The Sands

Lost in the shadow of Elvis:
Capitol was hoping Tommy Sands would be their Elvis but it was not to be. His first hit was to be his only major one although he did manage to get ten more tunes into the top 100 during the late 50s. In spite of his signature "Teen-Age Crush" and other charted singles, he is strangely ignored in the reissue market and even on the oldies stations is seldom heard. Collectables brings to the domestic market this first CD containing most of his charted sides. Some of his recordings are blatant Elvis sound-alikes but when he quits trying to be Elvis and lets his voice go au naturel, his singing is reasonably listenable. With less and less suitable material going his way, the hits dried up fairly quickly and although he had some moderate film success, by the end of the 50s he was off the commercially viable music radar. It's welcome to see at least some of his material back on the shelves offering an alternative to the omnipresent CDs of the artists who overshadowed him. Sound quality on this piece is fairly good with all tracks in mono except 18. The liner notes booklet includes two pages of backround on his recording history. This refreshing addition to the CD reissue market would be of interest to not only Sands' fans, but also to those who enjoy the music of the better-known pre-Beatles American heart-throb artists. Bear Family has a bigger single-disc collection of Sands' recordings that despite much overlap, would be of interest to Sands' fans. While pricier, the Bear piece has more tracks and more liner notes material. This Collectables piece however does offer a more reasonably priced overview of Sands' music for the casual listener.

Tommy Sands can still sing:
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Sands in-person and watched (and listened) to him perform a couple of tunes backed by Glen Glenn's rockabilly band at the Elvis & Priscilla Presley Honeymoon Home in Palm Springs. Tommy still sounds great and is a very personable guy. This CD has most of his hits, but is missing my favorite "The Worrying Kind." At last night's celebration Alan Clark sang "The Worrying Kind" as Tommy Sands approved from the sidelines.

Where is Tommy Sands today:
thanks for the music clips, we loved his music and wonder where he is. Can anyone provide any information about what happened to him after his marriage to Nancy Sinata?? Where is he now?

Golden oldie!:
If you were a kid in the 50/60's and a fan of the beach party movies, etc., well before the Beatles came along, this is for you! My mom had the LP (it's still around somewhere) but I just had to get the CD. I was amazed how quickly all the words came back to me.

Among The "Heart-Throbs" Of The Early R & R Years:
After Elvis burst upon the scene in 1956 with RCA Victor, following the purchase of his contract from Sun, and with the emergence of Pat Boone and Tab Hunter at Dot Records, the other major labels - which had been patiently waiting for the new style to "fade away" - suddenly realized they had better climb aboard the band-wagon and sign up "heart-throb" white male singers of their own. Roulette grabbed Jimmie Rodgers, Ricky Nelson was the voice of choice at Imperial, MGM - which already had Connie Francis as the best of the young female vocalists - put their faith in Conway Twitty, ABC-Paramount had the multi-talented Paul Anka, Columbia - still not totally convinced - turned to movie star Sal Mineo but would release his cuts on their Epic subsidiary, while Atlantic would do the same with Bobby Darin on their Atco link, and Fabian and Frankie Avalon would be the mainstays at the new Chancellor label. Capitol's choice was Tommy Sands after his successful debut singing Teen-Age Crush on the January 30, 1957 Kraft TV production "The Singing Idol." It was an auspicious beginning as the record, backed by the Bob Bain orchestra, peaked at # 2 Billboard Pop Top 100 and # 10 R & B b/w Hep Dee Hootie (Cutie Wootie). After that, however, it would be tough sledding with only two of his remaining 10 hit singles making the Top 40. A cover of Faron Young's 1953 Country hit Goin' Steady did reach # 16 in summer 1957 b/w Ring My Phone which, from another Kraft TV show "Flesh And Blood," registered as a "follow-along" hit. Then came Sing Boy Sing, the title song from the film starring Tommy which made it to # 24 early in 1958 b/w Crazy 'Cause I Love you. All were again backed by Bain. You might have noticed that none of the Tommy Sands CDs listed are labeled "best of" or "greatest hits of" so one cannot be critical of the fact that this one, for example, leaves off three of his eleven hit singles: Teen-Age Doll (# 81 in May 1958); The Worryin' Kind (# 69 in January 1959), and his last hit, The Old Oaken Bucket (# 73 in September 1960). Nor does Collectables include any of the B-sides except for My Love Song, which was a # 62 b/o Ring-A-Ding-Ding, and the above-mentioned Ring My Phone. The sound quality is excellent and the liner notes informative for this talented young man whose mother had been a vocalist with the Art Kassel band, who starred in the additional films Mardi Gras, Babes In Toyland, and The Longest Day, and who was also married to Nancy Sinatra from 1960 to 1965. One of the better Sands' compilations available and that includes the one from the normally reliable Bear Family whose offering also omits some significant cuts.