Today, we’re looking at another three of Demon Music Group/Crimson Productions’ Gold collections!

Almost two decades after his death on May 12, 2001, Perry Como remains one of the most cherished voices in American popular song. Over the course of five decades at RCA Victor, the mellow crooner scored 131 chart hits in the U.S. alone, over 20 gold records, multiple Emmy and Grammy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, and sales of over 100 million records between 1945 and 1970.  Perry’s entry in the Gold series boasts 60 non-chronologically-sequenced songs on 3 CDs. While the collection touches on all aspects of Como’s recording career, the emphasis is on his renditions of familiar pop favorites.

Many of the Italian-American legend’s biggest hits are here, including “Temptation” (in its original 1945 recording), “A – You’re Adorable,” “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes,” “Papa Loves Mambo,” “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom),” “Catch a Falling Star,” “Magic Moments,” “It’s Impossible,” “And I Love You So,” and “For the Good Times.” Among the other selections are songs more closely associated with Como’s friend Frank Sinatra (“You Make Me Feel So Young,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Young at Heart”), classic showtunes (“It’s a Lovely Day Today,” “Send in the Clowns,” “The Best of Times,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone”), movie themes (“The Way We Were,” “Moon River”), and contemporary pop fare (“(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “There’s a Kind of Hush,” “Killing Me Softly with Her Song,” “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Michelle”). A few of the singer’s seasonal classics are also here with “My Favorite Things,” “Greensleeves,” and “Ave Maria.” In every setting, Como’s relaxed, intimate, and warm voice made each song his own, and Gold is a fine introductory sampler of his understated and enduring art.

On the soulful side of the spectrum is a Gold entry from Gladys Knight and the Pips. The Atlanta, Georgia group began performing in 1952, signing in 1957 with Brunswick Records, and earning a hit in 1961 on Vee-Jay with “Every Beat of My Heart.” Gladys, Merald “Bubba” Knight, William Guest, and Edward Patten hit the big time when they joined Motown Records in 1966 and scored such hits as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “If I Were Your Woman,” and “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).” Gladys and the Pips decamped Motown for Buddah in 1973, which is where this compilation – curated by Wayne A. Dickson of the Big Break, Hot Shot, and Groove Line labels – begins. Over 3 CDs and 51 songs, it spans the Buddah years as well as their subsequent period at Columbia Records.

At Buddah, Knight and the Pips scored a remarkable string of top 20 Pop hits, all of which are included here: “Midnight Train to Georgia” (No. 1 U.S. Pop & R&B/No. 10 U.K.), “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” (No. 4 U.S. Pop/No. 1 R&B), “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” (No. 3 U.S. Pop/No. 1 R&B/No. 7 U.K.), “On and On” (No. 5 U.S. Pop/No. 2 R&B), “The Way We Were/Try to Remember” (No. 3 U.S. Pop/No. 6 R&B/No. 4 U.K.), “So Sad the Song” (No. 47 U.S. Pop/No. 12 R&B/No. 20 U.K.), “Baby Don’t Change Your Mind” (No. 52 U.S. Pop/No. 10 R&B/No. 4 U.K.), and “Come Back and Finish What You Started” (No. 15 U.K.). Hits like “Landlord” (No. 3 U.S. R&B), “Taste of Bitter Love” (No. 38 U.S. R&B/No. 35 U.K.) and “Bourgie, Bourgie” (No. 45 U.S. R&B/No. 32 U.K.), all written and produced by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, are also here.

Gold additionally includes a fine selection of equally worthwhile deep cuts such as the Burt Bacharach/Neil Simon co-write “Seconds” (intended for an abortive film version of the musical Promises, Promises), Barry Manilow and Marty Panzer’s heartfelt “All the Time,” and Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher’s touching “You and Me Against the World,” plus single mixes, a previously released session outtake, and extended 12-inch versions. Gladys’ solo career is represented with a trio of tracks: “I’m Coming Home Again,” “It’s Better Than a Good Time,” and “If You Ever Need Somebody.” Phil Kinrade has remastered this fine selection of Knight and the Pips’ classic years at Buddah and Columbia.

David Soul, the star of the television cop drama Starsky and Hutch, burst onto the music scene in 1976 when the ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us,” written and produced by veteran tunesmith Tony Macaulay, reached No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. Soul was no fly-by-night pop star, though; he had paid his dues as a recording artist for the MGM and Paramount labels before Starsky and Hutch propelled him to superstardom.

“Don’t Give Up on Us” is, of course, among the 51 cuts on three discs here, both in its original version and 1999 remake. The British-American singer’s two Private Stock albums (1976’s David Soul and 1977’s Playing to an Audience of One) are sampled on this collection as well as his 1979 Energy Records release Band of Friends, and even 1997’s dAP Records title Leave a Light On. His chart entries (all written or co-written by the prolific Macaulay) are featured, further encompassing “Going in with My Eyes Open” (No. 54 U.S. Pop/No. 14 AC/No. 2 U.K.), “Silver Lady” (No. 52 U.S./No. 23 AC/No. 1 U.K.), “Let’s Have a Quiet Night In” (No. 8 U.K.), and “It Sure Brings Out the Love in Your Eyes” (No. 12 U.K.).

Other highlights include a medley of Graham Nash’s “Simple Man” and Paul Williams’ “Waking Up Alone,” Richard Kerr and Will Jennings’ “I Can’t Afford That Feeling Anymore,” a pair of Charles Aznavour chansons (“Acapella” and “I Drink”), and Ry Cooder and Russ Titelman’s “Tattler.” With so much of Soul’s catalogue out of print (and Band of Friends and The Best Days of My Life never having made it to CD in full), Gold is a welcome reminder of the actor-singer’s way with a classic pop song.

All three titles are out now from Demon/Crimson. You’ll find the track listings and order links below.

Perry Como, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD661, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Magic Moments
2. Papa Loves Mambo
3. Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes
4. Delaware
5. Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)
6. Love Makes the World Go Round (Yeah Yeah)
7. Kewpie Doll
8. Tomboy
9. Mandolins in the Moonlight
10. Moon Talk
11. Catch a Falling Star
12. Glendora
13. Juke Box Baby
14. Tina Marie
15. Walk Right Back
16. Caterina
17. It’s a Lovely Day Today
18. Dream On, Little Dreamer
19. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
20. The Most Beautiful Girl

CD 2

1. Idle Gossip
2. And I Love You So
3. Wanted
4. It’s Impossible
5. For the Good Times
6. More
7. I Know
8. I Think of You
9. I May Never Pass This Way Again
10. I Want to Give
11. (They Long to Be) Close to You
12. Michelle
13. We’ve Only Just Begun
14. Smile
15. Moon River
16. Where Is Love?
17. The Way We Were
18. Feelings
19. We’ll Meet Again
20. Send in the Clowns (Live)

CD 3

1. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head
2. There’s a Kind of Hush
3. You Make Me Feel So Young
4. Young at Heart
5. The Best of Times
6. To Know You Is to Love You
7. Till the End of Time
8. Someday I’ll Find You
9. You Light Up My Life
10. The Very Thought of You
11. You’ll Never Walk Alone
12. A You’re Adorable
13. I’m Always Chasing Rainbows
14. Greensleeves
15. Temptation
16. My Favorite Things
17. Killing Me Softly with Her Song
18. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
19. Bless This House
20. Ave Maria

Gladys Knight and the Pips, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD665, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Where Peaceful Waters Flow
2. Midnight Train to Georgia
3. I’ve Got to Use My Imagination
4. Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me
5. On and On
6. The Makings of You
7. Welfare Man
8. I Feel a Song (In My Heart)
9. Love Finds Its Own Way
10. The Way We Were/Try to Remember
11. Seconds
12. The Goings Up and the Comings Down
13. Money
14. Part Time Love
15. Georgia on My Mind
16. You and Me Against the World
17. Feel Like Makin’ Love
18. Alone Again

CD 2

1. Make Yours a Happy Home (Alternate U.S. Single Mix)
2. So Sad the Song
3. Nobody But You
4. Baby Don’t Change Your Mind
5. Home Is Where the Heart Is
6. I Love to Feel That Feeling
7. Love Is Always on Your Mind (12-Inch Version)
8. Sorry Doesn’t Always Make It Right
9. The One and Only
10. Come Back and Finish What You Started
11. It’s Better Than a Good Time
12. All the Time
13. It’s Up to You (Do What You Do) (7-Inch Version)
14. I’m Still Caught Up with You (7-Inch Version)
15. I’m Coming Home Again
16. If You Ever Need Somebody

CD 3

1. Landlord
2. Taste of Bitter Love
3. Bourgie Bourgie
4. Still Such a Thing
5. Forever Yesterday (For the Children)
6. I Will Survive
7. I Will Fight
8. Baby Baby Don’t Waste My Time
9. A Friend of Mine
10. Save the Overtime for Me (12-Inch Mix)
11. When You’re Far Away (12-Inch Version)
12. You’re Number One (In My Book)
13. Hero (Wind Beneath My Wings)
14. Ain’t No Greater Love
15. My Time (Body Slam Mix)
16. Till I See You Again

David Soul, Gold (Crimson CRIMCD649, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Troubadour
2. (The) Wall
3. 1927 Kansas City
4. Topanga
5. Rider
6. Black Bean Soup
7. Don’t Give Up on Us
8. Piper
9. Mary’s Fancy
10. I Wish I Was
11. Fools for Each Other
12. Nobody But a Fool or a Preacher
13. Dancin’ Jones
14. Bird on a Wire
15. That’s Enough for Me

CD 2

1. Simple Man/Waking Up Alone
2. To a Heart That’s True
3. It Sure Brings Out the Love in Your Eyes
4. I Can’t Afford That Feeling Anymore
5. Jazzman
6. Silver Lady
7. Money
8. How Can You Tell You Got It (If You Don’t Ever Give It Away)
9. Tattler
10. Beachwood Blues
11. Surrender to Me
12. Maybe We Can Work It Out
13. Going In with My Eyes Open
14. Distant Shores

CD 3

1. Acapella
2. Tomorrow Child
3. Carlito
4. Dreamers
5. Let’s Have a Quiet Night In
6. Goodbye Gatsby
7. Mean Old Woman
8. Can’t Change My Heart
9. I Drink
10. You’re a Woman Now
11. Our Lives
12. Tearing the Good Things Down
13. Don’t Give Up on Us (1999)
14. The Dutchman
15. Simple Life