By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
February 7, 2000
You have seven days left to impress your significant other on Valentine’s Day. If you’ve worn out the roses and chocolates routine, but don’t want to dole out diamonds just yet, then you may want to consider the gift of music.
At least that’s what K-Tel is hoping.
The king of compilation recordings is offering customers the chance to create their own Valentine’s Day CDs through a Web site (www.ktel.com).
First, you log on to the site and peruse a menu of songs. Warning: these are not cutting edge songs by today’s superstars. You will find “I Will Always Love You,” but it won’t be the Whitney Houston or Dolly Parton versions. Rather, it’s the one by the Starsound Orchestra.
And even when you get the original artists performing a song like the Platters’ classic “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” it’s a re-recording, so it’s not exactly what you might remember hearing on the oldies station.
Still, it’s fun going through the menu and making your selections. Should you go with “Precious and Few” or “Love Crazy”? Or maybe “I Can’t Stop Loving You” or “Wild Thing”? Play around with your choices. You can always delete the ones you don’t want later.
Helpful hint: Pick the songs in the order that you want them to appear on the CD, though, ’cause you can’t rearrange them later.
Each CD of 10 songs costs $12.99. You may add up to six more for an additional charge of 99 cents per song. Postage ranges from $2.99 (for first class U.S. mail) to $10.99 for overnight Federal Express delivery.
Then, choose the title you want to appear on the CD and the CD jacket. The CD jacket actually is a computer printout of one of nine designs (roses, hearts, etc.) and has an amateurish veneer.
If you’re giving the CD to a perfectionist, you may want to warn him or her that the grammatical imperfections aren’t your fault. Apostrophes don’t register on the Web site, so it will say “Valentines Day,” instead of “Valentine’s Day.”
So, happy Valentines Day!
***
Sure, picking romantic songs for your sweetie is a fun option. But there may be some other (in)significant others in your life who warrant a CD all their own. Here are some selections we chose for them:
Happy Valentine’s Day
“Baby It’s You”
“Let It Be Me”
“Only You (And You Alone)”
“You are So Beautiful”
“Sea of Love”
“Unchained Melody”
“Cherish”
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”
“Love Grows ”
“Everlasting Love”
My Kind of Lover
“I”ll Keep You Satisfied”
“Wild Thing”
“Give It to Me”
“Behind Closed Doors”
“Love the One You’re With”
“Hold On, I’m Comin'”
“I Can’t Control Myself”
“Two Lovers”
“(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Dont Want to Be Right”
“Feet Up (Pat Him on the Po-Po)”
Alone Again, Naturally
“(Hey There) Lonely Girl”
“I Miss You Already (and You’re Not Even Gone)”
“All By Myself”
“Lonely Teardrops”
“Walkin’ the Streets Alone”
“Easy Come, Easy Go”
“Hurt So Bad”
“You’ve Got Your Troubles”
“It’s My Party”
“9,999,999 Tears”
Hit the Road, Jack
“The Jerk”
“Mr. Big Stuff”
“Cool Jerk”
“Get You Off My Mind”
“The Great Pretender”
“Ain’t That a Shame”
“Devil or Angel”
“Wild One”
“Bad Luck (Part 1)”
“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
