll never play and sing again. This very, very funny CD also comes with a clever interview featuring the Edwards couple, themselves. Here is an example: when asked about recording "Stayin' Alive," Darlene comments, "...I was just trying to get through that song. I didn't really have enough time to let my vocal talents come through because there were an awful lot of words."

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless hysteria, June 9, 2004

By 

Bruce Hodges (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Humor in music takes many forms, but rarely as laugh-out-loud funny as what singer Jo Stafford and pianist Paul Weston accomplish here, appearing as their alter-egos, Darlene and Jonathan Edwards. As Darlene, Stafford has amazing control singing deliberately off-key, and generally mutilating a sheaf of popular standards to utterly hilarious effect. Weston is equally superb at the keyboard, scrambling around with fractured rhythms, phrases that trail off into nothing, and in general matching his wife in seemingly effortless clowning and sophistication.

The city of Paris seems to elicit special inspiration from these two, and you will probably never be able to hear "I Love Paris" again without recalling Darlene's transformation of the song into a somber, out-of-tune valentine. Ditto for the adorably clunky mess made from "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and the bad and resoundingly memorable "April in Paris." In addition to these mangled "oldies," two contemporary tracks are given the star treatment: Darlene's earnest "I Am Woman" (that would probably give Helen Reddy a heart attack), and a hapless "Stayin' Alive" that ends the recording with some stunningly out-of-tune howling. This track alone will probably leave you with your mouth hanging open.

I can't think of another singer/pianist team that combined such superb musicianship with inspired comic timing. One of the funniest recordings ever.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond words, December 12, 2005

By 

S. Stultz (Corvallis, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jonathan and Darlene's Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

I'm delighted that these classic performances are now available on CD. Years ago I had the pleasure (I guess) of seeing Jo Stafford and Paul Weston as "Jonathan and Darlene" on TV, giving their unique interpretation of "I Love Paris." They were just as hilarious to watch as to listen to, with Jonathan smiling blissfully as he bumbled on and around the keyboard, and Darlene leaning seductively against the piano and snapping her fingers -- just off tempo. These recordings, along with Anna Russell's incomparable dissection of Wagner's Ring Cycle, are among the few comedy records that have stood the test of time.