Brucie’s knighthood earlier this year finally righted a wrong that had devotees of light entertainment up in arms for ages: a long overdue recognition for man who’s just about to enter his eighth decade in showbiz. Bearing that in mind, it seems awfully mean-spirited to knock a national treasure, but this album isn’t very good.
Maybe it’s because Forsyth has always done his best work on stage or in front of a TV camera; a somewhat infrequent visitor to the recording studio, its clinical surroundings tend to strip our hero of his personality. Also, while there’s no denying his passion and enthusiasm for standards such as Let There Be Love, Night And Day or I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face, they’re songs we’ve heard by infinitely more nuanced and emotive singers many times before – the overdub trickery of the Paper Moon duet with a 1959 Nat ‘King’ Cole especially exposes his vocal shortcomings.
It might have made more sense for Bruce to have released a live album, the warmth generated by a fervent (and forgiving) audience embellishing the exercise with a little atmosphere. Ultimately, though, it’s a charming little keepsake for a certain strata of Strictly… fan, even if it doesn’t warrant the waving of high-scoring paddles.
