''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'' is a 1979 album by

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Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

performer

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...

. It was released on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. Over the years, the record became a camp classic, with vinyl copies highly sought out by collectors.

Background

Merman recorded 14 songs for ''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'', although only seven were released on the finished record. Each of the songs was recorded in only one take and arranged vocally the way she always recorded them, with disco instrumentation added later as a backtrack. In 2002, Fynsworth Alley Records acquired the rights to release the album on CD. The CD release contains one bonus track, a recording of ''

They Say It's Wonderful "They Say It's Wonderful" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the musical '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1946), where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. A film version in 1950 again featured the song when it was performed ...

''. There are no plans yet to release the other six tracks.

Reception

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' panned "the type of mundane, unimaginative disco back-beat that the trendsetters abandoned years ago." In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of music database website

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that "everyone, it seemed, was adding a disco beat and trying to cash in on the current – and temporary – fad" and that Merman "was 20 years past her last big success on the Great White Way and, you'd have thought, ready for retirement." He called the album "pretty much like you'd expect. Arranger

Peter Matz Peter Matz (November 6, 1928 – August 9, 2002) was an American musician, composer, arranger, and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television, and studio recording spanned fifty years. He worked with a number of prominent ar ...

creates typical disco arrangements - and Merman sings the way she always does, sounding like she has nothing to do with the background at all." Ruhlmann concluded: "The record is really only good for a laugh, but there's just one joke."

Track listing

There's No Business Like Show Business "There's No Business Like Show Business" is an Irving Berlin song, written for the 1946 musical '' Annie Get Your Gun'' and orchestrated by Ted Royal. The song, a slightly tongue-in-cheek salute to the glamour and excitement of a life in show ...

" (

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) – 5:48 #"

Everything's Coming Up Roses "Everything's Coming Up Roses" is a song with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, written initially for the 1959 Broadway musical ''Gypsy.'' Introduced in the show's inaugural production by Ethel Merman, "Everything's Coming Up Ro ...

" ( Sondheim, Styne) – 6:30 #"

I Get a Kick Out of You "I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, which was first sung in the 1934 Broadway musical '' Anything Goes'', and then in the 1936 film version. Originally sung by Ethel Merman, it has been covered by dozens of prominent performers, ...

" (

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

) – 6:09 #"

Something for the Boys ''Something for the Boys'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical. ...

" (Porter) – 5:19 #" Some People" (Sondheim, Styne) – 4:49 #"

Alexander's Ragtime Band "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a Tin Pan Alley song by American composer Irving Berlin released in 1911; it is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little sync ...

" (Berlin) – 4:28 #"

I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the " rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes su ...

" ( Gershwin, Gershwin) – 5:06 #"

" (Berlin) (bonus track on CD reissue)''The Ethel Merman Disco Album'', Track 8 - Original recording reissued on CD in 2002 by Fynsworth Alley, LLC and Universal Music Enterprises, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

Personnel

- vocals *

Chuck Berghofer Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937) is an American double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked in jazz and as a session musician in the film industry for more than 60 years, including working on more than 400 movie soundtracks. ...

, Greg Lee - bass * Dennis Budimir, Mitch Holder, Michael Anthony - guitars * John Berkman, Peter Matz - keyboards * Steve Schaeffer - drums *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

, Garyno - percussion *

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album '' ...

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

- saxophone solos * Bobby Borelli, Jon Joyce, George Ferren, Steve Smith, Manny Slali, Jon Randazzo - background vocals * Stephanie Spruill, Marilyn Jackson - background vocal directors

References

External links