I get a heart full of butterflies looking into your dreamy eyes....

No one’s accused Perry Como of being too cool. Making Pat Boone look like a hooligan, Como was the stalwart from the 40’s that was dragged kicking and not-so-screaming into the rock era. In fact, according to the liner notes, he had this to say about Elvis himself: “When I hear ‘Hound Dog’, I have to vomit a little, but in 1975 it will probably be a slightly ancient classic.” Bitter a little, eh? Well like Sinatra, Martin, and Davis, Como persevered in the 60s (though to less success than Frank), before hitting big again with a short early-70s comeback. The Essential 60’s Singles Collection puts together his singles from the decade to fill in a gap in the major artists’ career. And as representative of the adult contemporary music of the time, most of the collection comes up blander than expected. Starting off with “Delaware”, a novelty march of puns that belongs more on a Barney album, doesn’t set the tone well (though it was huge in England and to a lesser extent here in the States). However, following that is the collection’s best track, “I Know What God Is”, where Como allows himself to actually belt out and give you the full impression of his singing. Those types of moments are few and far between, with “The Father Of Girls” coming the closest to that, and the softly swinging “Dream On Little Dreamer” being the most laid-back of these “cardigan” songs. There’s a couple more OK songs here, like a bouncy “Make Someone Happy”, the Italian-wedding-cute “Caterina”, and the by-the-book pop of “Here Comes My Baby” and “Stop And Think It Over”. Otherwise Como’s immersed in kitsch (“Oowee Oowee”, “Coo Coo Roo Coo Coo Paloma”, “Forget Domani”), banality (“You Looked Back”), or oversentimentality (“Sunshine Wine”). The upsides of the collection are its sound (very crisp and clear) and its completeness. For Perry’s fans, who mostly should be women in their 80s, this collection definitely fulfills its purpose. It has everything of worth he put out in the 60s. But beware, his best material came both before and slightly after this.

Grade: C
Best Cuts: “I Know What God Is”, “Dream On Little Dreamer”, “The Father Of Girls”
Weakest Links: “Delaware”, “Oowee Oowee”, “Forget Domani”

"Delaware" hit #22 pop singles, and #3 in the UK.
"I Know What Love Is" hit #81 pop singles.
"Make Someone Happy" made #80 pop.
"You're Following Me" made #92 pop.
"Caterina" hit #23 pop, #6 Adult Contemporary, and #37 in the UK.
"(I Love You) Don't You Forget It" hit #39 pop, and #16 AC.
"Dream On Little Dreamer" made #25 pop and #3 AC.
"Oowee Oowee" made #88 pop and #18 AC.
"Coo Coo Roo Coo Coo Paloma" hit #128 pop and #12 AC>
"Here Comes My Baby" hit #124 pop.
"Stop! And Think It Over" made #92 pop and #1 AC.
"I Looked Back" made #11 Adult Contemporary.
"You Made It That Way" hit #2 AC.
"The Father Of Girls" hit #92 pop singles, and #10 AC.
"Happy Man" made #134 pop and #12 AC.
"Seattle" made #38 pop and #2 AC.
"Sunshine Wine" hit #18 AC.
"That's All This Old World Needs" hit #37 AC.

Buy: You can pick up a copy of Perry Como's The Essential 60's Singles Collection at websites like here and here.

Listen: "I Know What God Is"

And here's a video featuring his theme from Here Come The Brides, "Seattle"...



And if you're a little patient, as a tie-in to last week's CD, here's Como's TV special from the Bahamas from 1980 with Captain & Tennille singing "Happy Together" at the 2:53 mark...