What the Caked Crusader chose to bake to this week (10 May 2008)

Sometimes you just want to listen to something reassuringly comfortable – a bit like the music equivalent of comfy slippers. One of my absolutely favourite albums is Bobby Darin Sings Doctor Doolittle which is inexplicably rather tricky to get hold of – why???

Anyone who knows me knows my adoration of all things Darin (I’ve even sat through the films – some more than once!) and this album showcases everything wonderful about his singing – his ability to sing slow songs as comfortably as up tempo numbers, his supremacy at getting a lyric across, his perfect diction and the way it’s just sounds so effortlessly cool. What I love most about his singing style is the way that he never reaches for a note but hits it straight on – this can be heard best on his wonderful version of “After Today”. I cannot stand listening to singers who come in a bit under the note they want and then reach up to it – whether this is lack of talent or an affectation I don’t know, but it irritates me!

I have often pondered quite why this is one of my favourite Bobby Darin albums after all, it isn’t in his usual swinging style and is a collection of show songs (I don’t usually like musicals) but it is. I think it’s the way every song feels so heartfelt and meant, and his voice has never been better. The only problem is that the whole album is only 39 minutes long so I usually end up listening to it twice!

Altogether now: there are so many fabulous faraway places to see.........