Tina’s blasts from the past

I remember Tina Arena from 10 years ago. She was this singing sensation from Australia, a slight teen-aged girl with big, beautiful eyes and an even bigger voice, wowing everyone with her first hit Chains. If I remember right, she also did the Zorro theme I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You with Marc Anthony. But not much else. Last I heard she was recording mostly in French and those CDs are not available locally.

Then last week I got a new Tina Arena album, Songs Of Love and Loss. And I thought, what on earth is Arena up to? She stopped recording in English for years and now returns with an oldies collection. Well, just like here in the Philippines, the nostalgia bug is probably also raging strong in the land down under and Arena has been infected.

However, it is a fact that despite the lack of hit songs these past few years, Arena remains an exceptional vocalist who can create an event out of anything she sings. This is what made me take another look at the album and I was surprised to find out that she has decided to remake iconic recordings of some of the biggest female singers of our time.

This is usually a no-no among younger stars. For females, the rule is you can only do a Diana or a Dusty song if you can do it in a totally different way or if you can do it better. The better seldom happens so I really thought that Arena has a lot of gall to take up this big a challenge. Take a look at what she has in the album.

There are the well-remembered hits of the late Dusty Springfield. The Look of Love, I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself, I Only Want to be with You and The Windmills of Your Mind. She also takes on Carole King with So Far Away; Lulu with To Sir with Love; Kate Bush with The Man with the Child in his Eyes; and a really big challenge in Do You Know Where You’re Going To and Love Hangover by Diana Ross. Would you believe that Arena even covers herself with Everybody Hurts and Woman.

New does not necessarily mean better and I will always prefer the original versions of these classics. But I have to give Arena credit for being in great voice throughout and the great interaction with the orchestra. Best of all though she should be credited for working meticulously on every cut. It is details like these that make the difference in covers albums.

Arena probably went in search of untapped nuances to explore, like the jazz tones in The Look of Love or the Latin flavor in Windmills of Your Mind. She decided on which ones to rock, To Sir with Love, and which ones to strip, So Far Away or what effects to add like the sound of raindrops on The Man with the Child in His Eyes and which one to keep the same, Do You Know Where You’re Going To.

Good work but in the long run what carries the day in such albums are the songs and their memories.

Music of the Sixties

This reminds me of Music of the Sixties, which is probably the best collection from EMI’s Best 100 Series. It is made up of four discs of original recordings from what is probably the most exciting period in popular music. Many of the songs were later covered by better artists and better producers but like I said earlier, the originals will always sound best. There is a raw quality in these masters that is impossible to duplicate and thanks to technology, these are now once more available to us.

The CDs also got me thinking. What indeed is ‘60s music? Is it the British Invasion Mod London or Motown Soul from Detroit, breezy beach rock from California or sophisticated Bacharach? Is it simple rock and roll. It is all these and more and these treasures are all in Music of the Sixties.

A Summer Song by Chad and Jeremy; I Think We’re Alone Now by Tommy James and the Shondells; Good Morning Starshine by Oliver; There’s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World) by Herman’s Hermits; Stormy by The Classics IV; Rawhide by The Ventures; Pa Pa Oom Mow Mow by The Rivingtons; Lover’s Concerto by The Toys; Cruel Sea by The Dakotas; Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran; Let’s Have a Party by Wanda Jackson; Apache by The Shadows and lots more.