ROBBIE WILLIAMS

ROBBIE WILLIAMS
SWING WHEN YOU'RE WINNING (2001)
320 KBPS

Apparently, Swing When You're Winning was inspired by the praise Robbie Williams received for his contribution to the soundtrack on Bridget Jones's Diary. Recorded with an 18-piece band in Frank Sinatra's old stomping ground, the Capitol Records Studio in LA, this collection of finger-clickin', Rat Pack standards and new material features plenty of guest collaborations, such as the much-hyped Nicole Kidman effort on Sinatra's "Something Stupid". Swing... is billed by Williams as a tribute to "The Rat Pack", a gang of entertainers including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr, as well as Ol' Blue-Eyes himself, that dominated the Las Vegas dinner-club scene of the early 1960s. The selection of tracks reflect the karaoke sessions of Robbie's childhood in Stoke, and have been given the full "tribute" treatment, with no funny business going on in the production to take away from their classic appeal. There's never been any doubt that Williams sees himself as an entertainer in the most traditional sense of the word (not to mention a bit of a swinger), and his old-time-crooner fantasies are certainly given free rein to charm the pants off us all on this classy album.

1. I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen
2. Mack The Knife
3. Somethin' Stupid
4. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
5. It Was A Very Good Year
6. Straighten Up And Fly Right
7. Well, Did You Evah
8. Mr Bojangles
9. One For My Baby
10. Things
11. Ain't That A Kick In The Head
12. They Can't Take That Away From Me
13. Have You Met Miss Jones?
14. Me And My Shadow
15. Beyond The Sea