SWEETHEART OF SONG: A DATE WITH DORIS DAY contains a full 1951 broadcast of Day's radio program, A DATE WITH DORIS DAY.

Personnel includes: Doris Day, Jack Kirkwood, Jack Smith.

This confusingly titled album (the cover reads "Sweetheart of Song," "Popular Lady of Song" is the legend running down the vertical stripe on the left side of the CD jewel box, and the spine and disc itself say "A Date With Doris Day") presents one half-hour episode of the 1952-1953 radio series The Doris Day Show. The date, presumably, is April 4, 1952, since Jack Smith, a guest who had appeared with Day in the 1951 film On Moonlight Bay, says he is a day late in wishing her a happy birthday. Day and Smith engage in typical radio banter that allows them to plug the picture and sing its title song. Day also sings "A Guy Is a Guy," her current single, then on its way to the top of the charts. Day is an engaging radio presence, and it's too bad she was too busy with her movie career to do more on the airwaves. But then, it's also true that she came along as a solo star just as radio was declining from its glory days, so the medium really couldn't have sustained her for long anyway. This album is surprisingly brief; it's a wonder that Collectors' Choice couldn't have found another show to put on the disc, just as the album could be much better presented to consumers to describe its actual contents and even its correct title. It is also, however, inexpensive, selling on release for about ten dollars. ~ William Ruhlmann