Most of the actual songs from the original production have survived, even the tantalizing little snippets of songs that bring the Dreams to the top of the pops in the story’s mythical 1960s & 70s universe, such as Step On Over, I’m Somebody, Love, Love You Baby, etc. The biggest problem with this recording is its rearrangements of the famous original orchestrations of the show. These changed orchestrations seem engineered to make the album sell better to today’s audiences, but also work against the point of the musical’s story. Almost all of the R&B swing has been so drained from some of the songs that they seem like Cadillac Car after it has been retooled for the show’s Pat Boone analogue to put over for white audiences. Thus, when Curtis re-engineers the Dreams to sing a disco cover of One Night Only to keep in step with the Seventies, it seems almost pointless, all their previous songs (except for the funky Move) sound already like disco versions. This is pretty jarring, but shouldn’t get in the way of your appreciation of Murphy and Hudson or the charming new additions to the score like Love You I Do, Patience, and Listen… Still it all sounds like a Connie’s show of old.
