Customer Reviews

Turn Me Loose: Very Best of

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fabian was probably the worst singer ever to become a major recording artist(until Bjork).Fabe never claimed he could sing-he told the managers who were impressed with his stricking good looks and wanted to "make him a star",that he couldnt sing.It didn't seem to matter.In '59 the kid from Philadelphia had a string of hits,and for a while was a "substitute" Elvis for millions of girls,while the King was in the army.The surprising thing is that so many of Fabian's discs were good tough rock and roll-very much against the grain of the new "teen idol" sound coming to the fore in '59,and epitomized by Fabe's "Chancellor" records label mate Frankie Avalon's hit "Venus".Fabian's career was in good hands.Fine song writers like Pomus and Shuman,were used.The instrumentation on discs like "Got the feeling" was so powerful you suspect the producers were deliberately out to bury Fabe in the mix,to hide his flat tuneless voice,and to an extent they pulled it off.Songs like "Come on and get me","Tiger","Turn me loose","Got the feeling", "I'm a man"(great guitar),work as little rock and roll gems.It's when we come to the ballads and slower songs that Fabe is in real trouble-he can no longer be rescued by the session musicians.Listening to his off key rendition of say "This friendly world",is not pleasant.
Stan Freberg certainly had Fabian nailed as instant teen idol "Clyde Ankle",on his brilliant parody,"The Old Payola Roll Blues"(Session musician-"you need a teen idol man",Producer-"oh..right-I'll just go and get one"-the producer quickly returns with the first kid he happened to meet on the street outside);but the irony is that Fabian's records gave rock and roll some fine moments.Going to show that authenticity often has little to do with great pop,as long as there are good writers,session musicians and producers around.
Fabian's hits and more are on this collection;enjoy the driving rock and roll and forgive Fabe for his inadequecy on the slow stuff,where cunning production can no longer hide the flat voice-he didn't have any idea of being a singer until he was made an offer he couldn't refuse.

I'M GLAD THIS C.D. EXISTS BECAUSE YOU DON'T HEAR VERY MUCH ABOUT FABIAN FORTE ANYMORE. HE WAS SOOO POPULAR IN HIS DAY, THAT LIKE ANNETTE, HE WAS KNOWN SIMPLY FOR HIS FIRST NAME ONLY.WE ALL WANTED TO LOOK LIKE FABIAN BECAUSE HE DOMINATED THE TEEN MAGAZINE COVERS WITH FEMALE MASS APPEAL ONLY SECOND TO ELVIS. THOUGH HE WAS NOT A GREAT SINGER, FABIAN HAD ENERGY IN HIS VOICE AND EXTREMELY GOOD LOOKS. FABIAN HAD THE BEST POMPADOUR IN ROCK HISTORY! THOUGH HE WAS SORT OF A MANUFACTURED TEEN IDOL, HE MADE IT! THIS C.D. CONTAINS ALL HIS BIG HITS LIKE "TIGER", WHICH WAS HIS TRADEMARK (HE WAS OFTEN PICTURED WITH TOY TIGERS AND ELVIS WITH TEDDY BEARS FOR HIS HIT "TEDDY BEAR".IF YOU WANT TO RELIVE THE FABULOUS 50'S, THEN ADD THE FABULOUS FABIAN (AS HE WAS KNOWN) TO YOUR COLLECTION!

Fabian Forte, due to his good looks, was one of the first young people to be manufactured to take advantage of the young singer craze that continues today; this was the Elvis-Ricky craze of the late 50s, particularly the "South Philly" faction a la Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell. The difference was that ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE COULD SING! Fabian did the movie "Hound Dog Man" and amateurishly sung the "theme song". He had a role in John Wayne's "North to Alaska" (gratefully, Johnny Horton sung ITS theme song) and a small part in "The Longest Day" (re World War II's D-Day) after his star had declined. Along the way, he also had a hit of "Tiger", another song that would not challenge an average karaoke singer today. We mustn't forget "Turn Me Loose", arguably the best of his tunes. They are all on this CD. They are an interesting footnote but should not be counted among the great songs of the era. If you have money to burn, buy this CD. Fabian's in his 60s now; maybe he'll get a piece of the action.

This ablum is one of two cds of his that I know exist. It is the better of the two. It has many of his hits on it. If you really want to listen to all his songs you'd have to get his lp's or 45's as I guess a cd market just doesn't exist for this once fab teen idol. Fabian as many people know can't sing, infact sometimes it's like listening is a form of torture or just plan awkward. But never the less many people love him. His music is fun and if you look at it like that you can get over the baritone voice and twist the night away like a tiger!

It's said that, when Stan Freberg put out his biting 1960 parody hit The Old Payola Roll Blues, the song's hero, Clyde Ankle, was created with Fabian Forte in mind.

Whether that's true or not only Stan can say, but there can be no doubt he was "manufactured" by Chancellor owner Bob Marcucci, and it is equally certain that his success as a singles artist owed more to his good looks than to any great singing ability. Elvis he was not. In fact, he never even came close to Chancellor stablemate Frankie Avalon in that respect.

But hey, he did cut some entertaining discs that obviously struck a chord right across the musical spectrum as Tiger [b/w Mighty Cold], his # 3 smash in summer 1959, also made it to # 15 on the R&B charts. The Beatles never had that honour. He also had nine other charters, three of them double-sided hits - Come On And Get Me [# 29] b/w Got The Feeling [# 54] in the fall of 1959, Hound Dog Man [# 9] b/w This Friendly World [# 12] in December 1959, and About This Thing Called Love [# 31] b/w String Along [# 39] in March 1960.

This Collectables compilation gives you all ten hits plus nine of the B-sides, with the only one missing being Long Before which was the flipside of his last hit, Kissin' And Twistin' in November 1960 [# 91].

While it's easy to mock Fabian, and pass him off as one of the worst aspects of the changing music scene in 1959/60, he clearly did appeal to a pretty large audience, even if only for a brief time, and if you're among those who enjoyed his music back then, this is sure to stir up old memories.

A very nice package that will certainly find favour with completist collectors.