Frankie Avalon - Venus/Very Best of Frankie Avalon

The first of the manufactured teen idols in the post-Elvis, pre-Beatles era of the 1950s, Frankie Avalon never really was about rock & roll (unless you count his insisting that Dick Dale have involvement with the various surf movies Avalon did in the early to mid-'60s), but he was a musician (a horn player, actually) and he really could sing, although that was largely secondary to his good looks in his success. This set has all anyone might need, including Avalon's big 1959 hit, "Venus," and if most of it sounds woefully dated, slick, and soulless to contemporary ears, well, there's a very good chance the same will be said of most of American Idol's various singers in years to come. Read More