Les As The Stars Fall

This vocal quartet originally started life as an extension of jazz band the Hi-Lo’s. From that prominent '50s band came Don Shelton, who decided to form Singers Unlimited after the Hi-Lo’s broke up in 1964. After retreating to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked on a series of television commercials, he enlisted fellow Hi-Lo’s veteran Gene Puerling of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to join him in the city in 1967. The group was formed along with Len Dresslar and Bonnie Herman, with the express intention of recording commercials in the doo wop/vocal group idiom. Shelton’s connections in the industry ensured the group was able to exploit the market successfully, and lucrative work rolled in. However, the 30-second snatches of songs hardly satisfied their artistic ambitions, and when they found themselves with studio time left over after one session, they recorded a take on the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill." Through visiting jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, the demo of the a cappella recording was passed to MPS Records in Germany.

Edith Piaf is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Still revered as an icon decades after her death, "the Sparrow" served as a touchstone for virtually every chansonnier, male or female, who followed her. Her greatest strength wasn't so much her technique, or the purity of her voice, but the raw, passionate power of her singing…

The release of this edition was held October 8, 1998. All data cover releases were made by Dutch Artidee Creatieve Communicatie, and photo materials were prepared ANP Foto Dutch branch of the German conglomerate.

Clarinetist, saxophonist, big band and dance band leader and composer Les Brown started his musical career with his own band, Les Brown & His Blue Devils in the early 1930’s before transforming the band into the now famous Band Of Renown in 1938. By 1945 the band had introduced Doris Day to the world via the hit song Sentimental Journey, and would go on to have another nine Number One hit songs. The Band Of Renown became a mainstay as the house band for Bob Hope during his radio, stage and TV show career. During one of the Hope shows Les Brown backed a new, unknown singer named Tony Bennett, and the rest of course is history! During a long career Les Brown played with all the greats including Sinatra, Ella and Nat King Cole.

The Columbia Years 1943–1952: The Complete Recordings is a 1993 box set album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. This twelve-disc set contains 285 songs Sinatra recorded during his nine-year career with Columbia Records.