Fred Astaire - All the Hits and More: The Singles Collection 1923-1942 (CD)

Singer, dancer and actor Fred Astaire became one of the most high-profile personalities in popular entertainment with his legendary screen appearances with Ginger Rodgers and other leading ladies in a succession of movie musicals during the 1930s, '40s and '50s. However, he was also a highly successful recording artist, translating the classic songs from films and Broadway shows into a string of hits, notably featuring the songs of George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, and other top composers of the classic era of the Great American Songbook. This great-value 75-track 3-CD collection comprises most of his releases on the HMV, Columbia (UK & US), Victor, Brunswick and Decca labels during these years. It features all his thirty career hits, including the No. 1s "Cheek To Cheek", "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket", "The Way You Look Tonight", Nice Work if You Can Get It" and "Change Partners" plus Top 10 hits with many other classics of the era like "A Foggy Day", "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" and "Top Hat, White Tie And Tails". Featuring duet recordings with Adele Astaire, and performances with George Gershwin at the piano and with the orchestras of Leo Reisman, Johnny Green, Ray Noble, Benny Goodman, Perry Botkin, Bob Crosby and John Scott Trotter, it captures the spirit of the entertainment that carried the USA through the Depression years.

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Oh Gee! Oh Gosh!
2. The Whichness of the Whatness
3. Fascinating Rhythm
4. The Half of It, Dearie, Blues
5. I'd Rather Charleston
6. Hang on to Me
7. Swiss Miss
8. High Hat
9. My One and Only
10. Funny Face
11. Not My Girl
12. Louisiana
13. Puttin' on the Ritz
14. Crazy Feet
15. I Love Louisa
16. New Sun in the Sky
17. Hoops
18. White Heat
19. I've Got You on My Mind
20. Night and Day
21. Maybe It's Because I Love You Too Much
22. My Temptation
23. Gold Diggers Song
24. Heart of Stone
25. Flying Down to Rio

Disc: 2

1. Music Makes Me
2. Cheek to Cheek
3. No Strings
4. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails
5. Isn't This a Lovely Day?
6. The Piccolino
7. Let Yourself Go
8. Let's Face the Music and Dance
9. We Saw the Sea
10. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket
11. I'd Rather Lead a Band
12. I'm Building Up to An Awful Let Down
13. A Fine Romance (A Sarcastic Love Song)
14. Pick Yourself Up
15. The Way You Look Tonight
16. Bojangles of Harlem
17. Never Gonna Dance
18. (I've Got) Beginner's Luck
19. They Can't Take That Away from Me
20. Slap That Bass
21. They All Laughed
22. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
23. Shall We Dance
24. A Foggy Day
25. I Can't Be Bothered Now

Disc: 3

1. Nice Work If You Can Get It
2. Things Are Looking Up
3. I Used to Be Color Blind
4. Change Partners
5. The Yam
6. Who Cares
7. Just Like Taking Candy from a Baby
8. Me and the Ghost Upstairs
9. Love of My Life
10. Poor Mister Chisholm
11. Dig It
12. So Near and Yet So Far
13. Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye
14. Wedding Cake Walk
15. Dream Dancing
16. I'll Capture Your Heart
17. You're Easy to Dance with
18. I Can't Tell a Lie
19. You Were Never Lovelier
20. On the Beam
21. I'm Old Fashioned
22. Dearly Beloved
23. Doing the Shorty George
24. If Swing Goes, I Go Too
25. This Heart of Mine