horizonrecords

On September 21, 1956, the first Johnny Mathis session produced by Mitch Miller took place. It succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. The first single from that session, “Wonderful! Wonderful!” b/w “When Sunny Gets Blue,” shot up the charts in early 1957, peaked at #14, and stayed on Billboard’s Pop Singles chart for 39 weeks - a record that was unbroken for over 20 years. Sixty years later, the importance of these two cuts to Mathis’ career cannot be overemphasized. Amidst the burgeoning rock ’n’ roll juggernaut of the 1950s, young listeners heard one of their own in a setting which allowed them to catch their breath from the frenzied drive of the rock ’n’ roll backbeat, and they liked it. And what’s more, so did their parents. This commemorative reissue of Mathis’ first hit single on 45 RPM 7” vinyl is part of an ongoing celebration of his six-decade tenure as Columbia Records’ longest-signed artist.