A variety show regular throughout the 60s and 70s, Clark was no stranger to the televisual convention of sharing the stage with fellow big MOR stars. This collection, culled from recordings stretching back four decades, sees her swap lines with usual suspects Sacha Distel, Perry Como, Anthony Newley and Matt Monro.
It’s a charming enough souvenir of a time when Saturday night music TV didn’t rely on open auditions for West End shows or the humiliation of micro-talented wannabes, but hardly the stuff of legend. Bobby Darin saddles up for All I Have To Do Is Dream, while the Everlys themselves are relegated to harmonies on Joe South’s Games People Play, each track giving the impression of more than capable singers reduced to reading autocues and bemoaning a lack of rehearsal time.
The opening Corner Of The Sky differs slightly from the pack. A Clark vocal from last year clumsily grafted onto a Dusty Springfield recording from 1974, it’s indicative of the general cut-and-paste vibe of the whole project. Not a patch on the pocket pop symphonies Tony Hatch sculpted for our Pet in her sophisticated heyday.
