CCMusic.com

• Track Listing

In this tremendously popular series of ’60s girl-pop compilations, England’s Ace label has already hopped across the channel to France and gone further afield to Japan. Now, Ace turns to the divas and dynamos of Italy, offering 12 delights on colored vinyl or 24 on CD. It’s the sheer variety that’s most impressive here; for example, the vinyl edition starts with the prized dance-floor filler "Baluba Shake" by Brunetta & Her Balubas and closes with "Pa Diglielo A Ma," a dramatic ballad by big-voiced Nada. The queen bee of Italy’s female pop singers, Mina, gets two tracks: the folk-rock gem "No" and the sophisticated pop epic "Se Telefonado" (helmed by Ennio Morricone). Beat babe Caterina Caselli delivers a swaggering spin on "Baby Please Don’t Go;" petite but powerful Rita Pavone belts out "Il Geghege" and Catherine Spaak offers up the breathy bossa-nova "La Notte E Fatta Per Rubare." The sitars come in on "Il Mio Posto Qual’E" by Ornella Vanoni, and (CD only) Eurovision winner "Non Ho L’Eta (Per Amarti)" is presented in opulently orchestrated fashion, sung by Gigliola Cinquetti. The winning formula of this alluring series returns…this time, Italian style! Ace International.