Hooked On Classics 3: Journey Through The Classics (1983)

UK import

Louis Clark conducting The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

I was casually flipping through a few of the CDs I inherited from my father and - HAVE MERCY! - looka what I found! Sadly, this third volume was the only one I could locate, but I must spin it post haste to satisfy my appetite for nostalgia. My crack staff tells me this album was certified gold which absolutely amazes me. We sure did love our disco medleys back then. I'm looking at you Stars on 45, Beach Boys, Beatles, Hooked On Swing, Pop Goes To The Movies, and so on.

For those not around in the early 1980s, here's the premise for these things: take a bunch of familiar tunes, arrange a medley, put it to a backbeat. It was simple, quick to produce, and certainly popular. Plus, the classical music was all in the public domain and music executives just love not having to pay royalties. I can just picture the classically-trained musicians leaving this recording session shrugging and thinking, "Meh. It's a paycheck." and heading to the pub.

The original Hooked On Classics single hit #10 on the Hot 100 in January 1982.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #89
• CashBox: #80

Tracks:

The music is hypnotic. And by that, I mean I often found myself staring blankly at the wall in some sort of bizarre trance state while this thing played. My initial excitement with this CD discovery waned quickly upon hearing. Normally being cheesy ain't easy, but it just might be in this case. And 41 minutes of cheese gives poor Mark the collywobbles, especially bad tracks like Dance Of The Furies and Hooked On Rodgers & Hammerstein. It ain't all backbeat, though - Hooked on Romance gives us a taste of Mantovani and, of course, there's bagpipes on Scotland the Brave and tin whistle on the hokey Journey Through America.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. And I'm hoping I can block today's listen out of my memory.