Tony Orlando - Halfway To Paradise: The Complete Epic Masters 1961-1964

It’s quite hard to believe that there hasn’t been a decent Orlando collection before now. His work during the Brill/Aldon Buildings 60s peak was at least as good as Bobby Vee’s, or any other of the well-anthologised teen acts of that time. The credits on this 27-track collection name check all the greats: Goffin, King, Keller, Weil, Pomus, Shuman, Bacharach, David, Sedaka, Darin, and many others, including Orlando himself. Kicking off with his original title track, Orlando also shines on Some Kinda Wonderful, I’ll Never Find Another You, and his biggest UK hit, Bless You. Many of the arrangements are Carole King’s, representing her command of the best in pop at the time. She is also very likely one of the backing voices that enhance many of the tracks, such as Chills. Not every track is a lost classic. Of particular interest, however, is one album track apparently from 1961: Tell Me Where To Run To is a happy conglomeration of handclaps, foot stomps and piano that anticipates Phil Spector’s work of a year or two later.