Peter Allen The Boy From Down Under The Very Best of Peter Allen
Released: January 27, 2004 Origination Year: 2004 Time: 79:47 Tracks:20 Produced by: Mike Ragogna Style: Studio/Live Format: CD Enhancement: 96kHz/24bit Website: None

I remember some time back in the early 80s watching a Showtime special on Peter Allen - Live at New York Radio City with the Rockettes. Now, I'm a rock fan in every sense and this show, at the time, was really out of character for me. But there I was, captivated by this..this entertainment. This guy was good. And with a history as well.

Peter Allen had quite a career before his death in 1992 that included songwriting hits that scored big for other people. His ability to create lofty and memorable lines were the major weapon in his arsenal of classic tunes. He penned "I Honestly Love You" that spawned the career of fellow Aussie, Olivia Newton-John and cemented his own reputation as a songwriter extraordinaire.

He scored large with his hit, "Everything Old is New Again" as well as the great "Fly Away" from his A&M album, Bi-Coastal. His piano playing was top notch and his singing a perfect complement to his pristinely crafted words. On top of all that, he could unleash a performance that was at once entertaining and memorable. In short, you never forgot it. Peter Allen just had the knack.

Couple all this talent with a brief but high profile marriage to Liza Minelli. Not only could Peter Allen pen songs that revealed his Greenwich Village roots but he could also hobnob with the elite of the time.

This remastered collection from A&M Records provides 20 tunes ending with a live version of "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" included here because of the pivotal use of a line created by Allen, '..when you get caught between the moon and New York City...'.

People will, no doubt, remember "Don't Cry Out Loud", a Top 10 hit for Melissa Manchester. Yep. Penned by Peter Allen along with another popular songwriter, Carole Bayer Sager, who shared many songwriting credits with the entertainer. His rendition here is lofty, not as defined as Manchester's vocal rendition but more poignant for its delivery.

The 80s-styled Boz Scaggs-sounding "Fly Away", reveals a very qualified vocalist who had the soul of Scaggs and may have achieved the status of a top artist for Top 40 but unstead turned his concentration to Broadway and other forms of entertainment. Regardless, Allen left a legacy of songs that carried weight and is appreciated by aficianados of music today. Despite the small cache of recorded music he left behind, the quality of the tunes makes up it.

The Boy From Down Under: The Very Best of Peter Allen brings together a stylish collection that will appease Allen fans with its diversity and time-span. The album dips into the beginning of his career that began in the 70s, spends time in the A&M years, his most productive, and finishes with a small taste of his final years with Arista.

If you are a fan of orchestral-backed, piano-based tunes that bring to mind Burt Bacharach, Boz Scaggs, and the like, then you cannot go wrong with the discovery of a great songwriter-entertainer who could sing his own songs well. Otherwise, if you remember Peter Allen in a nostalgic sense, let this set refresh your memory of just how good Mr Allen really was.

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