Strange Enchantment

Strange Enchantment
Studio album by Vic Damone
Released	March 1962
Genre	Traditional pop vocal pop
Length	29:59
Label	Capitol
Producer	Jack Marshall
Vic Damone chronology
Linger Awhile with Vic Damone (1962) Strange Enchantment (1962) The Lively Ones (1962)

Strange Enchantment is the fourteenth studio album by American singer Vic Damone, released by Capitol Records in March 1962. It was produced by Jack Marshall.

The album was released on compact disc by EMI Music Distribution on May 31, 1999, as a double album pairing it with Damone's 1962 album, The Lively Ones. ^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
New Record Mirror	[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Billboard	[5]
Disc	[6]

Giving it four stars to indicate "strong sales potential", Billboard believed it "Here's the rich-voiced Vic Damone in a selection of moody, haunting, far-away type songs, an exotic set full of the percussion and flavor of the islands. ^[5]

Cash Box called it "a powerful follow-up LP. and stated that "a dozen tropical-flavored tunes, in good strad as he offers extremely listenable renditions of "Poinicana", "Beyond The Reef" and "Ebb Tide" ^[7]

Record Mirror raved, "The cool and thoroughly professional voice of Vic Damone wend its way easily through this ballad set." ^[3]

Hunter Nigel of Disc notes "He moves between Hawaii and Latin America with able assistance from Billy May's orchestra" ^[6]

In A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, Will Friedwald called it "the most ballady of the bunch is the exotic. ^[8]

The Courier Journal stated that "He illustrates with an excellent program of South Seas songs that he is long overdue for a hit. He is backed by strings and percussions conducted by Billy May." ^[9]

Life claimed "it offers a pleasant Polynesian numbers like "Bali Hai". ^[10]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Strange Enchantment"	Frank Loesser, Frederick Hollander	2:49
2.	"Hawaiian Wedding Song"	Al Hoffman, Charles E. King, Dick Manning	2:41
3.	"Shangri-La"	Matty Malneck, Carl Sigman, Robert Maxwell	2:42
4.	"Humming Waters"	Al Stillman, Guy Wood	2:47
5.	"Poinciana"	Nat Simon, Buddy Bernier, Manuel Lliso	2:27
6.	"Flamingo"	Ted Grouya, Edmund Anderson	1:59

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Beyond the Reef"	Jack Pitman	2:26
2.	"You're Lovable"	Ian Bernard, Vic Damone	2:37
3.	"The Moon of Manakoora"	Frank Loesser, Alfred Newman	2:12
4.	"Bali Ha'i"	Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II	2:07
5.	"Dry Your Eyes"	Charles King, Milt Raskin	2:21
6.	"Ebb Tide"	Carl Sigman, Robert Maxwell	2:38

References

1. Vic Damone – The Lively Ones/Strange Enchantment at AllMusic . Retrieved February 2, 2024.
2. "Vic Damone – Strange Enchantment: Review - Album Ratings". Allmusic. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
3. "LP Reviews By Jimmmy Watson" (PDF). Record Mirror . February 16, 1963. p. 10.
4. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 392. ISBN   9781846098567 . Retrieved 31 August 2024.
5. "Review of New Albums: Strange Enchantment". Billboard . Vol. 74, no. 14. April 14, 1962. p. 44.
6. Hunter, Nigel (29 December 1962). "Disc Date Reviews LPs with Nigel Hunter :Nat King Cole-old style and new - VIC IS A REAL CLASSY SINGER" (PDF). Disc . No. 249. p. 10. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
7. "Cashbox Album Poupler Pick of The Week Reviews: Strange Enchantment". Cash Box . Vol. 23, no. 23. April 7, 1962. p. 28.
8. Friedwald, Will (2010). A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. Pantheon Books. p. 133. ISBN   9780375421495.
9. "SPINNING THE POPS 32 Astaire Tunes Collected In Album". Courier Journal . May 6, 1962. p. 118. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
10. "Pop Records". Life . May 11, 1962. p. 21.