An attempt was made to leave the comment below. The fact that Avery Vandenburg was actually Mickey Stevenson seemed to have been missed [[or I didn't read carefully enough to catch it).
Avery Vandenburg was a pseudonym used by Mickey Stevenson. Along with Ron Miller and others, many songs were written in this style [[old time-cabaret) during the 1963 to 1966 period. Some were prominently featured on Billy Eckstine's Prime of My Life while others remained in the can until released as bonus materials on various projects by Andy Skurow & Company at UMG.
There's A Place is a great album although not necessarily for the quality of the tracks themselves. It definitely shows the girls are versatile and talented singers and showmen. And it's a thrill to hear the 3 part harmony and the real GROUP approach here. Mary and Flo aren't a relegated to the background as they would be on R&H.
my one issue is the quality of the backing tracks. they're good but could be better. the brass can get a bit overwhelming and it lacks the smoothness of the tracks that were developed for R&H.
but it's a fascinating collection to see their progression and growth. both that of the girls and of the producers!
biggest let down for me was "All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings" originally a huge hit for Paul Anka..Ross' performance, which I was hoping would be spectacular, wasnot..but then, when this was recorded,it was still early days for the development of the Ross vocal persona..
Don't you all remember how EXCITED everyone was when this released?
Yes I do! It was the beginning of many exciting surprises from Hipo Select. A fun time to be a fan...
I remember all this talk of TAPFU TAPFU TAPFU and it took me AGES to finally figure out what TAPFU was, LOL.
I ordered on the day it was released and I waited, and waited, and waited. Never showed up. So I got in touch with Hip-O and they sent out another copy. The second copy came, but I was pretty upset: these were "numbered" editions, and this second CD had a number much higher than it should have been, if it was sent the first time.
Lo and behold, like SIX MONTHS LATER, I got a completely mangled package in the mail, and inside was the FIRST CD, numbered like 150 or something like that.
So I have two copies, the lower of the two never opened!
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