Doris Day returns after 17-year hiatus

Is Doris Day’s music still relevant in the Autotune era? It’s been 66 years since Tinseltown’s quintessential all-American girl won music lovers over via 1945’s “Sentimental Journey,” her first No. 1 single. Shortly thereafter, she parlayed her hit-making popularity into box-office gold in films like “Teacher’s Pet” and “Pillow Talk.”

But, when her TV series, “The Doris Day Show,” folded in 1973, the versatile actress also stepped out of the limelight. Which makes her latest album, “My Heart,” significant because it’s been 17 years since Day released her last recording, “The Love Album.”

It looks like Day’s music hasn’t gone out of style, however, because when “My Heart” was released in Europe last September, it debuted on the UK chart at No. 9, making the 87-year-old songstress the oldest artist to score a Top 10 with a collection featuring new material! It will be interesting to see how the album does, sales-wise, when it’s released in the US this month.

What prompted the singer-actress to come up with a new recording? Her advocacy supporting animal rights—because the album’s proceeds will go to the Doris Day Animal Foundation. But, as she admitted in a recent interview with Reuters, working on the project has allowed her to take stock of her life: “I had a lot of bumps, but each one led me to something better!”

One of those “bumps” happened when her third husband, Marty Melcher, died in 1968. You can imagine Day’s shock when she learned that her hubby of 17 years and his business partner had squandered her earnings, leaving her bankrupt and deeply in debt! She has since recovered from that debacle.

The nostalgia-rich, 12-track album features eight previously unreleased tunes and some standards, including a succulently rendered cover of Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” and Frank Sinatra’s “My One and Only Love.”

The collection also benefits from whimsical, upbeat melodies (“Hurry, It’s Love Up Here,” “Daydream”), playful jingles (“Heaven Tonight”) and middle-of-the-road ballads (“Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries”).

Conveying more emotional resonance are Day’s renditions of “My Heart” and “The Way I Dreamed It,” cowritten by her son, record producer/songwriter Terry Melcher, who died of skin cancer in 2004.

Bittersweet tune

Ironically, one of the most stirring cuts in the album isn’t even sung by the singer-actress herself: In the bittersweet “Happy Endings,” it’s Melcher’s high, supple tenor you’ll hear. As Day explains in a tired, crackly voice before the song, “I insisted that Terry sing it himself, and I’m so glad he agreed”—and so are we.

The tune is guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings: “Bring back Peter Pan and Never Never Land/ and Santas and Easter Bunnies/ Make me smile again. Bring back happy endings, where the good guys always win!”

In the interview, Day revealed the key to her longevity—laughter. She mused: “My entire family has gone to heaven, so I’m all alone now. But, if I sat in my house and cried all the time, what kind of life would that be?”