Annette Funicello - Annette: A Musical Reunion with America's Girl Next Door

Who's the little lady who's as dainty as a dream?

Annette Funicello was the most popular of the original Mouseketeers on the Mickey Mouse Club. When she sang a song called "How Will I Know My Love?" on the show, many people called and asked how they could get the song, so it was released on a record. That record sold decently, so she made many more records, several of which were hits. She wasn't a great singer, but she could carry a tune, and her records were very well produced. Most of her songs were written by the great songwriting team of the Sherman Brothers, who later wrote the songs for Mary Poppins. Most of these songs are fun, although some of them are kind of silly (which just adds to their charm). This is a good collection of songs by "America's Girl Next Door". January 3, 2008

Still Not Complete - But A Beautiful Set Nonetheless

When I came across this 2-CD box set from Disney I immediately thought that, perhaps at last here was the definitive Annette compilation as surely, among the generous 47 tracks, they would have included all 10 of the hit singles she had from 1959 to 1961, AND their flipsides. I was wrong.

There is STILL no Annette CD containing her version of Talk To Me Baby which was written by Paul Anka and which reached # 92 Billboard Pop Hot 100 for her in late December 1960. Also missing from this set are Ma, He's Making Eyes At Me which backed her first hit, Tall Paul, # 7 in early 1959, and Love Me Forever which was the flip of Jo-Jo The Dog-Faced Boy, a # 73 later that spring. The early pressings of Jo-Jo had Lonely Guitar as the B-side, but when that began to receive more airplay than the A-side Buena Vista quickly re-released it as a single b/w Wild Willie, and it hit # 50.

The other aspects of this box set are fine, including the sound quality, and the two picture discs giving us a couple of nice shots of Annette [one with the prerequisite surf board]. But especially welcome is the 40-page book containing extensive liner notes written by Joe Rhodes and the many wonderful candid pictures of Annette through various stages of her career. These include shots with fellow Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd, Frankie Avalon, Tommy Sands, Guy Williams [from Zorro], orchestra leader Tutti Camarata, Dick Clark, and Paul Anka, as well as album and poster reproductions galore. There is also a nice full-page note from Annette herself.

The only flaws, in fact, are the missing hit and B-sides, and the lack of discography of the contents.
August 21, 2007

A nostalgic delight

OK,so she didn't have a great voice.But Annette Funicello worked hard at her music,and for anyone like me who grew up in that era,this two-CD
collection is a nostalgic treat.It may not be art,but listening to this is
sure good fun.The tunes are still enjoyable,and Annette sings them quite well.And the accompanying book is a nostalga buff's delight.All in all,
this is a wonderful trip down memory lane. October 16, 2006

She had a "Certain Something"

If you are reading this review, you're either old enough to remember Annette Funicello or you are curious and/or fascinated with her and so, I make no apologies for having had a life-long crush on this sweet little lady. She was a triple threat! A Movie Star, TV Star and recording artist; one of the few female "Teenage Idols". Okay, her movies were not memorable, neither were the TV shows. No one ever let her actually DO anything in her movies. It's ANNETTE HERSELF that we remember fondly. This 2 disc CD Box containing an exquisite full-color die-cut booklet is a tribute to her recording career, one which started almost by accident. When called upon to sing on an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club, the usually obedient Annette demurred at first, knowing she had a small (but sweet) voice. It took the sharp ear and persuasive talents of the Multi-talented Tutti Camarata to convince Annette to try recording the song ("How will I know my love") herself. Hence the title of this review. How right Tutti was! As I listen to these recordings today, I realize that Annette, who was never regarded as a Great Singer, had "a certain something" that made her voice unique. That is the mark of a great singer. It must have been frightening for Annette to begin her recording career at age 15 in a day and age when people actually had to be able to SING to land a recording contract. Her contemporaries included Connie Francis, Patti Page, LaVern Baker, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee and even Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. I am not for one second comparing Annette's vocal talents to any of the above mentioned ladies but she certainly gave every session her best shot, aided and abetted by Tutti. She was an instant success, recording a series of Teen Laments, Bubble Gum Rock and Novelties. Back in the early sixties, I used to wonder why Annette was usually stuck with some Kiddie-Bop song by The Sherman Brothers when there were writers like Carole King and Ellie Greenwich around. Now, I realize why Annette's songs were always so naive. The Studio was maintaining her well-deserved image as a "Good Girl" and, in fairness to them, I must say that they were right after all. There is a timelessness and tailor-made quality about many of these songs and performances that most of Annette's contemporary competitors did not possess. Annette's hits are almost all here: "Tall Paul","Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy","Lonely Guitar","Wild Willie","First Name Initial","My Heart Became of Age","Train of Love","Tell Me,who's the Girl","Pineapple Princess" and "Dream Boy" (The last two in true Stereo, a revelaton indeed). Looking at the track listings, I realize that Disney has included at least one song from every Disney Project that Annette was ever involved with. Many of these tracks are rare and many are in Stereo for the first time. Personally, I would have eschewed some of the filler from her early albums in favor of some of the tracks from her excellent Beach Party albums like "Promise Me Anything","California Sun","Treat Him Nicely","Muscle Beach Party" or "How About That". Or perhaps a few of her non-charting singles that deserved better like Carole King's "Dreamin' About You" or "Indian Giver". The most glaring omissions of all are the absence of the original 1958 version of "How Will I Know My Love?" in favor of the 1965 acoustic remake. The remake is lovely, but Disney could have included both versions. Also, the version of Annette's Top Ten hit "O Dio Mio" included here is the Italian version which Disney erroneously claims to be previously unreleased. This is from the "Italianette" LP. The Hit single version certainly should have been included here. And then there is "Strummin' Song", a B-side which is heard here as a simple demo with a Banjo or Uke. Annette doesn't quite make it through the silly song. She breaks up into laughter before she can finish, forcing Tutti to finish singing it for her. It's a charming moment. It's too bad Disney didn't include the finished product for comparison's sake. You can hear the released track with full background and chorus (The Vonnair Sisters) on Disney's OOP CD Set A Legacy in Song. The differences between the two underscore Tutti Camarata's contributions to This and other Disney recordings of the Era. Still, I'm giving this Five Stars. Why? Because I WANT to.If you are a fan of Annette, or The Girl Group Sound of the Late 50's - Early 60's, grab one of these while you still can! And, while they're still affordable.
I recently saw Jessica Simpson "performing?" Nancy Sinatra's signature song "These Boots are made for Walkin'" on Television. It was embarrassing to behold. Ms. Simpson, nearly nude, bumped, grinded, grabbed her private areas, moaned, groaned and wiggled her way through a not-very-hard-to-sing song. She made Nancy Sinatra sound like Ella Fitzgerald. I long for the days when the girls we admired were girls we wanted to marry. Five Stars and three cheers for Annette. February 22, 2006

Annette's personality shines though

Anyone who sat transfixed watching Annette on the Mickey Mouse Club and the various spin-off movies like The Shaggy Dog, will have fond memories of this lovely girl who became a beautiful woman, and I'd strongly recommend her (auto)biography, A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes, which glosses over rather a lot, but reveals a warm, caring woman stricken so cruelly with MS.

But what about the music? I bought Tall Paul and First Name Initial as singles and they still sound good and stand up as representing the innocence of pop music at the time. There are one or two others that are catchy and fun - Pineapple Princess, Mister Piano Man - but I have to say that on the whole, hearing the songs on these two CDs is a painful experience. It helps to look at the nicely illustrated booklet when listening, but the bulk of these songs, with Annette in her Hawaiian (Luau Cha-Cha-Cha), Italian (Please, Please Signore), Dance (Rock-A-Polka) and Beach (Bikini Beach Party) periods, are dreadful. I don't blame her for a moment, though the writers had to accommodate her limited singing range, it's just that the songs sound so utterly bland - dull arrangements, routine back-up voices, embarrassing lyrics, tuneless "melodies". Songs like Don't Jump To Conclusions, Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy and Rock-A-Cha should have been suffocated at birth. Despite all this, somehow, Annette's vivacious personality manages to win the day, but dipping in is recommended, rather than listening to these relentlessly anodyne numbers in one sitting. It's a shame that the best song she ever recorded, Carole King and Gerry Goffin's Dreamin' About You is not included here, and die-hard fans should seek out her take on The Beatles All My Loving for a further example of how poorly she was treated in a recording studio (as she was on screen, but that's another story).

The CDs are nicely packaged in pastel pinks and greens, but this is really one for those of us who were smitten at the time and want to relive some of the innocence of the late 50s and early 60s.

February 14, 2006

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