Eddy Howard Collection 1939-55 (2-CD)

Eddy Howard, although not necessarily a household name these days, was a hugely popular and successful singer and bandleader during the 1940s and early '50s, racking up more than 40 Billboard pop chart hits from 1946 to 1955, having already had half-a-dozen hits as vocalist with Dick Jurgen's Orchestra during the war years. As a singer, he was a classic crooner, competing for chart honours with the likes of Dick Haymes, and he scored two landmark No. 1s with the ballads To Each His Own in 1946 and It's No Sin in 1951. They are naturally included in the great-value 52-track collection, which selects recordings from his Vocalion sessions with Dick Jurgens and his solo singles for the Majestic and Mercury labels through into the '50s, as well as some classy jazz titles for Columbia where he records with Teddy Wilson, Charlie Christian, Benny Morton and Bud Freeman among others. It is packed full of hits, featuring just about every one of his chart entries, including with more than twenty Top 10 successes. It's a worthy tribute to an artist who has not received the recognition that his success during that era merited, and is a must for lovers of the style that characterised what many regard as the golden era of popular music.