Live At The London Palladium

This unlicensed British compilation CD of live performances recorded at the London Palladium in the 1950s collects the contents of two 10" LPs and an EP by three Americans, none of which were released in the U.S. at the time or since. Least remembered of the three is Robert Horton, whose four-song Pye Records EP of show tunes, Sunday Night at the London Palladium, leads off the disc. At the time the recordings were made on December 27, 1959, however, Horton was a big star on both sides of the Atlantic, albeit not for his singing. He was the featured actor on the popular Western TV series Wagon Train, and that helps explain his humorous patter in between songs. But he also proves to be a powerful vocalist, his singing suggesting he would be a good choice for a production of Oklahoma! or Annie Get Your Gun. (Indeed, he went on to a career in the musical theater, notably on Broadway in the 1963 show 110 in the Shade.) Rosemary Clooney's stint at the London Palladium in the summer of 1955 is chronicled on her album (tracks 5-15), originally released in the U.K. as Philips Records BBR 8073 in 1956. (Selections from it appeared on her 10" LP Live on Stage on Columbia Records in the U.S.) She teases the enthusiastic audience by alluding to her recent motherhood in a performance of Cole Porter's "It's De-Lovely" and sends up her ethnic pop novelty hits like "Come On-a My House." She is also careful to perform her three most then-recent British Top Ten hits, the number ones "This Old House" and "Mambo Italiano," plus "Where Will the Dimple Be?" They earn her generous applause, but that's nothing compared with the female screams that greet matinee idol Johnnie Ray's April 5, 1954, appearance (originally released on the Philips LP BBR 8001; tracks 16-26). Ray sings only one of his U.K. hits up to that date, "Somebody Stole My Gal," but he heavily plugs his new single, "Such a Night," performing multiple encores of it, and the wild reaction anticipates its jump to the top of the British charts. Fans seem just as familiar with earlier favorites like "Cry," and the performance as a whole goes a long way toward explaining Ray's appeal to his young fans, English and American. ~ William Ruhlmann|