Ultimate Collection Comp Hits [Best of]

In remember that C&T were huge when I was in junior high and of course I never admitted to being a Captain & Tennille fan as these two were kind of hokey with their ultra-vanilla TV variety show (which I loved! With its show ending "We Never Really Say Goodbye") and the whole Captain shtick, which as fans will remember included sailor caps and the keyboard sounds in songs like "Muskrat Love" (which I also loved). Listening to these songs now, I can clearly see that C&T were much more than a guilty pleasure as they put out some brilliant singles and Toni Tennille (who I recently learned, toured with the Beach Boys AND sang background vocals on Pink Floyd's "The Wall)" shows some major soul chops in many songs, especially "Disney Girls." Among my favorites are the sexy "The Way I Want to Touch You," the irresistible "Love Will Keep Us Together," the infectious "Lonely Night (Angel Face)'" the ultra-cheesy ballad "Muskrat Love," their earnest versions of a 1970's AM staple "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)," and "Come In From The Rain", and the list goes on. These songs will take you back to a simpler and more innocent time and although that is not always what is on one's musical menu, it's nice to have this collection. Even the "Grease" meets The Brady Bunch meets Meatloaf "Can't Stop Dancing'" brings a huge smile to my face.

There are also some lesser known songs that are quite a nice addition versus the 1990 release (such as the soulful "Song Of Joy)" and a couple of gems that were initially overlooked in that release, such as "Do That To Me One More Time" and "You Never Done It Like That."

Of course like most things in life all is not perfect as more is not always better. There is some filler towards the end of the disc and a truly awful Spanish version of "Love Will Keep Us Together" that will make even non-Spanish speakers cringe; notwithstanding this CD easily earns its 4 starts as it has all the essentials and the remastering makes them all sound better than they ever have. Of course almost anything tops the sound of my favorite AM radio station (KFRC) at the time these songs came out. If you want to make this a 5 star release, I suggest doing what I do many times when a release has all the goods and some filler, which is to record my own curtailed version that has all my favorites. If you liked C&T in the 1970s, this is THE release to buy. On the other hand if you never liked them and thought that they were the devil incarnate, nothing here will change your mind. I am really happy that I bought this and listening to my curtailed version as I write this, I am floored by the shelf-life of many of these soft rock (without shame) gems. Enjoy!

By the way, it should be noted that Hip-O's "Ultimate Collection" series are among the finest collections around and they don't skimp on the inserts. This release in particular has so much great stuff that it actually felt like true historical account of the band, instead of the junk that sometimes is passed for inserts.

It's difficult to fault this compilation in terms of what it is. I would mourn the loss of the silky disco tune 'No Love In The Morning' or the R'n'B-infused 'Until You Come Back To Me', but as this is explicitly a hits compilation it's a relatively futile exercise. For the casual fan, all the big songs are here in shimmeringly clear, digitally-remastered quality - 'Do That To Me One More Time', 'Love Will Keep Us Together', 'Lonely Night (Angel Face)', even the semi-hideous / semi-beautiful 'Muskrat Love'. For the slightly more versed fans, their more moderately-successful singles such as 'Can't Stop Dancin'', 'The Way I Want To Touch You', 'Shop Around', 'You Need A Woman Tonight' receive another well-deserved outing here. And for all Captain & Tennille diehards, tunes like 'Love On A Shoestring', a disco reading of 'Happy Together (A Fantasy)', and 'Keeping Our Love Warm' round out this comprehensive compilation.

The combination of Daryl's production with Toni's deep vocals and lyrical know-how made for some of the best songs of their era. I was hoping to find something wrong with this collection to at least warn people about, but it's a class package from top to bottom. A very complete tracklisting, lovely artwork, and a bumper booklet with photos, comprehensive write-ups and even snippets from a new interview with Toni and Daryl makes 'The Ultimate Collection' the perfect introduction to new fans and a fitting tribute to long-time fans for their loyalty.