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Cliff Richard At The Movies (1959-1974)

EMI, 8 52790 (2 CDs, 150 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1201

Poor Cliff. Next year sees the 40th anniversary of his rule as Britain's prince of pop - and still, to most rock critics, he's just a joke. Not that this - means rock critics necessarily matter more than the millions of fans who have found pleasure in Cliff's music; they don't, though you will find few who admit to this fact. But perhaps if Cliff's countless detractors could just go to this collection of tunes with an open rather than a prejudiced mind, they might see that he and the Hank Marvin, guitar-based Shadows obviously paved a path that led all the way from the Beatles to Oasis, and beyond. Songs like No Turning Back from Cliff's first movie, Serious Charge, to a prototype for British musicals, in general, with The Young Ones, provide the earliest examples of authentic British rock'n'roll. More importantly - though even movie historians miss out on this one a "flick" such as Serious Charge, as well as perfectly capturing youth club culture of the late 1950s, also dealt with the rather delicate subject of homosexual abuse, the "serious charge" of the title. Yes, long before Dirk Bogarde is supposed to have broken through such barriers with the movie Victim.

And yet, of course, it was movies such as The Young Ones and Summer Holiday which once made Cliff the "uppermost", the prince of British pop the Beatles originally set out to topple. Stripped of the necessary celluloid images many of the songs from the former could just as well come from a Frankie Vaughan musical of that time, particularly Nothing's Impossible. Nevertheless, We Say Yeah is still a great rock-pop song and was probably a model for She Loves You, by the Beatles, Summer Holiday, on the other hand, has Cliff's own, prophetic Bachelor Boy, which he co wrote. Sadly, from there on it's downhill with movies such as Wonderful Life and Take Me High producing only intermittently interesting tunes. Best of all, from the movie, Two A Penny, is Cliff's own I'll Love You Forever, Today, as representative a slice of the late 1960s as the Beatles' All You Need Is Love. A beautifully presented and remastered collection of movie songs from one of the most important figures in British pop.

Dean Martin: "The Capitol Years"

Capitol Classics, 96409. (2 CDs, 106 mins)

Dial-a-track code: 1311

Destined to be forever lost in the shadow of his buddy Sinatra, much as Cliff will always pale by comparison with Elvis, "Dino" Martin nonetheless turned out some classic pop songs in the 1950s, some of which apparently inspired Elvis to proclaim to Sun Records boss Sam Philips that he wanted to be "another Dean Martin". Last Train To Memphis, for example, which is included on this, the best of the compilations released following Dean's death this time last year.

Not surprisingly, perhaps it kicks off with Memories Are Made Of This, but then takes a route right through the best of the material Martin recorded for the Capitol label in the 1950s. Many of these songs were hits, such as You Belong To Me, That's Amore, Return To Me (Ritorna-Me) and Volare (Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu). The parenthetical titles of the last two songs, in particular, are quite important, given that Dino, Frankie and the rest of the so-called Rat-Pack undoubtedly helped define the Italian/American sensibility for themselves, and for the rest of the world, through such hits.

However, we've all heard those songs before. As such, the real delights on this collection are the rarer tracks such as the quite beautiful Solitaire. And tunes like Be An Angel, which were previously unreleased. Likewise, a live Las Vegas medley which rolls all the way from You Made Me Love You to I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (And Make Believe It Came From You) and sounds as though Dino hadn't exactly been immune to the allure of alcohol before the show. Vocal relaxation as an art form. Great fun. Likewise, the album itself. Though this reviewer could easily have lived without that irredeemably tedious duet with Jerry Lewis, Every Street's A Boulevard (In Old New York). Though, yes, that song title does make me wonder did Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths get some kind of extra commission when they used parentheses? (Probably).