The eighth volume of the 15-CD box set The History of Pop Radio, issued on the German label History, covers the year 1941 and does so with the combination of authority and eccentricity typical of the overall series. The 20-track disc contains studio recordings of some of the year's biggest recordings, notably Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra's "I'll Never Smile Again" (credited to singer Frank Sinatra), Bing Crosby's "Only Forever," Glenn Miller & His Orchestra's "Tuxedo Junction," and the Ink Spots' "Maybe." (Despite the album's title, there don't seem to be any Airchecks, and the relationship to radio is only nominal.) There are three other Top Ten hit recordings, the Ink Spots' "Whispering Grass," "The Nearness of You" by Miller (credited to singer Ray Eberle), and the Andrews Sisters' "The Woodpecker Song." There are non-hit versions of songs that were Top Ten hits for others: "Shake Down the Stars," "Faithful Forever," and "I Can't Love You Anymore." And then there are a handful of oddities, such as two tracks by British star Vera Lynn and two by movie star Deanna Durbin (though her Italian-language version of "Amapola," which would become the number one song of 1941 in an English translation recorded by Jimmy Dorsey, is interesting), as well as songs sung by obscure British vocalists such as Anne Shelton and Cavan O'Connor. Thus, some of the year's most successful songs and performers are represented on an album also containing a fair amount of filler. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide