Vic Damone

Another crooner. The world was full of crooners; they were mainstream. In the 60s crooners became “your parents’ music.” Then they became fossils, as the rock and roll generation became adults. I don’t know what their status is now; there are some around, I think they are some kind of esoteric taste in today’s world.

I got this album at one of those fundraising sales, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, or Winnipeg Folk Festival perhaps. I don’t remember the exact name. Damone had 5 Columbia hits on the top 100, and 3 are on here. He also had one on Mercury, and one of Warner Brothers, by the way.

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Vic Damone:

• On The Street Where You Live – Describes a romantic obsession as if it were the normal course of a relationship. Damone’s biggest hit, from the summer of 1956.
• Maria – From West Side Story.
• If I Ever Would Leave You – A backhanded song of romantic commitment
• We Kiss In A Shadow – A song of illicit romance. Cf Walk On By by Leroy Van Dyke, Dark End Of The Street by James Carr, Me And Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul, Kiss And Say Goodbye by The Manhattans, 90 Miles An Hour On Dead End Street by Hank Snow, all of which are better than this one.
• Almost Like Being In Love – The must be a word to describe the phenomenon of describing something by calling not exactly the thing; well that’s what this song is. Damone steps a bit into Tony Bennett territory with this one, but Bennett does it better.
• Gigi – This is a movie, or a play or something. A song about a girl that’s grown up; she used to be small, now she’s not. From the spring of 1958.
• The Second Time Around – About, what? A second marriage, the reunion of old lovers? Love is more comfortable, he sings, but is that what we’re after?
• The Pleasure Of Her Company – A song about a great date.
• An Affair To Remember – I don’t think it’s about an affair affair. But maybe it is. See We Kiss In A Shadow. From the fall of 1957.
• Separate Tables – These aren’t people who have separated, this is about people who have not yet met.