Sunny Gale was one of the vivacious and talented girl singers to come to the fore on the US music scene during the early 1950s.

As a youngster growing up in New Jersey, she competed in singing contests against the likes of future musicians Eddie Fisher and Al Martino. In 1949, she joined bandleader Hal McIntyre’s orchestra on a series of successful concert tours of North America and Canada. She took advantage of the burgeoning medium of television to have a string of hits before her style was superseded by the advent of rock‘n’roll in mid-decade, although she recorded successfully through into the 1960s as she adapted her approach for the evolving market.

She is probably best known for her take of Wheel Of Fortune. Written by written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss, and recorded with the Eddie Wilcox Orchestra, Gale’s version triggered interest  from rival companies who saw the potential of a hit. Several artists recorded the composition in rapid succession, including Sammy Kaye, the Bell Sisters, and the Cardinals. Gale’s rendition, nonetheless, managed to chart at No.13, but was soon overtaken by Kay Starr’s novelty take, which became a No.1.

This 55-track collection selected A&B sides of her releases during this era on the Derby, RCA and Warwick labels, chosen to include at least one side of just about all her singles from this era. It features all her career chart entries, including her No.2 R&B and No.13 chart debut, and her other Top 20 pop hits I Laughed At Love, Teardrops On My Pillow, A Stolen Waltz, Smile and Let Me Go, Lover. She was a talented and versatile interpreter of songs and this collection is an entertaining showcase for a singer who very much typified her particular era of pop.

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