Here Come The Hits!

I've got several of these "Ronnie Aldrich and his Two Pianos" albums and I've seen lots of other ones in my travels around thrift stores from Cleveland to California. The basic idea seems to be that Ronnie Aldrich plays a handful of popular tunes using not one but two pianos (often done up in extreme left-right stereo separation for your convenience). It's not entirely clear whether Ronnie is playing both pianos himself, but given the considerable technical wizardry of the "Phase 4 Stereo" concept that seems to be the cornerstone of this production, almost anything is possible.

Most of Aldrich's albums are really pretty lame, but Here Come The Hits has what it takes to entertain me: the right combination of cheesy pop hits and a groovy psychedelic jacket mural (could those polka-dotted mushrooms be an accident?) Joining forces with the London Festival Orchestra, Aldrich covers tunes like Venus, Sugar Sugar, Arizona, and Bridge Over Troubled Waters. A sappy version of the Lennon/McCarney tune Because is one of a pair of Beatle covers on the album. According to the liner notes, "These arrangements will attract music fans of all interests --those who like 'pop' with the orchestral sound, and those who know little of the 'pop' scene but know a good tune when they hear one".

Here Come The Hits is recorded in fabulous Phase 4 Stereo, a "radically new and dynamic concept in the art of high fidelty reproduction" that's described in painstaking detail on the inside of the beautiful fold-out album jacket. My theory is that reading an essay about 20 track musical recording, written to sound technical without actually being terribly accurate or specific, was meant to enahnce the listening experience, probably by causing the listener to focus on the sound quality rather than the artistic content of the music. In my case, it seems to have worked.

NOF says:
The diagram of the Phase 4 Stereo system was incorporated into the album artwork of the Beastie Boys' album "Hello Nasty." Look at the track listing on the back of the CD... Neat! (03-28-2006)

myrth70 (myrth70@yahoo.com) says:
is it just me or does that black and grey model above look like the reproductive 'inner workings' of a female analog recording studio?

Phase 4, do you have a boyfriend?
i make good Indian & Thai food. i have a MultiEcho tape delay unit, too ;)

myrth (10-12-2005)

Mad Dr. Matt (magob@aol.com) says:
Ohhhh! The Webmaster is from OHIO, huh? How does it feel be responsible for putting Dubya back in office? Pretty good, I'll bet. Yep, we can all look forward to FOUR MORE YEARS of Bush's brilliant leadership - thanks to YOU FOLKS in Ohio. Take a pat on the back outta petty cash! Can't pull the wool over on the BUCKEYE State, no sirree! You folks in the midwest are intellectual giants!

Oh, I'm SORRY!

I NEVER meant to infer the citizens of the great state of Ohio were "intellectuals" - oh, no, no, no, no, no! That'd be like calling you a "liberal" or a "child-molester" or something!

Let's just forget this whole incident, and MOVE ON! (11-11-2004)

KERRY & EDWARDS IN '04! says:
VOTE KERRY/EDWARDS! (10-27-2004)

Joli (purplevioletsquishies@comcast.net) says:
Very interesting. There is elevator music & THEN there is elevator music. This is my kind of elevator music for it has a bit more pizazz than just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, more lackluster, mainstream elevator music. BTW, I realize it's not REALLY elevator music but how can I not make this kind of comparison? (10-12-2004)

musiclover says:
If you are looking for a particular Ronnie Aldrich album on CD, try going to www.collectorschoicemusic.com (or ccmusic.com). They carry the stock of Dutton Vocalion, a label founded by European sound engineer Mike Dutton. I listened to a CD of Ronnie Aldrich tunes,but I just was not paritcularly impressed. A little TOO much like Ferrante and Teicher to my ears! But if you are an Aldrich Fan, Vocalion regularly combs the London vaults for great vintage albums to reissue. There are at least four Aldrich "two LPs on one CD" collections, to my knowledge anyway. Look himup on ccmusic.com! (08-28-2004)

campos says:
yes sugar is well, but in this album i prefer ¨becuase¨,and the song "daydream" is better with frank pourcel, i ear some albums of R. aldrich and is excelent to ear the sound of his pianos in jazz rhythm (06-15-2004)

Homer says:
KAAAAAAHHHHNNNN!!!!!! (05-10-2004)

René R. González M. (renegonzalezmedina@hotmail.com) says:
I live in Bogotá. I really love all the music of Mr. Ronnie Aldrich. I have the LP´s made initially here in Colombia, then I bougth the LPs made in USA and in UK (are different in art) and now we can ear in CD thanks to Vocalion. I think this album will be soon in CD.
Please, this is not music for "background or restaurant..." NOT, is for put in your best equipment, sit, and enjoy all the magnificent music and incredible talent of RA and the sound of Phase 4 Stereo (no one CD now with all DDD has that marvelous taste, OK?). Each time I ear, I recognice a new instrument, new tone in piano, new wonderful magic taste. Ah, any of you has "Focus on Ronnie Aldrich" LP? or "Tender Love...Tender Moments?) Thanks. (02-28-2004)

bobby says:
I play Homeronica, I do nice.
Yah! (02-03-2004)

Paul (BarkingHare@Excite.Com) says:
Excuse me, isn't this that musical monster called 'Muzak?' (01-03-2004)

Denny says:
"You kill to much vinyl records music wen you buy the DECCA company."

WHAT? It'd be nice if people on this list could: 1) Spell correctly, and 2) stick to the topic. (12-23-2003)

Milt Cass (milton4caceres@hotmail.com) says:
Poligram srs: (open leter)

You kill to much vinyl records music wen you buy the DECCA company.
Only you now have the power of music of:
RONNIE ALDRICH, STANLEY BLACK, FRANK CHACKSFIELD
MAURICE LARCANGE, ETC. ETC
I say you must offer it, for exaple (if you thing that is few comertial) in dvd-music (9.5GB 19 hours in 24bit quality) at low cost, all the DECCA easy listening material
please, I way news from it
one fannatic.
(11-27-2003)

Mark says:
very classy material. . good stuff... (11-11-2003)

Milt cass (milton4caceres@hotmail.com) says:
srs: please.
The Aldrich cover that have in this page, is only the american version "London phase 4 stereo" of PAPER MACHE Decca english album.
Im want the original Aldrich covers and I will be very agree with you if send me that.
a Ronnie fan.
Milton (11-10-2003)

Maruf (maruf_u@hotmail.com ) says:
Very Interesting (05-13-2003)

MightyOrson (towergleroy@msn.com) says:
Great sound! This would be good as background music for a lounge or a nice restaurant. (01-19-2003)

Joseph Patrick Cosgrove (Josephcos@earthlink.net) says:
I think Ronnie would get a kick of a lot of the comments on your web site. Some pretty inane and thoughtless. Others today, truly appreciate the world class products Ronnie Aldrich created
Ronnie was a perfect gentleman, a class act.
The London Four Phase series in which Ronnie was featured was a remarkable achievement for its time. And its stands up very well some 40 years after being produced.
As a Los Angeles disc jockey for many years in the 1950's and 1960's I had the pleasure of listening to thousands of recordings done by some of the outstanding ochestras of the day from Percy Faith, Frank Pourcel, Michael Legrand,Frank Compstock, etc.
However, the London Four Phase series was a breakthrough. The range of sound is still extraordinary.
Ronnie Aldrich's arrangements and performances are first rate....and yes his music is elevating.
Our AM/FM signal brought Ronnie and similar music to millions throughout the Southern California area on radio station KPOL AM/FM for more than three decades.
Even to this day when I play his recordings in our digital media center, people are blown away by the high quality audio and the range of sound of London Four Phase.
I have all of Ronnie's music...and for those who want it awailable on CD check Reader's Digest or a major music store.
I am amused at the comments of those who fancy themelves knowledgeable about music who belittle Ronnie and others like him.
Our world is filled with such critics and you may hear their loud noise daily as it resounds from stadium speakers applified by 10,000 watts of
thumping, twanging and screeching as they drive through cities and towns. No melody. No harmony. Just discord and racket. As Steve Allen said about this so called music, "just garbage." Yes, this generation of noise lovers will shortly be unable to hear anything past the age of 30.
Too bad we have the greatest digital recording equipment ever and most of what is recorded is loud, incoherent and lacking in substance and texture.
I am thankful that Mozart and the other masters are now on CD for that is truly the greatest music ever created by the mind of man.
And that the pleasant music of the 50's,60's and 70's is now being remastered digitally for new generations. (01-02-2003)

jonaco (jonaco@mindspring.com) says:
Hey-hey! Vintage elevator-dentist's office music deluxe! I used to listen to our local easy-
listening station and probably heard Aldrich a million times. Roger Williams probably would have done a nice job on something like this, too. You say he does "Arizona" on this record? I'd love to hear that- my all-time favorite bubble-gum song. (11-22-2002)

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