The Boy From Down Under: The Very Best of Peter Allen
The late Peter Allen became an international pop icon of many a disparate part: evocative tunesmith of such unabashed sentimental pop as "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "I Honestly Love" you (both original versions of which are included here); vigorous stage performer who willfully blurred the line between mere flamboyance and outright camp; the original ex-Mr.Liza Minnelli; one of the first celebrities to openly admit their homosexuality. Such was Allen's life that it became the basis of the hit stage musicalThe Boy From Ozin his home country of Australia in the late 90's, then a Hugh Jackman-starringBroadway editionfor the 2003 season. The 20-tracks here make a fine companion piece to that Allen revival, wending their way from early 70's Australian pop fare like "Honest Queen" and "Tenterfield Saddler" through his embrace--and shamelessly emotional retooling--of the decade's introspective singer-songwriter mindset that led to MOR hits forOlivia Newton-John,Melissa Manchester,Pablo Cruise, and others, to his ebullient, hard-won career as solo artist in his own right. Culled from Allen's various albums for A&M;, RCA, and Arista, the tracks here display a shameless devotion to tin-pan alley traditions ("Everything Old is New Again," a cover of "The More I See of You"), American songbook icons (theJudy Garlandtribute "Quiet Please…"), and the solid pop craftsmanship that led to mega-hits like "Arthur's Theme," all of them powered by an effusive performing sense that was truly bigger than life. --Jerry McCulley