The bulk of the work I get asked to review is ether brand new recordings (as with Paradise Lost) or first-time-on-CD re-issues, such as the guys at Stage Door usually release. Their current new release is somewhat in between - unreleased recordings from over 40 years ago.

"The Good Old Bad Old Days" was Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse’s third musical written for the stage and originally intended as a Broadway comeback for Newley after several years of performing his one man show in Las Vegas.

Written between 1971-1972, the musical conceived as “a simple little saga about Man, Life, Death, God, and the Devil, with the History of the World thrown in…” finally found a home at London’s Prince Of Wales Theatre, opening on December 20th, 1972 and running for a total of 309 performances.

Although the show received mixed reviews, the score is considered to be one of the most accomplished musical works Newley and Bricusse created during their illustrious writing partnership. Songs from the show were subsequently recorded by Sammy Davis Jnr, Tony Bennett, Frankie Vaughan and Petula Clark.

This fascinating collection compiles all of Anthony Newley’s solo recordings made during the development of "The Good Old Bad Old Days" (originally titled "It’s A Funny Old World That We Live In - But The World’s Not Entirely To Blame") and includes several songs that were later cut from the final West End production. Produced in collaboration with the Anthony Newley Society, the recordings featured on this album are previously unreleased and have been restored from Newley’s own private archive.

It’s on hearing recordings like this that you realise just how much we owe to the CD and digital mediums of today’s recordings, and to the Internet to let people know about gems like this. Not only do we have the original recordings here, but also songs cut from the production (such as 'It’s A Funny Old World') but also 'Mustn't Gumble Can’t Complain' that only featured in the Nottingham Production in 1972.

A very listenable and enjoyable album, but don’t expect CD audio quality on all of it. However, Stage Door have done a marvellous job in cleaning and mastering what they had. Some of the imperfections are still there, but I’m glad they chose to release all of this, as it’s of such historical value. My own favourites are almost irrelevant, as this is quality throughout - the real star of this CD is of course Newley. His voice was unique - we haven’t had such a voice since in my opinion. Instantly recognisable. Like it or not, there can be no argument that he was an immense performer - as the booklet says, Newley The Great.

Get this CD, listen to history, and remember the great talent of Anthony Newley.

9

Ian Gude