Channel West

UK two CD collection. Listen to any popular British recording of the late 1950s and '60s and the chances are you will be listening to the voices of The Mike Sammes Singers. Theirs is probably one of the one of the oddest and most extraordinary stories in show business; that of singers whom everyone heard but relatively few saw, for years enjoying a perversely anonymous fame. In their heyday, Mike Sammes' playful and impressively versatile singers provided the backing for hundreds of international artists; from Pinky and Perky to the Beatles. As well as smooth vocal textures and musical punctuations for both film and television productions and countless advertising jingles. Along the way, they somehow found time to record a quantity of much admired albums of their own, either as the Michael (or Mike) Sammes Singers, or under such pseudonyms as the Knightsbridge Chorale. In short - for a time - they were everywhere. This two-disc anthology comprises four long out of print albums -the first two historic Mike Sammes Singers long-players, The Melody Moves (1959) and Let's Get Away from It All (1962), complimented by the Singers' exciting collaborations with the skilled arranger, conductor, composer Johnny Gregory, Channel West (TV Western Themes) and The Avengers and Other TV Themes. The collection is rounded out by an array of elusive Sammes singles and EPs, including a swinging Eton Boating Song, recorded for Tony Hatch a Top Rank as The Knightsbridge Chorale.