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Here is a highly arbitrary and personal selection of the best and worst personality records. They are listed in no particular order and are judged for concept and packaging as much as performance, since none of the stars was considered a professional singer.
Recording stars who made movies (i.e., Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Doris Day) are not included, nor are such musical personalities as Betty Grable, Alice Faye, Betty Hutton and Dick Powell, who have numerous albums available. (Alice Faye, perhaps surprisingly to some, has a larger section in many record stores than some conventional pop singers of today.)
Stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Mae West and Marlene Dietrich are included, since their musical abilities were secondary to their other attributes.
I have also omitted any albums on which I was personally involved.
(Where out-of-print albums have changed ownership, I have indicated who currently controls the masters.)
THE BEST:
"Va-Va-Voom!" (Rhino)-Exquisite packaging includes a full-color booklet and pink vinyl disk that can never be captured by a CD. A generous sampling of such screen sirens as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, Ann-Margret, Diana Dors and Sophia Loren.
"Never Before and Never Again" (DRG)-While all of the above ladies made solo albums that can still be found and...