The Hits Collection 1937-55

The Andrews Sisters were one of the most prolifically successful vocal groups in the entire annals of popular music, beginning their chart success in the late ‘30s and then acquiring a central role in the way that music responded to the challenges of World War II, before racking up many more hits in the immediate post-war era before the complexion of the business changed as the ‘50s got under way. Their close harmony style was well-matched to the arrangements favoured by the swing era orchestras who were their contemporaries, and their cheery, upbeat records, often using novelty-flavoured material, were something of an antidote to the sentimental songs which characterised the war years, and their adoption of military uniform-styled stage clothes identified them closely with the war effort. This great-value 125-track 5-CD set comprises all their recordings which made an appearance in any of the charts which existed through the period, plus a few other A sides, and includes their hits with other artists – Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes, Jimmy Dorsey, Burl Ives, Ernest Tubb, Guy Lombardo, Carmen Miranda and Russ Morgan, as well as the later Patty Andrews solo hits. It naturally features all their best-known hits, including the No. 1s “Bei Mir Bist Du Schön”, “Shoo-Shoo Baby”, “Rum And Coca Cola”, “I Can Dream, Can't I” and “I Wanna Be Loved” and their wartime classics “Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. It’s a comprehensive overview of their chart career, and a substantial and nostalgic visit to an evocative musical era.