Helen Forrest - Hits Collection 1938-46 (2020)

Along with the likes of Kitty Kallen, Helen O’Connell and June Christy, as well as, in their early careers, Peggy Lee and Doris Day, Helen Forrest was one of the striking coterie of female vocalists who graced the dance hall stages with the great names of the swing and big band era, and who appeared on many of their most successful recordings before forging a successful solo career. During the decade from the late 1930s through to the post-war years, Helen Forrest performed and recorded with the orchestras of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Harry James, and recorded notable duets with another former big band singer Dick Haymes, racking up a lengthy string of hits on records with those orchestras on which she provided the vocals. This great-value 48-track 2-CD set consists entirely of such records, all of which featured in charts like the Your Hit Parade chart in the years before the Billboard record sales chart was introduced in 1940, or in one or other version of the Billboard charts after that, all of them reaching the Top 25 places. Alongside those “featured vocalist” and duet hits, pride of place goes to her 1944 solo No. 2 “Time Waits For No One”. It includes seven No. 1s - “They Say” and “Thanks For Ev'rything” with Artie Shaw, “I Don't Want To Walk Without You”, “Mister Five By Five”, “I Had The Craziest Dream” and “I've Heard That Song Before” with Harry James and “Taking A Chance On Love” with Benny Goodman. It also features a continuous run of seven Top 10 hits with Dick Haymes. It’s not only a fine and varied showcase for Helen’s talent and versatility as a popular performer with the top bands of the day, but it’s an evocative trawl across the popular music of a significant era in both music and what was going on in the wider world.