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Monday 17 August 2009

Lana Cantrell - Lana!



The Sound Of Silence/How Can I Be Sure/Baby Now That I've Found You/Honey/The Fool On The Hill/Can't Take My Eyes Of You/ For Me/Workin' On A Groovy Thing/Mine/The Music Played

By the time she was ten years old, Australian born musical prodigy, Lana Cantrell was already the "Boogie Baby" of her country, singing and playing the piano in jazz concerts at the Sydney Town Hall. She made her television debut on the first show ever to be shown in Australian and during the next four years was a regular on the two biggest variety shows in the country, Bandstand and In Melbourne Tonight.
Her American debut was even more auspicious. Coming to the States at age 19, Lana made 15 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show as well as numerous appearances on all of the top variety shows, including Kraft Music Hall and The Red Skelton Show. In 1966 she was selected to represent the U.S.A at the International Song Festival, held in Poland. Lana returned to America with the first prize, which was awarded to her for her unique rendition of "I'm All Smiles".
A top recording artist, Lana Cantrell has recorded seven albums for RCA Victor, numerous singles in Australia on the Festival Label, and her hit single, "Like A Sunday Morning" on the Polydor label. Lana has worked with many summer stock companies, including a summer co-starring with Alfred Drake. She played the role of Dorothy in the summer theatre production of The Wizard Of Oz.
1972 was a homecoming for Lana when she returned to Australia to open the Sydney Opera House. In 1975 she was honoured once again when she was named "International Woman of the Year" and was flown to Paris by the United Nations to sing at the Olympia. In 1978 she co-hosted the Greater New England Emmy Awards Show with Phil Donahue and in 1979 was a judge for the Miss Universe Pageant held in Perth, Australia.

Lana! was released in 1968 and is a slice of sixties pop with songs from Simon and Garfunkle "Sounds Of Silence" The Rascals "How Can I Be Sure" Beatles "Fool On The Hill" Bobby Goldsboro "Honey" 5th Dimenson "Working On A Groovy Thing" and my favourite on the album Matt Monro's "The Music Played" the whole album is a delight to listen to, her style has been likened to Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand but that's the Yanks for you always trying to pidgeon hole you.

10 comments:

  1. Lana is my favorite singer of all time, and this share is fantastic! She only made a few albums, and I've yet to find anything but this great share from you online.

    Thank you sooooooooooo much! ;-) If you have anything else by her, I will be your servant for life! ;-)

    Thanks again...
    Matt

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  2. Glad you liked the post Matt but unfotunately that is all I have at the moment but you never know what may turn up.

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  3. Deutros - thanks for replying, but tell me, who are some of your fav artists? I have a wonderful Big Band/Jazz/Swing & Pop collection.

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  4. You can probably guess from my posts just about anything but mainly Aussie sixties and early seventies Aussie but I have aged and a lot and things that I would never of given the time of day to I now enjoy.

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  5. Deutros said...
    You can probably guess from my posts just about anything but mainly Aussie sixties and early seventies Aussie but I have aged and a lot and things that I would never of given the time of day to I now enjoy
    -------

    Well, Deutros..I'm 63 and from the USA, so I've nothing from the Aussie sixties and early seventies, but I will email you some lists (in a private email), and see if there's anything you might like ;-)

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  6. That would be great Matt I can see my email at the top of the page but I'm not sure if it's visible to anyone else so here it is deutros@hotmail.com looking forwrd to your lists.

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  7. Thanks Deutros, I have a vague memory of hearing Lana and maybe this will trigger some more memories.

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  8. This is all I could find on her discography:

    1968
    Lana!
    *
    1969
    The 6th Of Lana
    *
    1969
    The Now Of Then!
    *
    Lana Cantrell

    1961
    Introducing Lana Cantrell

    1975
    The Best Of Lana Cantrell
    __________________
    (Found this on another website)

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  9. Having listened to the lp, it all comes back. What a magnificent voice! What a great set of songs! I was always trying to remember something of the 60's, as if something was missing - Lana. We took her for granted because she was Australian, and she was always on TV.

    A stunning album, a great artist.

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