"The Ethel Merman Disco Album" Reviews

[markydefad]

I was amused to see the LA Times review the CD release of The Merm's much trashed/reviled around here & previously discussed 1979 Disco LP. Sandwiched between reviews of the movie soundtrack of "Chicago" and the Broadway revival CD of "Flower Drum Song", writer Daryl H. Miller gives Merman a (2) ** star review (4 **** being best).

"The skeleton is out of the closet, dancing to a disco beat.

Hidden in the darkness for years, it had receded into a sort of urban legend: In 1979, Merman rerecorded some of her greatest hits for a disco album that quickly went out of print. Now reissued, it is everything you'd expect, yet stranger than anything you could have dreamed up.

The disco hallmarks are all there: the relentless pulse, the long rhythmic passages between verses, the chirping backup singers. But Merman conceded little to the style. She sang songs such as "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses" much the same as she always had, with Peter Matz's thumping arrangements fitted incongruously around them.

It's fun to imagine reactions to the album in '79. Did revelers at Studio 54 get a chuckle out of the "Some get a kick from cocaine" lyric? Did the dance floors at gay bars erupt in whoops for the "Something For The Boys" declarations "I'm always doing something for the boys, and they're always doing something for me"?

As for today, well, you'll be swell, you'll be great if you play it at your next dance party."

(I'm amused by Mr. Miller's assumption that this record was ever played in any disco!!!!! This was a record for campy showtune queens (the Judy Garland crowd) to alternately sashay in their caftans, martini in hand and snicker over.)

From the LA Gay paper, Frontiers:

"Ethel Merman is not a name one would associate with disco. Broadway, yes. Showtunes, yes. But disco? In 1979 (the original year that "The Ethel Merman Disco Album" was released on A&M Records), it seemed that everyone was going disco, from rock bands like Blondie, the Rolling Stones and even Kiss, to pop vocalists like Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand, so why not Broadway's biggest star? This cult classic consists of Merman's more well-known numbers grafted to an incessant disco beat with those ever-present hi-hats and horn-and-string sections beefing up the schmaltz (courtesy of producer Peter Matz, who won Emmys for his work as musical director on a ton of '70's TV shows).

Merman's voice (sort of an effervescent bray for those unfamiliar) is in pretty good form for a then-70-year-old woman who never had any vocal coaching. She tries to vary the delivery of the lyrics, but mostly stays fairly close to her original versions. There are only eight tracks (the original seven from the album plus one previously unreleased track, "They Say It's Wonderful"), including her staples, "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses." The songs are extended, naturally, for maximum dancing, and feature long instrumental sections.

One can almost picture Merman on a Saturday-night TV special in a flowing white muumuu with dancers twirling around her in sparkling costumes and huge headdresses. This is extremely fun once-through, but does not stand up to repeated listenings. Since the disco days are a distant memory, only hardcore fans would want to listen to his more than twice. It's great to pull out at a party for a hoot, but the resulting groans form the guests would mean it wouldn't get played far past the first track. Which begs the question: For whom was this originally intended? Bea Arthur types maybe, but certainly the youth market of the day would not have cared to listen to an artist their parents liked. Still it's good clean fun and a must-have for all showtune queens and fans of kitsch!" (Chris Freeman)

The Ethel Merman Disco Album..... Camp Classic or Sacrilege?

Discuss amongst yourselves..... :lol:

[bobbchap]

How great!! I somewhat remember that album. I heard it
back in the days of disco, a friend had it. It was fun to listen to, but I don't recall it at any clubs. I do however recall some songs done by some drag queens I know........... :o ooops I meeeean "Female Illusionists". I'll have me "queer card" taken away for that one.
Anyway, I'll have to get that CD. It seemed like EVERYBODY was doing disco. Gosh!! remember all those Christmas albums done in discos? Classical music done to disco? Mickey Mouse even had disco records out. It was amazing.
I'm glad this is back out. It'll be a "fun CD" to play at parties....I can see it now..... :o ETHEL MERMAN????
She was good......in musicals, she's one of my favorites.

[SandraDee]

I read recently in a magazine here in the UK that a gay club in London were holding a special night to celebrate the release of this 'classic' on CD! :-? (I think the night was called 'Nag Nag Nag' in Tottenham Court Road but I'm not 100% on that).