Tracey Ullman - Takes On The Hits (CD)

'60s girlgroup meets '80s pop

By redtunictroll  Nov 2, 2002

Ullman's canny mix of coy '60s girlgroup pop and moderne rock-of-the-80s production led to a singing career that was more of a detour (from her comedic acting) than a planned trip. Even more unusually, her early work found its home on one of the UK's... most unusual indies (and the original home of Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe's solo work), Stiff Records. The results, as documented on this compilation, included a string of UK hits, a top-10 in the U.S., a pair of albums and some fine B-sides.Ullman's songlist includes a few originals penned for her by Kirsty MacColl (including the title tracks for both of Ullman's LPs, "You Broke My Heart in 17 Places" and "You Caught Me Out") and producers Peter Collins and Phil Chapman (the "Iko-Iko"-like "Dancing in the Dark"). She also remade several songs from her label's catalog, including MacColl's "They Don't Know" (which gave Ullman a #8 in the U.S.) and Madness' ska-fueled "My Girl" (retitled "My Guy" for Ullman).The bulk of Ullman's catalog, however, consisted of 60s girlgroup and girl-singer songs such as Sandy Shaw's "Long Live Love," Dusty Springfield's "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" and "Little By Little," Doris Day's "Move Over Darling," Marcie Blaine's "Bobby's Girl," Connie Francis' "Where the Boys Are," and The Shangri-Las "Give Him a Great Big Kiss." All were produced with a big studio sound that nodded to Phil Spector (and the drama of Shadow Morton), but kept its feet planted firmly in the aural conventions of '80s radio.Varese's seventeen track collection joins a pair of earlier Ullman compilations, both titled "The Best of Tracey Ullman." Rhino's 20-track collection was originally issued in 1992, and Metro Music's 21-track disc dropped earlier this year; both are still in print. All three collections include the well-known hits and album sides, leading to significant overlap. This disc includes three tracks ("Little By Little," "Where the Boys Are" and "Alone") not anthologized on the other releases. Read more Less