Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers At RKO: Motion Picture Soundtrack Anthology

Amazon.com During the "talkies'" first decade, Hollywood quickly rivalled Broadway as a major platform for the best pop music, and no franchise underlined this potential better than the Astaire/Rogers musicals released by RKO Pictures. Ironically, that golden age of musicals preceded the introduction of LPs, so it's been left until now for the release of this comprehensive two-CD anthology, which extracts classic vocal performances of classics from Irving Berlin and the Gershwins, among others, slighter but no less charming novelty songs, and brief dialogue excerpts. For fans, it's the mother lode, but even more casual listeners will be reminded of Astaire's deceptively plain yet indelible voice, and Rogers' own warm, engaging style. --Sam Sutherland