Golden Age of Light Music: The Show Goes On

Personnel: Winifred Atwell (piano).
Audio Remasterer: Alan Bunting.
Liner Note Author: David Ades.
Arrangers: Angela Morley; Robert Farnon .
The Show Goes On, a volume in Guild's The Golden Age of Light Music Series, is aptly named as it consists mostly of pieces that would qualify as "curtain raisers," brief overture-like works recorded by British orchestras between 1942 and 1957. This disc boasts a whopping 29 tracks, most of which could qualify for the opening and/or bumpers of a "Million Dollar Movie" on television of the '60s, and indeed, some of these things were designed for such use, as Len Stevens' "Television Playhouse" (1957) theme attests. Others, such as Bob Haymes' "Curtain Time" (1952) do activate those very dead brain cells somewhere deep in one's memory and make the listener wonder, "Where have I heard that before?" There aren't many duds in this collection, though Eric Rogers' "Startime" (1956), featuring pianist Winifred Atwell and Frank Chacksfield's orchestra and chorus, is pure kitsch, and the disc's use of Harry Rabinowitz' "Back Stage" (1955) seems a tad off center. Outside of a transparent and very lovely Robert Farnon orchestration of "If I Had a Talking Picture of You," there isn't much to leaven the feeling of happy anticipation and the curtain rising at the end, and listening straight through to such a long program, one can easily get sick of it. Listening in short stretches should make the best use out of The Show Goes On, and radio programmers should definitely be aware of this Guild disc, as it provides a wealth of classy and familiar sounding bumpers that work just as well in the current context as they did back in the Golden Age of Television. Sound quality, apart from the Rabinowitz track, is somewhat variable, but generally very good, and musically there is a lot to enjoy here. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis