The Best Of Tony Orlando & Dawn

The variety-show trio Tony Orlando & Dawn has been slandered as pop's half-wit cousin to Three's Company. Unfair? Well, consider this while listening to The Best Of: The horny castanet rhythm in their 1970 smashes ''Candida'' and ''Knock Three Times'' was an ancestor to Gipsy Kings' flamenco-disco. And they were big on '20s nostalgia. ''Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose'' bounces with a vaudeville verve that proves the impossible: The Charleston had a baby and named it rock & roll. B+