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Fabian was an archetypal example of the coterie of teen idols who came to the fore in the wake of rock ‘n’ roll, as the artist managers and producers sought out good-looking teenagers who they thought could be moulded into potential pop stars marketed to the huge receptive teen market, regardless of whether they were particularly talented or not. Born Fabian Forte in Philadelphia in 1943, he was from that city’s Italian-American community, as were some of the entrepreneurs who owned the successful record companies based there. He was spotted by Robert Marcucci, co-owner of Chancellor Records, who already had Frankie Avalaon under contract, who persuaded the 15-year-old and his family that he could be a star. This 67-track 2-CD collection comprising the A & B sides of his singles on the Chancellor and Dot labels from these years, along with selected tracks from his albums “Hold That Tiger”, “Fabulous Fabian”, “Good Old Summertime” and “Rockin’ Hot”. It features all his career chart entries including the Top 10 hits “Hound Dog Man”, “Turn Me Loose” and “Tiger”, plus “I’m A Man”, “Come On And Get Me”, “This Friendly World” and more. Disillusioned, he left the record business in 1963 and went into movies. This collection is a substantial and reasonably comprehensive musical narrative of the major part of the career of a reluctant teen idol.
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