Henry Mancini is best known for his “Theme for Peter Gunn,” “Moon River,” and “The Theme for The Pink Panther.” So when I saw this orchestral CD of Pop Hits, I bought it immediately. I’m sure you’ll find most of these tunes familiar.
The CD ends with “Good Old Rock’N’Roll (Medley)” with eight songs mostly from the early days of Rock’N’Roll. If you’re in the mood for something very different, you might want to try these versions of well-known Pop songs. I’ve listened to this CD a couple of times since I acquired it and enjoyed what I heard. How many of these songs do you remember? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
I know all of them. Most of them I like, but I have no desire to hear them performed by an orchestra.
Steve, listening to orchestral versions of pop songs is a guilty pleasure of mine.
George, one of the myriad reasons I love your blog is I never know what you’ll have planned for the day. I certainly wasn’t expecting “Henry Mancini covers a Pet Shop Boys song,” but here we are.
Deb, as you well know, I have a variety of interests so you never know what I’m likely to post from day-to-day. I’m glad I surprised you with Henry Mancini covers the4 Pet Shop Boys song!
I’m familiar with nearly all of them and like most, but I agree with Steve. This is elevator music.
Michael, I consider MANCINI ROCKS THE POPS a step up from elevator music. I sometimes get in the mood for music like this.
I love Mancini but would never have thought to get this one. Mancini does Madonna!
One of my favorite Mancini scores is for one of our favorite movies, TWO FOR THE ROAD. (He also did CHARADE, another Audrey Hepburn classic.) Years ago, Jackie found a vinyl copy of the original score and bought it. More recently I got a Henry Mancini Greatest Hits CD and have listened to it several times.
Jeff, I grew up listening to the soundtrack of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. I’ll have to find TWO FOR THE ROAD. I have CHARADE, another great soundtrack. This MANCINI ROCKS THE POPS was a complete surprise!
Mancini dumped a whole lot of syrupy ear worms on us, but he also gave us some very enjoyable jazz.
Dan, I love the music for PETER GUNN!
I confess to owning Mancini’s Christmas album along with those by Jackie Gleason and a few other assorted muzaky Christmas records because they give me a silly smile. I also have Mancini’s music for PETER GUNN, HATARI!, CHARADE along with a bunch of his 50’s horror/sci-fi scores and even LIFEFORCE. This is a bit off my radar but it would probably be a nice companion piece for the infamous SATURDAY NIGHT FIEDLER. I’m all too aware of my own glass house to dare toss stones at anyone else’s. Life would be insufferable without guilty pleasures.
Byron, you have a nice Mancini collection! Guilty pleasures spice things up!
I don’t equate his cool jazz style with rock but I suppose it might work if you’re in the mood!
Bob, I think you would enjoy MANCINI ROCKS THE POPS…if you’re in the mood.
some of these would seem to fit in as instrumentals, others not so much
Maggie, like most orchestral versions of pop hits, some work and others don’t. All in all, I liked MANCINI ROCKS THE POPS a lot!
Somewhere I have a 3-vinyl set of similar songs by Terry Baxter & His Orchestra. It’s not very good, except for a really nice Led Zeppelin tune. Don’t know how they managed to get only one good one.
Jeff, Henry Mancini’s batting average of good pop instruments is higher than Terry Baxter & His Orchestra!