If you have a soft spot for Seventies pop in the vein of early ABBA, The Carpenters or even Barry Manilow, you owe it to yourself to indulge in The Ones That Got Away, a compilation of songs by The Original Cast and solo works by the quartet's members.
The Original Cast featured two men and two women (a la ABBA) -- David Martin and Tony Burrows along with sisters Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie -- who each had their own set of bona fide credentials, performing under their own names and in countless recording sessions for everyone from Elton John and David Bowie to Dusty Springfield and Donna Summer.
This collection is definitely a relic, with every song serving as a time capsule of the era. The best songs here are the ones recorded under The Original Cast banner, including opener “Look At Us (The Two of Us)," as well as the ABBA-esque “First Night” and “Knock Me Down” (all from 1977). The upbeat Burrows pop-rocker “Better Fly Butterfly (1974) and Sunny's sunny "Have Yourself a Good Time (1976) also emerge as tracks worthy of repeat spins.
Some of the solo tracks, on the other hand -- especially ones from Martin and Burrows -- quickly turn saccharine and prove why some people didn't like music in the Seventies.
Nevertheless, when Martin writes in the liner notes that these 20 songs “could all have been hits in their time,” he’s not exaggerating.
Track Listing:
1. Look at Us (The Two of Us): The Original Cast
2. Have You Had a Little Happiness Lately: Tony Burrows
3. All So Different Now: Sunny
4. There’s Still Time: David Martin
5. Love Matters: The Original Cast
6. Better Fly Butterfly: Tony Burrows
7. What a Lovely Way to Spend Forever: David Martin
8. Ain’t That Telling You People: Sue & Sunny
9. Oh My Jo: Tony Burrows
10. It’s Gonna Be a Cold Cold Winter: David Martin
11. First Night: The Original Cast
12. Solo: Sue
13. Knock Me Down: The Original Cast
14. Take Away the Feeling: Tony Burrows
15. Have Yourself A Good Time: Sunny
16. Flowers in Heaven: David Martin
17. Manhattan Skyline: The Original Cast
18. When My Little Girl is Smiling: Tony Burrows
19. Summertime: West End Boys
20. Golden Yearz: The Naimz (Bonus Track)
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