Various Artists - Room Service (Album)
Room Service – The Ultimate Soundtrack is a mammoth retro collection of signature tunes from iconic pop and nostalgia stars of yesteryear. This compilation features all the usual suspects you would expect from a chilled out “lounge” album from the 1960 and 70s period, such as Jose Feliciano, Tom Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Burt Bacharach. In addition to the main stables, it features tracks from over two dozen artists that would even sound unfamiliar to your local easy listening radio station.
The good thing about compilation albums is that it gives the listener a taste of a number of artists, all in one serving. The bad thing is often it only scratches the surface of any particular genre. However it’s not the case with this collection, with some forty plus tracks on offer.
Disc one begins with Jose Feliciano’s rendition of The DoorsLight My Fire. Felicano and Morrison may share the same song, but that’s where the similarities end. Feliciano’s rendition is a cool and smooth jazzy number and earned him big status in the 60s. We are treated to Julie London’s smoky signature tune Black Coffee and then the all-too-familiar Alfie by Cilla Black. Paul Jones’ short and sweet I’ve Been a Bad, Bad Boy provides a brief glimpse of rock and to be frank, only serves as an interlude to the more than iconic Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield.
Halfway through disc one and the feeling is good with this collection. We are treated to familiar favourites, amongst lots of jazzy soul and wonderful upbeat melodies. The inclusion of Ramsey Lewis Trio’s instrumental cover of The Beatles'A Hard Day’s Night is a very funky addition to the mix. The big hits continue with a couple of sassy numbers like Say a Little Prayer, from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and then Dean Martin’s Cha Cha Cha D’Amour. The tail end of disc one completes with a series of staple hits of the era in Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, Henry Mancini’s Baby Elephant Walk and Jackie De Shannon’s What the World Needs Now is Love.
Disc number two kicks off with The Avengers' theme song and then Donavan’s Sunshine Superman featuring Jimmy Page on guitar. George Benson’s 1976 epic This Masquerade is the most contemporary inclusion, but still appropriate to the mix. The second disc of the collection proves the eclecticism of the era with a wide variation in styles of music. A World of Our Own by Aussie group The Seekers, proves that the foursome were a major musical export back in their day. The second half of the second disc needs no explanation, it’s an arsenal of esteemed artists delivering a consecutive array of hit after hit. Having names like Dylan, Tom Jones, Simon & Garfunkel, Bacharach and Stevie Wonderearn this album its deserved title as the “ultimate soundtrack”.
From the perspective of value for money, this album succeeds tremendously. Whilst one might argue it only scratches the surface of this era, it could be fair to say that this album is quite possibly all you need to cover off the genre of smooth 1960s hits. In addition to all the big guns being present on this album, you also get a taste of some artists you may not have been exposed to before, thus serving as a great introduction to some future music exploration.
