Ralph Flanagan was a pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader, who worked with the orchestras of Charlie Barnet, Boyd Raeburn, Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Alvino Rey and Blue Barron before launching his own band in the late 1940s, based very much on the sound of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and being signed to RCA.

Performing a range of straight orchestral and swinging jazz pieces, along with the hot songs of the day sung by his featured vocalist Harry Prime and his vocal group The Singing Winds. Ralph Flanagan was managed by Herb Hendler, an RCA A&R man who had signed Glenn Miller to his final record contract before Miller’s fatal plane crash in the English Channel.

It was Hendler who had encouraged Flanagan to adopt the Miller sound that led to his success. Hendler also co-wrote the Top 10 Hot Toddy, which was recorded by many artists, including Chet Atkins, Rosemary Clooney, Red Foley and Julie London. This great-value 51-track 2CD set comprises selected A- and B-sides on the Rainbow, Bluebird and RCA-Victor labels hits between 1949 and 1953.

It features his 21 career chart hits, including the Top 10s Don’t Cry Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go), Rag Mop, Nevertheless, Harbour Lights, Slow Poke, I Should Care and Hot Toddy. The success of the Flanagan band sparked off a whole Miller revival, with such former Miller-men as Ray Anthony and Jerry Gray. His music was very much of its era, typifying a particular strand of the pop scene of the post-war decade,  and this collection offers an enjoyable selection of his work.

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