Marlene Dietrich

La Femme Dietrich's career lasted several decades, and when she inked a deal with Decca Records in 1939, her first recording assignment was to produce an album of her "greatest hits," so already pervasive was her fame. This 16-track collection rounds up selections recorded over a 25-year period between her signing to Decca and her later recordings for Dot and Kapp, all of which parent company MCA-Universal now owns. Besides the definitive, elegant orchestral reading of 'Falling In Love Again', Marlene also puts her pipes and personality to other hits like "The Boys in the Backroom" and "You've Got That Look (That Makes Me Weak)" from the movie Destry Rides Again, as well as a batch of classy readings of "You Do Something to Me," "You Go to My Head," and uncharacteristic, almost surreal 1957 rock & roll stabs at "Near You," and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" and the campy spins of her final single in 1965, "If He Swing By the String" and "Such Trying Times." All in all, a great little career overview to add to the pop vocal side of the collection.

Cosmopolitan Marlene Dietrich is a terrific 18-track collection that showcases the seductive, sophisticated pop songs Dietrich recorded for Columbia Records. Among the tracks included on the disc are "Lili Marlene," "Mean to Me," "Time on My Hands," "Taking a Chance on Love," "I Never Slept a Wink Last Night," "No Love, No Nothin" and "Miss Otis Regrets."

This great-value 51-track 2-CD selects a representative range of her recordings, encompassing her film performances, commercial studio recordings (some of which were of her movie songs) and live recordings, which combine to showcase the breadth of her talent and repertoire. It includes her duet recordings with Rosemary Clooney, which gave a her her only chart hit with Too Old To Cut The Mustard, selected tracks from her albums Marlene Dietrich Overseas, Live at the Café de Paris, Live In Rio and Wiedersehen Mit Marlene and from her collaboration with Burt Bacharach in the late 50s and early 60s which added another dimension to her oeuvre. It features songs or recordings from the films The Blue Angel, Morocco, Blonde Venus, Desire, Seven Sinners, Destry Rides Again, Manpower, A Foreign Affair, Rancho Notorious, I Am A Camera, Monte Carlo Story, Witness For The Prosecution. Its a fascinating and enjoyable celebration of unique and distinctive star.

The most exotic actress of the 1930s and '40s, Marlene Dietrich performed her cabaret act around the world and recorded for Decca, Columbia and Capitol in the post-war period, after her film career had slowed. A thick German accent and her odd sung-spoken vocal style proved no barrier to international popular success and adoration.

Des cabarets miteux de Berlin aux plateaux d'Hollywood. Du front de l'Ouest durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale aux casinos de Las Vegas. Des soirées paisibles aux côtés de Jean Gabin aux engueulades homériques avec Fritz Lang… Marlene Dietrich a connu tous les extrêmes et a traversé le siècle avec une passion qui la démarque de Garbo, sa grande rivale des débuts. Jusqu'à la fin, dans un appartement parisien devenu son empyrée, elle restera « le Mythe », clamant que sa carrière n'a commencé qu'avec L'Ange bleu, son premier film parlant. Comme si ses films muets n'avaient jamais existé. …

Wer einen perfekten Einstieg in das musikalische Schaffen des einzigsten wirklichen Weltstars deutscher Herkunft sucht, hat ihn im Album "Der blonde Engel" zweilsohne gefunden. Hier hört man einen Querschnitt durch das deutschsprachige Reportoire der großartigen Marlene Dietrich, von Liedern aus ihrem ersten großen Filmerfolg "Der blaue Engel",wie "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt"und "Ich bin die fesche Lola", über Antikriegslieder wie "Sag mir wo die Blumen sind" und "Die Antwort weiß ganz allein der Wind", Kinderliedern wie "Sch… kleines Baby" oder frechen Titeln im Stil der 20-er Jahre wie "Wer wird denn weinen wenn man auseinandergeht" oder große Balladen voller Weltschmerz wie "Allein in einer großen Stadt" und "Die Welt war jung".

Wer sich Musik von Marlene Dietrich kauft, weiss nie so recht, wann die Aufnahmen entstanden sind und aus welchem ursprünglichen Zusammenhang sie stammen. "Einfach das Beste" ist eine stimmige Zusammenstellung, müsste aber eigentlich das "Berlin-Album" genannt werden. Es ist keine eigentliche "Best Of", sondern eine CD mit 14 Liedern, die sich inhaltlich hauptsächlich um Marlenes Heimatstadt Berlin drehen.