VA - Colour My World: Songs of Tony Hatch (2014)

For a time, Tony Hatch defined British pop -- not the underground, not the vanguard, but the savvy, swinging sound of the go-go '60s in the U.K., a splashy sound that could appeal to both the young and the old. His greatest muse was Petula Clark, and her hits "Downtown," "Colour My World," and "A Sign of the Times" epitomize Hatch's gifts: propulsive rhythms that don't rock too hard dressed in the fanciest, frilliest studio trickery and delivered by a polite, charismatic singer who never seemed dangerous. Ace's 2014 compilation Colour My World: The Songs of Tony Hatch celebrates his heyday, offering 23 cuts from the '60s plus two '70s instrumentals from the Tony Hatch Orchestra. As comprehensive as this is, it doesn't have every noteworthy artist Hatch produced -- his singles with David Bowie, commercial duds all, are absent -- but most of the hits are here, including four hits from Clark, several from Jackie Trent (who was also Hatch's wife), the Searchers' "Sugar and Spice," Chris Montez's "Call Me," and the Vogues' "You're the One." Occasionally, Colour My World illustrates how Hatch could play it straight, stripping away the stylish rock & roll accouterments to wander down the middle of the road with Jack Jones, Matt Monro, and Bobby Rydell, but having these cuts interspersed with the livelier, teen-oriented hits helps this compilation feel like a robust portrait of mainstream pop: it's possible to hear what the mainstream sounded like, and also to hear how Hatch expanded that definition with his rhythms and rich orchestrations. (Also, in this context, it's plain to see how Scott Walker, represented here by "Joanna," came closer to MOR than rock at the start of his solo career.)