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Rating: There are a couple of reasons why I approached the Platters, broadening my knowledge beyond those usual two wonderful songs. First and foremost, the deep admiration I have for their historical period, which was probably the golden age of Pop melody; how many wonderful "tunes" have been recorded between the late '50s and early '60s, on both sides of the Atlantic? Eh, if only we knew... But it's not just a matter of quantity, consider the style, the attitude, the elegance, the charm, the sobriety understood as good taste and a sense of moderation. These were transversal characteristics, identifiable in the Platters as well as in, for example, Hildegard Knef and many, many others, regardless of cultural and musical background.
And then, there is this other curiosity: about the Platters, people essentially know nothing; they don’t know who they were, they don't know their names, their personal stories, their private lives aren't a topic of discussion, yet when "Only You" starts playing… I don’t think I need to add more. Isn't that how it should generally be for this kind of music? My deep aversion to exaggerated character portrayal, to the obsessive pursuit of media products, charisma for its own sake, leads me to appreciate even more the "disembodied" melodies, where the performer becomes nothing more than one of the instruments: a vehicle, not the ultimate goal, which is and remains the song itself.
Among the first African American artists to achieve large-scale global success, perhaps the last great successful vocal group, the Platters are a piece of history, traditionalists but in some ways also innovators, a bridge between ages, cultures, and musical styles. In the mid-’50s, they ideally picked up the legacy of the Ink Spots, their predecessors, bringing the style to a new level of modernity, freshness, and impact. The wonderful and unmistakable timbre of Tony Williams, the quintet's lead voice, was certainly their extra gear, besides the impeccable use of harmonies and backing vocals, the perfect balance between brilliant doo-woops and languid torch songs, never too stiff or saccharine in their hands. And they had the good fortune to debut with "Only You" followed closely by "The Great Pretender," thus securing their place in history in a swift manner.
But don’t think that the Platters stop there; each of the sixteen songs included in this collection, whether original or reinterpreted, is a testament to the absolute splendor and beauty of what was the "mainstream" of the era. Classy ballads like “My Prayer” and “Heaven On Earth” and the liveliness of “You’ll, Never, Never Know”, “The Magic Touch”, “I’m Sorry”, all with that slightly mischievous jazzy feeling, the stealthy stride of “Remember When”, the sleepy and picturesque tropical fantasy of “Sleepy Lagoon”. There is also extensive use of orchestrations, classic-like reminiscences that add a patina of sumptuousness and further retro charm to their music; “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, another timeless classic, “Harbor Lights”, melancholic and suspended in time, the lyricism of “Ebb Tide” and “My Dream”, but also “Twilight Time” with its lighter development, with idyllic, almost fairytale-like, contours.
And what a kind of voices… harmonies impeccably used and vowels masterfully extended; those count too, you know. Everything contributes to creating a perfect mix, and, mind you, of tremendous impact, theatrical just right. I can’t help but think of ABBA, and Freddie, of course, of what the Platters represented for them, the influence they had on so many other masterpieces that followed. Long live the Platters, long live the little songs, long live nostalgia, in these cases. Long live nostalgia, just like that, when it’s needed it's needed; imagine this, I finally found the inspiration to write about them by seeing (not certainly by my own will) jay-z and beyoncé on TG3. I said to myself: "You have to do something," and here I am. I suppose I should thank them for this.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Heaven on Earth (02:36)
Heaven on earth
that's what you've made
for me since the day we met
Heaven on earth
it's all been so thrilling
I never can forget, uh-oh
Heaven on earth
alone with an angel
is living in dreams come true
Heaven on earth
I know that it happens only when I'm with you
Paradise seemed so far
Like a star, it twinkled high above me
Now I'm wise paradise
isn't far at all when you're around to love me
love me
Oh, heaven on earth
no need in waiting
waiting until I die
Heaven on earth
that's what you've made
a heaven for you and I
A heaven for you and I
(For you and I)
02 Ebb Tide (02:26)
First the tide rushes i-in
Plants a kiss on the-e shore-ore-ore
Then rolls out to sea
And the sea is very still once more-ore
So I rush to your-our si-ide
Like the on-comi-ing tide
With one burning thought
Will your arms open wide
At last we're face to face
And as we kiss through an embrace
I can te-ell, I-I can feel
You are love, you are rea-ea-ea-eally mi-i-ine
In the rai-ai-ain
In the dark
In the su-un
Like the tide at its e-ebb
I'm at peace in the we-eb
Of your arms...
03 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (02:40)
They asked me how I knew
My true love was true
Oh, I of course replied
Something here inside cannot be denied
They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind
Oh, when your heart's on fire
You must realize
Smoke gets in your eyes
So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed
To think they could doubt my love
Yet today my love has flown away
I am without my love
Now laughing friends deride
Tears I can not hide
Oh, so I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes
Smoke gets in your eyes
04 The Great Pretender (02:40)
Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Pretending that I'm doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell
Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I've played the game but to my real shame
You've left me to grieve all alone
Too real is this feeling of make-believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
Yes, I'm the great pretender
Just laughin' and gay like a clown
I seem to be, what I'm not, you see
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're still around
Too real is this feeling of make-believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
Yes, I'm the great pretender
Just laughin' and gay like a clown
I seem to be, what I'm not, you see
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're still around
Still around
05 I'll Never Smile Again (02:55)
I'll never smile again
Until I smile at you
I'll never laugh again
What good would it do?
For tears would fill my eyes
My heart would realize
That our romance is through
I'll never love again
I'm so in love with you
I'll never thrill again
To somebody new
Within my heart
I know I will never start
To smile again
Until I smile at you
07 One in a Million (02:54)
There is one in a million like you
A dream in a million come true
I confess that I really don't know why
But I know that I glow like I do
Yes once in a million is par
To find someone rare as you are
But now you're around
I have really found
That there's one in a million like you
Fate was surely kind to help my heart
find someone like you to be my love
I give thinks each day
That you came my way
Way out of heaven to try love
Yes one in a lifetime you know
Above heaven started below
Tho it may be rare
You and I will share
The love that has happened to few
For there's one in a million like you
09 My Dream (02:40)
When the twilight is gone and no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone you come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay while I pray
My prayer is to linger with you
At the end of the day in a dream that’s divine
My prayer is a rapture in blue
With the world far away and your lips close to mine
Tonight while our hearts are aglow
Oh tell me the words that I’m longing to know
My prayer and the answer you give
May they still be the same for as long as we live
That you’ll always be there at the end of my prayer
10 My Prayer (02:46)
(Jimmy Kennedy and Georges Boulanger)
When the twilight is gone and no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone you come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay while I pray
My prayer is to linger with you
At the end of the day in a dream that's divine
My prayer is a rapture in blue
With the world far away and your lips close to mine
Tonight while our hearts are aglow
Oh tell me the words that I'm longing to know
My prayer and the answer you give
May they still be the same for as long as we live
That you'll always be there at the end of my prayer
11 It Isn't Right (02:29)
It isn't right for you to hurt me
It isn't right to make me blue
It isn't right to take my kisses
And give them to somebody new
It isn't right for you to promise
A million dreams that can't come true
It isn't right to start a flame
Deep within my heart
Then let it go out like a light
It isn't right
12 Red Sails in the Sunset (02:23)
Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea}
Oh, carry my loved one home safely to me
{She sailed at the dawning, all day I've been blue}
Red sails in the sunset, I'm trusting in you
Swift wings you must borrow
Make straight for the shore
We marry tomorrow
And she goes sailing no more
{Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea}
Oh, carry my loved one home safely to me
Swift wings you must borrow
Make straight for the shore
We marry tomorrow
And she goes sailing no more
{Red sails in the sunset}
Way out on the sea (ooh-wee-ooh, wee-ooh)
Oh, carry my loved one
{Home safely to me}
15 If I Didn't Care (03:10)
If I didn't care more than words can say
If I didn't care would I feel this way?
If this isn't love then why do I thrill?
And what makes my head go 'round and 'round
While my heart stands still?
If I didn't care would it be the same?
Would my ev'ry prayer begin and end with just your name?
And would I be sure that this is love beyond compare?
Would all this be true if I didn't care for you?
MONOLOGUE: If I didn't care honey child, mo' than words can say. If I didn't
care baby, would I feel this way? Darlin' if this isn't love, then why do I thrill so
much? What is it that makes my head go 'round and 'round while my heart just stands
still so much ?
If I didn't care would it be the same?
Would my ev'ry prayer begin and end with just your name?
And would I be sure that this is love beyond compare?
Would all this be true if I didn't care for you?
17 Twilight Time (02:47)
Heavenly shades of night are falling
It's twilight time
Out of the mist your voice is calling
It's twilight time
When purple colored curtains
Mark the end of the day
I hear you my dear at twilight time
Deepening shadows gather splendor
As day is done
Fingers of night will soon surrender
The setting sun
I count the moments darling
Till you're here with me
Together at last at twilight time
Here in the after-glow of day
We keep our rendez-vous beneath the blue
Here in the sweet and same old way
I fall in love again as I did then
Deep in the dark your kiss will thrill me
Like days of old
Lighting the spark of love that fills me
With dreams untold
Each day I pray for evening just
To be with you
Together at last at twilight time
Together at last at twilight time
19 To Each His Own (02:52)
A rose must remain with the sun and the rain
Or its lovely promise won't come true
To each his own, to each his own
And my own is you
What good is a song if the words just don't belong?
And a dream must be a dream for two
No good alone, to each his own
For me there's you
CHORUS
If a flame is to grow there must be a glow
To open each door there's a key
I need you, I know, I can't let you go
Your touch means too much to me
Two lips must insist on two more to be kissed
Or they'll never know what love can do
To each his own, I've found my own
One and only you
REPEAT FROM CHORUS
20 I'm Sorry (02:56)
I'm sorry for the things I've done
I know that I'm the foolish one
Now that I see who's to blame
I'm so ashamed, I'm sorry
I'm sorry for the things I've said
Just like a child I lost my head
I should have known from the start
I'd break your heart, I'm sorry
Please be kind and I know you'll find
Its so easy to forgive
Darling, wait for its not too late
Give our love a chance to live
I know the heartaches you've been through
I know for I've had heartaches, too
There's nothing more I can do
But say to you I'm sorry
Darling, I'm truly sorry
21 Enchanted (02:54)
Living is a dream when you make it seem enchanted
Lovers take for granted all the world's aglow, they ought to know
When you touch a star then you really are enchanted
Find a seed and plant it, love will make it grow
It's really grand when you stand hand in hand with your lover
And thrill to the wonders of night
And days, too, will amaze you and soon you'll discover
Your dreams run to dreams in continuous flight
Love is ecstasy, it's divine to be enchanted
When your dreams are slanted through a lover's eyes
It's really grand when you stand hand in hand with your lover
And thrill to the wonders of night
And days, too, will amaze you and soon you'll discover
Your dreams run to dreams in continuous flight
Love is ecstasy, it's divine to be enchanted
When your dreams are slanted through a lover's eyes
It's really grand when you stand hand in hand with your lover
And thrill to the wonders of night
And days, too, will amaze you and soon you'll discover
Your dreams run to dreams in continuous flight
Love is ecstasy, it's divine to be enchanted
When your dreams are slanted through a lover's eyes
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