Words & Music by: Side A – Paul Vance, Lee Pockriss; Side B – Hal David, Burt Bacharach
Musicians: Perry Como (lead vocals) with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and The Ray Charles Singers
Recording sessions: Produced by Joe Reisman in New York (?), NY, 1957
Highest chart positions: Side A - US #1, UK #9; Side B - US #4, UK #1
A dead person was described as "He was as calm as a Perry Como groupie" by Sledge Hammer in an 80's TV series "Sledge Hammer!". It wasn't so funny if there wasn't a (large) seed of truth in it. This guy was the king of "easy listening" and elevator music - if Como would've ever recorded "The Girl From Ipanema", that would have been the pinnacle of elevator music. :)
Having said that, apparently Como knew what he was doing as he had fourteen #1 hits in US, three #1's in US AC and two of his songs topped the UK chart. A whopping 108 of his songs made it to US Top 40!
The UK release (RCA 1036, Jan. 1958) was flipped over to have "Magic Moments" as the A-side.
The flip is an early songwriting work of Bacharach and David. They penned their first #1 hit "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins in 1957. "Magic Moments" was the second one in line and more was to come, especially in the late 60's and early 70's.
List price: Very Good+ is $6, Near Mint is $12. Orange label is a re-issue from 1969 and listed for $8 for a NM.
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