Doris recorded many types of song, but this collection concentrates on the upbeat, happy songs. One or two of them are rather silly (I said my pajamas) but those type of songs were very popular in the early fifties. However, the majority of these songs are of an extremely high quality and the novelty songs do not spoil this collection.

The set begins with When the red red robin comes bob bob bobbin' along, one of the better known songs here. Among the many great songs here you will find No two people and Powder your face with sunshine. The song simply titled 'No' could only really date from the days before women's lib. I remember Holly Dunn recording a song (Maybe I mean yes) with a similar idea and it caused a lot of controversy - and it didn't do her career any good.

So, this is not the strongest collection of music by Doris, but it's great to have all these upbeat songs together on one CD. If you're feeling down and this music doesn't cheer you up, no music will.

Those who have seen my other reviews know that I'm a Doris Day fan. So a Day album that gets only 4 stars and not 5 from me has to be considered subpar. Yes, I liked it, but not as much as some of the other CDs I've reviewed.

The collection includes the single recording I feel was Doris Day's worst (at least, of the ones I've heard): "Two Hearts, Two Kisses (Make One Love)," which was Doris Day's attempt to be a rock'n'roll singer. It fails, and unfortunately helps take this collection down as a result. It also includes, however, some nice songs like "No Two People."

A lot of songs on this CD can hardly be called "hits," despite the title. The CD is basically an eclectic collection of songs Doris recorded in the early fifties (with a couple of things from the very last part of the 1940s). It has some of her good songs, but not her best, and (as I mentioned above) the one that I consider her worst.

I bought the set after checking the track listing against my DORIS DAY GREATEST HITS Columbia CL 1210 mono Lp (avoid the "stereo" version of that album on vinyl; it's rechanneled); none of the listings duplicate that hits album. Well, because the songs on this CD weren't (very big) hits, if they charted. I bought the CD to get a clean version of "Two Hearts, Two Kisses," which is a great big band blues; she puts a great kick and gets her formidable pipes into the song with the band blowing behind her. Unfortunately, she doesn't get much of a chance to blow her jazz pipes on most of these pop songs; much of this set otherwise tends to run towards cutesy-poo stylings, but even with such material, Doris's voice suggests more worldliness and maturity than the songs attempt to showcase. Best "adult" oriented tracks are "Walk a Chalk Line," "No," and "I Enjoy Being A Girl." I enjoyed "I Said My Pajamas..." as a great take on the exaggerated effect of romantic love; I think it very trippy, poetic, well-done, sarcastically written and performed. It subversely skewers the cutesy-poo romantic novelty songs of the period. Songwriters' revenge? A tongue-twister firmly planted in cheek, and like Sinatra's "Bim Bam Baby," utterly impossible to perform at a live gig. Weakest tracks on the set are "Choo Choo Train (Ch-Ch-Foo)," "Comb and Paper Polka" (a kazoo?),"Ooh Bang Jiggly Jang," and her blonde German chick reading of "Kay-Muleta." It was bad enough that Rosemary Clooney (Irish!) morphed into Italio-novelty pop, but having Doris Day vamping that song, ugh! For much of this material, I came away with a sense of wretched annoyance with Mitch Miller running the show at Columbia.

Doris Day hits on this album:

The charted hits are marked ** after the title; 13 not very big hits of 25 tracks. Tracks are listed by record number in order, song title, recording date from the CD insert/booklet. I reshuffled the track listings into record/chronological order. I checked the singles' listing/song titles against both of Whitburn's POP MEMORIES 1890-1954 and POPS HITS & ALBUMS, 1940-1954 books, and his 1955+ Hot-100 book. I recommend buying his titles if you want the specific information. None of these records/songs are listed in Frank Hoffman's THE CASH BOX SINGLES CHARTS, 1950-1981 book.

38394, Powder Your Face with Sunshine** 12/20/48

38453, How It Lies... 3/02/49

38611, There's a Bluebird On Your Windowsill** 9/14/49

38638, Quicksilver** 10/19/49

38676, Save A Little Sunbeam 11/30/49

38709, I Said My Pajamas** 1/13/50

38818, I Didn't Slip - I Wasn't Pushed - I Fell** 3/14/50

39863, No Two People 8/04/52

38980, A Load of Hay 8/21/50

39143, The Comb And Paper Polka 8/31/50

39490, Ask Me! 5/18/51

39714, A Little Kiss Goodnight 2/09/52

39863, No Two People 8/04/52

39898, A Full Time Job** 10/16/52

39970, When the Red Red Robin** 2/20/53

40001, Candy Lips** 12/05/52

40020, A Purple Cow** 5/25/53

40063, Choo Choo Train (Ch-Ch-Foo)** 7/17/53

40234, Kay-Muleta 4/29/54

40483, Two Hearts, Two Kisses 3/14/55

40581, Ooh Bang Jiggily Jang** 9/22/55

40870, Twelve O'Clock Tonight** 1/11/57

41071, Walk a Chalk Line 11/01/57 (stereo)

41307, I Enjoy Being a Girl 11/13/58 (stereo)

41354, Love Me in the Daytime** 1/12/59 - um, Billboard #100 on 5/11/59.

DDS-1, No 11/27/59 (stereo)

About "Two Hearts, Two Kisses" -- cover of the Charms' R&B on DeLuxe, Pat Boone on Dot, and Frank Sinatra on Capitol. One of Pat Boone's infamous early rockers.