The Australian country music singer Melinda Schneider has just released a new tribute album to Doris Day entitled ‘Melinda Does Doris’. The album which heralds a new creative direction for the Aussie Country Princess has proven to be a hit with music lovers downunder as it debuted this week at #1 on the ARIA Jazz/Blues chart and at #30 on the National Pop chart.

Melinda’s music career began at the tender age of eight, when, as the daughter of yodeller Mary Schneider, she joined her mother on the album “The Magic of Yodelling”. The singer-songwriter has however long established herself as a successful solo recording artist in her own right. Since 2000, Melinda has released six studio albums with her last “Be Yourself” reaching the #1 spot on the Country music charts; is a proud recipient of six prestigious awards from the Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA) and has also had many of her own original songs recorded by top pop acts such as Olivia Newton-John (“Physical”) and John Farnham (“You’re The Voice”).

Melinda’s latest album which pays homage to the darling Ms. Doris Day was fuelled by an admiration which stemmed from her childhood when she first laid eyes on Doris Day’s 1953 musical picture ‘Calamity Jane’.

“She was such a huge talent” she enthuses now, “a triple threat as they say – she could sing, dance and act. I thought then she was the best of everything a woman can be and when I grow up I want to be just like her!…”

2010 looks set to be a fabulous, ‘full-on’ year for Melinda as it has already delivered her a star spot in the latest season of Channel 7′s “Dancing With The Stars: Australia” where she got to indulge her passion of dance that goes back decades. This resulted in a connection with Universal Music and the shimmering tribute album ‘Melinda Does Doris’. A national tour for the hit album is also now rumoured for later in the year.

“I am so thrilled with the way the album has been received. This record seems to be making people happy, but I really have to thank the delightful Doris Day for the stunning songs and the joy that she has given all of her fans for so many years, including me!”

This site just adores Melinda and encourages all fans of Doris Day to have a peak at her performing “Everybody Loves A Lover” from her new album here as it is just so, so, so cute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RkH19aN7Q0

Melinda Does Doris – A Tribute To Doris Day
Label: Universal Music Australia
Order the CD now from amazon.com or melindaschneider.com

1. Everybody Loves a Lover
2. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
3. Que Sera Sera
4. It’s Magic
5. Put `em in a Box
6. Black Hills of Dakota
7. Secret Love
8. Love Somebody (with David Campbell)
9. Deadwood Stage
10. Sentimental Journey
11. Teacher’s Pet
12. I’ll See You in My Dreams

Fox Home Entertainment in the USA are celebrating 75 years of movie-making with their new “Studio Classics” range of  QUAD DVD boxsets (released on the 3 August 2010).

Set #15 contains Doris Day and James Garner’s much loved 1963 comedy movie “Move Over, Darling” which was a remake of the 1940s film “My Favourite Wife”. The film opens with the navy rescuing Doris from a deserted island and follows her character as she rushes to reclaim her husband played by James Garner who has just re-married after giving up on a 5-year search for his “missing” former wife. This film is an absolute joy to watch with Doris looking super sexy throughout and sounding very sultry on her ‘million selling’ title tune which was notably banned upon release in the UK by the BBC who labelled it too “provocative”.

Packaged also on this ‘Region 1′  set is the star-studded picture “O’Henry’s Full House” (1952), Danny Kaye’s  “On the Riviera” (1951) and Paul Newman and Joan Collin’s “Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys!” (1959).

Classic Quad Set #15
Label: Fox Entertainment
Order the ‘Region 1′ DVD from amazon.com

Sad news broke just a few days ago that the pop maestro Mitch Miller died aged 99. The goateed American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, Artists and Repertoire man and record company executive passed away on Saturday, 31 July 2010 in a New York Hospital after a short illness.

Mitchell William “Mitch” Miller was born on the 4 July 1911 in Rochester (New York). He was a key record executive at Columbia Records during the 1950s and was responsible for launching the recording careers of many legendary singers such as Tony Bennett (“Rags to Riches”) and Rosemary Clooney (“Come on-a My House”). In 1955, at the height of Doris Day’s fame as a solo singer he also notably persuaded Ms. Day to extend her stay with the Columbia  label after offering her an extremely lucrative new recording contract.

Miller is considered by many as one of the 20th century’s most influential forces in popular music. Between World War II and before the onset of the Beatles-led British Rock Invasion he literally re-invented the sound of popular music with his distinct style of  catchy novelty record. Miller was a multi-million selling producer who had the Midas touch when it came to finding records which the public bought by the bucket load. When he became Columbia’s head of popular music in 1950, the label’s sales jumped 60 percent within 18 months making Columbia the most important pop music label of the decade.

Miller is also credited for having brought country music into the pop mainstream and for refashioning many international folk tunes into popular hits.

A generation of music lover will likely know Miller best for having invited them to “Sing Along With Mitch” on his hit American NBC television show of the early 1960s and through a series of “Sing-Along” long play records.

The singer in response to this wonderful honour decided to do a little something in return by setting up a new grant to help any members of the organisation that needed a little help caring for their four-legged friends.

Below is a copy of Doris Day’s letter of thanks which the society published in their brochure for the 2010 awards ceremony.

Now how would you like to own a new Doris Day album? Well it looks like that could well be a reality as a new album is said to be currently in production of previously unreleased material.

Word has it that Doris Day’s new long-play is to be named “My Heart” and will be issued now sometime in 2011 (delayed from autumn 2010) by her former record label Columbia/Sony Music (which was responsible for launching her solo music career in 1947).

To date, the multi-million selling songstress Doris Day has released a total of 28 original albums – these were all recorded during her pop chart heyday of the fifties and sixties. After this time, Ms. Day for all intent abandoned her singing career (as well as her movie career) for stardom on the small screen and eventually a life devoted to animal welfare work.

During the mid-eighties, Ms. Day did however make a brief return to the recording studio when her beloved son Terry Melcher convinced her to undertake a series of recording sessions under his guise. The songs contained on her upcoming album originate from these very sessions. Although a few of these recordings were aired on Ms. Day’s eighties chat show for cable television, “Doris Day’s Best Friends“, the majority were left in an “unfinished” state. That was until the powers that be had them polished and perfected by a new production team ensuring the inferior versions previously heard are completely eclipsed!

From what we understand, a track list is still being finalised so at present we can only speculate about what songs will end up on the finished release. What we will say is we hope to find on the new release the Ringo Starr hit ‘Octopus’s Garden’, Jonathan King’s ‘Everyone’s Gone To The Moon’ and Doris’s stunningly emotive vocal performance of the Joe Cocker classic “You Are So Beautiful To Me” which is an absolute tearjerker (and one which this site will cry a few tears over if it doesn’t get released!). We also have heard rumours of another gem possibly surfacing on the new album project as a bonus track and that is a demo record which Terry Melcher wrote and recorded for his Mother.

The murmurings of what is being planned don’t stop there as we understand that there may also be a new DVD to accompany the album release. If there is any truth in this we suspect that could contain some footage from “Doris Day’s Best Friends” show.

Our final words to you all are to be prepared for something a little different with album #29. The song choices and styling for this much delayed “comeback” record were contemporary for its time. In simple terms these eighties recordings are oceans apart from Ms. Day’s lushly orchestrated earlier works as they were engineered for a completely different music scene and era. What you can however rely upon are some stellar vocal performances and magical moments from the Queen of vocal phrasing and pitch perfect harmonies!

Before we sign off. It is important to highlight this new album release is also monumental because it will ultimately herald the end of one of the most successful recording careers in the history of popular music. Yes, that is right folks Doris Day ranks as one of the biggest selling female recording artists of the last century having seriously out-performed in sales terms many of her peers during her peak of the fifties!

This site promises to keep you posted on every bit of breaking news about this project. We do for now suggest you click here to read up on our previous feature detailing the “unreleased” recordings.

We all know that Doris Day is passionate about helping our four legged friends. She did after all start two wonderful animal welfare organisations which tirelessly work to improve the lives of animals.

This site has discovered a really neat way for everyone to follow in Doris Day’s footsteps without having to spend a dime. All you need do is visit the www.theanimalrescuesite.com website and click their prominent “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button.

The site then displays a page of advertising banners from their sponsors and it is those sponsors who then automatically donate money that provides food and care for many rescued animals living in shelter or sanctuary.

Since The Animal Rescue Site began in 2002, they have helped fund more than 309,677,000 bowls of food. Please do help spread the word about this wonderful project on your twitter, facebook, myspace pages. Just think of how much good we can all do if we make this one click on a daily basis. I am sure Doris Day would be so proud of us all!

In 2007, we reported how the British division of Columbia/Sony BMG released an all-new compilation “The Magic Of Doris Day” featuring Doris Day’s biggest & best loved songs plus a couple rare recordings from the 1970s. All recordings were digitally re-mastered from Columbia’s original master tapes (not vinyl LPs!).

The ‘TV Advertised’ album was conceived by the American producer Jim Pierson who was responsible for all of Doris Day’s TV show DVDs. Soon after its release the album became a hit on the UK ‘Top 20′ album chart (also charting in Australia!).

The good news for Doris Day fans living in the United Kingdom is Sony BMG have recently issued it to digital-download. The 22-track compilation is now available to download from amazon.co.uk for less £4UKP. If you live overseas you will not have access to UK music downloads but can still order the best-selling CD release which amazon.co.uk is selling for under £5UKP (approx. $8USD).

One very important point to make. Only the releases made by Columbia/Sony BMG or companies which specifically have licensed the songs from Sony BMG (e.g. The Bear Family, Collectors Choice Music or Collectables) get access to the original Columbia master tapes. Most of  the budget-priced ‘Doris Day’ CD collections you will find for sale online for just a few pounds or dollars are likely cashing in on current EU/Australian law which allows anyone to release recordings which are now considered in the “Public Domain” i.e. recordings which were first released over 50 years ago. This explains why the music market is flooded with CDs or downloads of only Doris Day’s earlier work (pre-1959/60).

Our big grievance with this situation is that Doris Day, the lady whose beautiful voice made the songs so divine will not receive a penny from any such “Public Domain” release. This, in our view, is fundementally wrong as any recording artist deserves to benefit from their craft. Furthermore, this site has randomly tested over 10 of these “Public Domain” releases and found that the companies ripped the songs poorly from old Vinyl LPs – so the sound quality is seriously substandard!

The “Public Domain” law is currently under review after stars such as the chart-topping British pop singer Sir Cliff Richard, whose career began in the 1950s, challenged its principle. Time will tell if individual governments around the world decide to extend their copyright laws but the hope is more will follow the United State of America’s 95-year rule!

To help you sift out the “bad from the good” this site has compiled an amazon.com aStore which contains reviews on many lovely “official” Doris Day releases.

The Magic of Doris Day
Label: Sony BMG UK
Order on CD & download

1. Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)
2. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Quizas, Quizas, Quizas)
3. Move Over, Darling
4. Pillow Talk
5. Teacher’s Pet
6. Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered (c)
7. When I Fall In Love
8. It’s Magic (1952 version)
9. Lullaby Of Broadway (a)
10. Secret Love
11. The Deadwood Stage
12. The Black Hills Of Dakota
13. A Very Precious Love
14. Everybody Loves A Lover
15. Love Me Or Leave Me
16. Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)
17. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
18. Close Your Eyes (b)
19. You’ll Never Walk Alone
20. Sentimental Journey (with Les Brown & His Orchestra)
21. 21. Secret Love / Who Will Buy? / 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) (Previously Unreleased)
22. 22. The Way We Were (Previously Unreleased)

(a) with Harry James / (b) with Andre Previn Trio / (c) with The Mellowmen

Doris Day’s contribution to popular music to be acknowledged by the ‘Society of Singers’ highest accolade – a ‘LEGEND Award’

On Tuesday, June 1 2010, the 26 year-old ‘Society of Singers’ will host their annual awards evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel (California). During this year’s awards ceremony they will be paying tribute to the multi-million selling recording artist Doris Day who will be the first ever recipient to receive their prestigious ‘LEGEND Award’. Ms. Day is not expected to attend the ceremony in person.

The Society of Singers is a non-profit charitable organization based in Sherman Oaks, California. It benefits the health and welfare of professional singers worldwide providing scholarships and other types of financial assistance to aspiring and working singers. Society members and supporters include Barbra Streisand, Pat Boone, Gloria Estefan and Barry Manilow to name just a few.

During the 2010 ceremony, the soul singer Natalie Cole will also be presented with S.O.S.’s much coveted “ELLA Award’ which was named for its first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald in 1989.

Now here’s something to shout about Doris Day will soon be talking to you all direct from her all-new official website!

As many of this site’s long-term followers will know our former home on the web was www.dorisday.com. We did however take the decision some years ago to hand over this domain name to Ms. Day’s management for future use by her representatives. The official replacement to our site however left many of you feeling very disappointed and underwhelmed as it offered just a static single page.

Well we are please to reveal that things are soon to change. Behind the scenes a new web team is working hard on preparing an all new home on the web to represent Doris Day.

We have been advised that Doris is extremely excited about this venture and her new look site should launch some time in early August 2010. We will of course keep your appraised of when this launch takes place. From what we have been advised you can expect a very comprehensive website containing a discography, filmography, photo gallery, feature stories with pictures of her four-leggers and even messages from Doris (including audio messages).

We can not think of many stars of Doris’s stature who are embracing the web with such gusto so we want to wish dear Doris great success with her new venture and truly commend her for getting so involved. In our eyes such a website has long been overdue and is one of the reasons why the ‘Discovering Doris’ website was launched 12 years ago (today) to ensure there was at least one site out there to represent such an amazingly talented star and all-round special lady.

Doris we look forward to hearing from you soon via your new online home: www.dorisday.com.

Doris Day – ‘The Fashion Film Icon’ will soon be celebrated in a new paper doll book to be published by Paper Studio Press.

In 2007, as many of you may recall, a vintage 1952 paper doll set was faithfully reproduced for a new generation of Doris Day fans to enjoy courtesy of the Paper Studio Press based in Maine.

We understand that Doris Day’s management has now given the green light for the same company to produce a new paper doll set which will be styled around some of Ms. Day’s most iconic fashions.

This upcoming project is being produced by the acclaimed fashion forecaster and artist David Wolfe. Pierre Patrick will also be a co-writer on the project (author of “A Beautiful Day: The Doris Day Companion“).

We will update you once release information is announced!