In March 2005 I welcomed the first 10 releases in the Guild Light Music collection, featuring transfers from 78s and early LPs. Already the series has expanded to 21 volumes. Of the latest three releases, ‘The Hall of Fame – Volume 1’ offers a rich helping of light-music classics, beginning with David Rose’s Holiday for Strings under Morton Gould and ending with a spotlight on Clive Richardson, including his celebrated Holiday Spirit and London Fantasia. Among relatively few less familiar items I especially welcome the delightful My Love to You by the sadly underrated Percy Fletcher. ‘The 1950s Volume 3 – Say It With Music’ is devoted specifically to early-1950s recordings, and it covers a wide range of composers, orchestras and styles. Whether it’s a plus or minus for a single CD to range through Roger Roger conducting his own music, the Hamburg Radio Orchestra playing Straus’s Waltz Dream, and Geraldo and His New Concert Orchestra playing a piece by Joyce Cochrane will depend on individual taste, but there will surely be welcome discoveries for all.

For me the greatest attraction lies in ‘Joyousness – The Music of Haydn Wood’, not least because it includes several items omitted from the Marco Polo collections of music by this British light-music master (8/92, 8/97). Of the London Landmarks suite, for instance, we have not only the celebrated ‘Horse Guards – Whitehall’ but also ‘Nelson’s Column’ and ‘Tower Hill’, even if sadly scattered around the CD rather than grouped together.

I indicated previously that a major downside of the series was the curious attitude towards vocal items. Rather than authentic vocal versions, we have here, for instance, a souped-up and distorted ‘Vilia’ by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, an over-the-top ‘Till the Clouds Roll By’ by the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, and a cringingly awful ‘Roses of Picardy’ featuring Freddy Gardner on the saxophone. Truly one man’s meat is another’s poison!

For the most part, at least, these CDs make happily undemanding and highly pleasant listening. Alan Bunting has reprocessed the recordings expertly, and they come with informative notes by David Adès.