Michael Jackson Ultimate Collection CD : An Amazing Boxed Set
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009Since the death of Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop”, he has become more popular than ever, and because of this there are a large amount of CDs hitting the market, that include his hits from the early days to the present. One of the best releases, thus far is the Michael Jackson Ultimate Collection CD Set. Although this 5 disc box set has been available for some time now, it is really the best purchase if you want to always remember the man who has mad the largest impact in the music industry.
This CD set covers hits from back when he was with the Jackson 5, plus his more recent hits and everything in between. The five CD boxed set includes the following titles:
Disc 1: This is a 19 track disc that honors the earlier years of Jackson. Some of the popular titles among the tracks include: ABC, Ill Be There, Ben, Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), Off the Wall and Shes Out of my Life.
Disc 2: There are a total of 11 tracks on this disc that include some hits from his early solo years. There are many tracks that made a large impact on the music world, on disc two. some of these tracks include; Thriller, PYT, Billie Jean, We Are the World, and Beat It.
Disc 3: Here you will find 14 more songs including Bad, Black or White, Dangerous, Dirty Diana and Man in the Mirror.
Disc 4: There are an additional 13 hits on this disc which include Butterflies, You Are Not Alone, and The Way You Love Me.
Disc 5: This disc is the greatest out of the box set. It has 16 videos of amazing hits including the live video of Thriller, Man in the Mirror, Heal the World, Human Nature, and Wanna Be Startin Somethin.
With this box set, there is no reason to have to purchase any of the other new releases that are comping out. It has the greatest mix of his music and also includes videos, which is not available in other discs. It is honestly to most incredible box set that I own.
Frank Sinatra And Nelson Riddle: How It Happened
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009Frank Sinatra is rightful known today as an entertainment icon, but many forget that there was a time when he was just another washed up teen idol trying to reinvent himself artistically and revive his career. After his teen idol stardom ended, Sinatra went through a rough period that he described as ‘all Monday’s’ when his personal life was in shambles, his professional prospects non-existent and his financial status in ruin.
To make things even worse, his bosses at Columbia Records were mis-managing his talent in an ill-advised effort to make him a ‘novelty singer’. This included a short lived pairing with Mitch Miller–the very low point of which was a horrible record called ‘Mama Will Bark’. Here the greatest voice of the 20th Century recorded a duet with a busty actress named Dagmar and a dog impersonator barking and howling in the background. These records were poorly received by the public–not a surprise in retrospect–and in 1952 Columbia Records dumped Sinatra.
In 1953, June Hutton and Jo Stafford brought him to the attention of Capitol Records A&R man Dave Dexter, Jr. This led to a deal with the label, which began an era that many ‘Sinatra-philes’ consider his best work. Frank worked with Axel Stordahl (June Hutton’s husband, with whom he had worked at Columbia) and these sessions produced some decent recordings, including “I’m Walking Behind You” and “Lean Baby”, but nothing incredibly significant. Dexter wanted Frank to try something different, and with Stordahl leaving to accept a job with Eddie Fisher in New York, he agreed reluctantly to a pairing with Nelson Riddle.
To say that the first Sinatra/Riddle session was a success is an understatement, and “I’ve Got The World On The String” is somewhat of a ‘shot heard round the world’ for Sinatra’s career and popular music in general. The Ted Kohler/Harold Arlen song is given new vibrancy with Riddle’s buoyant arrangement and Sinatra’s new found vocal maturity. The song was a modest commercial success at the time, reaching #14 on the single charts, but became a classic. It was also a favorite of Sinatra himself, and he continued to perform the song live, frequently as a show opener, for the rest of his life.
When examined in a modern context, Sinatra’s career ‘reinvention’ is almost mind boggling. It’s difficult to envision a star of today popular with the teenage set–like The Jonas Brothers for example–becoming accepted as a serious vocalist for adults. Sinatra not only became a critical and popular sensation, but would go down in history as arguably the most important entertainer ever in American popular culture. None of this would have happened were it not for the magical pairing of Sinatra with Nelson Riddle.



















