The Very Worst of Spike Jones (2000)

About this title: Every home ought to have some Spike Jones. The operative term, however, is "some." More than an album's worth will probably be too much for anyone whose psyche hovers anywhere near the middle of the bell curve of normalcy, and for those, this hour-long best-of is perfect. It includes all the, er, hits -- everything from the brilliantly anarchic "Cocktails for Two" to the merely anarchic "Happy New Year," from a straightforward "Charleston" (which features a brilliant trombone solo by Arthur Most) to a thoroughly postmodern deconstruction of "Glow-Worm." In many ways, Spike Jones was to ... read more

Tracks:

1. Love in Bloom [Robin/Rainger]
2. William Tell Overture [Rossini]
3. The Charleston [Mack/Johnson]
4. Cocktails for Two [Coslow/Johnston]
5. That Old Black Magic [Arlen/Mercer]
6. The Blue Danube [Strauss/Meyer]
7. Liebestraum [Liszt/Porter]
8. Drip, Drip, Drip (Sloppy Lagoon) [Lagoon]
9. My Old Flame [Coslow/Johnston]
10. McNamara's Band [Oconnor/Stamford]
11. The Glow Worm [Lincke/Robinson]
12. Chloe [Moret/Kahn]
13. Holiday for Strings [Rose/Gallop]
14. You Always Hurt the One You Love [Roberts/Fisher]
15. Dance of the Hours [Jones/Ponchielli/We]
16. Laura [Mercer/Raksin]
17. Hawaiian War Chant [Freed/Noble/Leleioh]
18. Knock, Knock, Who's There? [Morris/Lopez/Thyson]
19. All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth [Gardner]
20. Happy New Year [Brandt/Morgan]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.