Frank & Co.

By GINIA BELLAFANTE

For years Frank Sinatra has won an enthusiastic following among college students through no effort of his own. Usually, young people start listening to him because they find his Rat Pack cool campily appealing, but ironic condescension soon turns to true admiration of his talent. Even though it's not really necessary for Sinatra's handlers to market him to the kids, they have done so anyway. Last year, notably, he was paired on Duets with Bono, Carly Simon, Aretha Franklin and other younger-than-Frank performers.

Now Duets II, a less engaging sequel, has appeared. While Sinatra is in good form, his collaborators seem too desperate to impress him. Jon Secada, for example, tries to replicate his partner's range and intensity on The Best Is Yet to Come, but he doesn't come close. Luis Miguel attempts Come Fly with Me with a swinginess that is contrived and tentative. And Chrissie Hynde succumbs to an offputting Edith Piaf impression during Luck Be a Lady.

The best cuts are those that pair Sinatra with distinctive singers confident enough simply to be themselves. Patti LaBelle brings a rich, unfettered soulfulness to Bewitched, Linda Ronstadt an easy clarity to Moonlight in Vermont. Rumor had it that Axl Rose was to have appeared on Duets II. One wonders what he might have done with My Kind of Town, a song that here couples Sinatra with his most unabashed emulator, Frank Sinatra Jr.