CD REVIEW
– out of this
world !
THE SPOTNICKS/RON GOODWIN/RUSS
GARCIA
él
ACMEM294CD (TT 79:35)
'
Regular readers
will know that normally we only
review new releases but this from
2015 is at such a bargain price
that, brand new for £3.64 from
eBay, it is an absolute steal.
Ron Goodwin’s
12-track album 'Out Of This
World' (39:21) first saw the
light of day as a mono Parlophone
long-player in 1958, with the
stereo version following later
that year. It is a very
imaginative brilliantly
orchestrated suite of pieces,
composed by Goodwin and conducted
by him with a 40-piece orchestra,
depicting an imaginary trip
around the galaxy. It was
produced by the legendary George
Martin.
A delightful
listen from start to finish, the
opening Departure grabs
the attention with some fabulous
French horns, continues with some
nice string writing and includes
the likes of Mercury Gets the
Message, Jumping Jupiter,
Martians On Parade and Playtime
On Pluto, where Goodwin's
genial personality keeps breaking
through in the use of woodwind,
brass and percussion.
The CD's main
attraction for us is topped by a
trio of fun tracks (recorded at
Oriole Studios, London, in 1962)
from the Swedish group, The
Spotnicks: Rocket Man,
Moonshot and Joe Meek's Telstar;
and tailed by a 1958 American
Liberty label release, 'Fantastica
- Music from Outer Space',
written and recorded with his
Orchestra by Russ Garcia, famed
arranger for a myriad of star
vocalists. This is slightly left
field replete as it is with
electronic effects, nevertheless
not unenjoyable. I particularly
liked Goofy Peppl Of Phobus.
Another of the 12 tracks, Volcanoes
Of Mercury, features the
voice of the wonderful Marni
Nixon, ghost singer for Deborah
Kerr, Natalie Wood, Audrey
Hepburn et al. The original
sleeve notes from both LP
releases are retained in the
12-page booklet.
If, like me, you
missed adding this to your
collection, you are urged to grab
it while you can. It is also
available at a still low but
higher price from Amazon
Marketplace – see best-cd-price.co.uk
© Peter
Burt 2022
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