Don't Just Stand There

EMI's Patty Duke anthology, The Best of Patty Duke: Just Patty, seemed awfully thin with its three versions of "The Patty Duke Show Theme" and other outtakes that left listeners with the impression that Duke had very few recordings to anthologize. In reality, she cut several full-length albums for United Artists, including Don't Just Stand There, her debut album and the only one to reach the charts. The title track was Duke's first and biggest hit, and "Say Something Funny" nearly reached the Top 20. After that, the novelty of hearing Duke sing wore off as music lovers were confronted with a steady stream of uncertain-sounding and occasionally off-key performances. Duke isn't a bad singer so much as an amateurish one — she has a weak and wavering voice that benefits tremendously from production tricks such as double-tracking her vocals and using session singers to shadow her. Some of the songs on Don't Just Stand There are a little too melodically challenging for Duke to comfortably negotiate, especially "What the World Needs Now Is Love." The songwriting team that composed "Don't Just Stand There" and "Say Something Funny" also contributed "Ribbons and Roses," a minor-key waltz with a dramatic melody that is far more compelling than her karaoke renditions of "Downtown" and "Danke Shoen." Like most celebrity vocal records, Don't Just Stand There will be more interesting to fans of Duke's television and film work than to music lovers.