Bye Bye Birdie

Without the visual distractions of Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander in a cowlicky toupee and a leggy Vanessa Williams, this clumsily orchestrated recording from a TV adaptation sounds even more makeshift than it did last month on ABC. It’s hard to dilute the appeal of standards like ”The Telephone Hour,” but why settle when you can get the original Broadway cast or 1963 movie version instead?