The Hollywood Musicals | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 17, 1986 [1] | |||
Recorded | April 6, 1986 [1] | |||
Studio | Conway Studios, Hollywood, California, Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, California [2] | |||
Genre | Vocal [3] | |||
Length | 42:10 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Denny Diante [2] | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
The Hollywood Musicals is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and American composer/conductor Henry Mancini that was released on October 17, 1986, [1] by Columbia Records. This project heralded Mathis's return to the genre of traditional pop, which he would revisit occasionally over the next few decades.
The album peaked at number 46 during an eight-week run on the UK album chart that began on December 13 of that year [4] and received Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 60,000 units in the UK. [5] It also spent two weeks on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Albums chart in January 1987 and made it to number 197. [6]
In 1983 a renewed interest in pop songs dating back to the era before rock and roll became apparent when the album What's New by Linda Ronstadt received Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America just three months after its release. [7] The recording focused exclusively on standards from the Great American Songbook and was arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. [8] The Broadway Album , a 1985 release of show tunes by Barbra Streisand, provided more evidence that there was an audience for what would be eventually referred to as traditional pop albums when it attained double Platinum certification only two months after its release [9] and spent three weeks as the number one album in the US. [10]
As The Broadway Album did for Streisand, The Hollywood Musicals brought Mathis back into familiar territory. He had spent the first 10 years of his recording career sticking with easy listening fare, but his 1966 LP The Shadow of Your Smile included covers of two songs by The Beatles ("Michelle" and "Yesterday") [11] and became his first album to reach the top 10 since 1960's The Rhythms and Ballads of Broadway and the first to receive Gold certification since 1959's Faithfully . [6] Contemporary music became a Mathis album mainstay from that point on, but many of his releases from the 1970s made room for one or two classics such as "Since I Fell for You", [12] "Stardust", [13] "All the Things You Are", [14] and "That Old Black Magic". [15] By the mid-80s, however, his studio albums were focused more on original material, so much so that his 1985 effort, Right from the Heart , left out not only anything reminiscent of those early pop hits but also any covers of recent radio favorites as well. Whereas that album failed to chart in either the US or the UK, his 1983 UK concert album Unforgettable – A Musical Tribute to Nat King Cole was his best-selling disc, in terms of British Phonographic Industry standards, since That's What Friends Are For , his 1978 pairing with Deniece Williams. [5] Even though this success was on a much smaller scale than was available from the US buying public, the sales phenomena that was also enjoyed by both Ronstadt and Streisand in the US only underscored the interest in material that was in such sharp contrast to his recent output.
All tracks recorded on April 6, 1986. [1]
The 1993 box set The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection includes his recording of a song from the 1944 Disney film The Three Caballeros , "Baía (Na Baixa do Sapateiro)", which had been recorded for this album but not included in the final track selection. [16] Another Disney song from this session that didn't make the cut, "Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)" from Saludos Amigos , had its debut release on the 1998 compilation The Ultimate Hits Collection . [17]
This album's CD release as part of the 2017 box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection included three bonus tracks, the first of which had not been available before:
From the liner notes for the original album: [2]
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Warm is the third album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 11, 1957, by Columbia Records and, as with his previous LP, Wonderful Wonderful, does not include any of his hit singles but instead focuses primarily on his interpretations of romantic ballads that were already hits for other artists. Two new songs made the final cut, however: the title track and "The Lovely Things You Do".
Swing Softly is the fifth album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 28, 1958, by Columbia Records and was a departure from the ballads that accounted for the vast majority of singles and album tracks he had recorded thus far. This project features uptempo arrangements of popular standards, most of which originated in a movie or stage musicals, and a couple of new songs: "To Be in Love" and "Easy to Say ".
Heavenly is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 10, 1959, by Columbia Records and marked his return to recording ballads with orchestral accompaniment. Along with the material that others had covered before are two new songs: the title track and "I'll Be Easy to Find".
Faithfully is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on December 21, 1959, by Columbia Records and continues his trend toward covering ballads alongside an orchestra. While his previous LPs usually offered one or two songs that had not been previously recorded, that number on this project leaped to five, and although the other seven selections were established by other artists, even some of those were lesser-known, such as Jeri Southern's number 30 pop hit "You Better Go Now" and the title song from the 1953 film The Blue Gardenia.
Love Story is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 10, 1971, by Columbia Records and included a recent Oscar nominee, a flashback to 1967 ("Traces"), a new song by Bacharach & David, a lesser-known one by Goffin & King, and two songs that originated in film scores from 1970 and had lyrics added later: the album closer, "Loss of Love", from Sunflower and the album opener from Love Story, which was subtitled "Where Do I Begin". The norm for Mathis projects from this era was to cover recent hits, and the title track of this one was so recent that the version by Andy Williams began a 13-week run to number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in February 1971, coinciding with the release of this LP.
Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis is the fourth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 23, 1986, by Columbia Records. This was Mathis's fourth holiday-themed LP and focused exclusively on secular material.
You've Got a Friend is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 11, 1971, by Columbia Records. The phrase "Today's Great Hits" can be found above the title on both sides of the record jacket as well as both sides of the LP label as if to emphasize that this is essentially an album covering songs that were recently on the charts. This was a common practice of many vocalists of the period, so much so in fact that fellow Columbia artist Andy Williams also released an album titled You've Got a Friend in August 1971 on which he coincidentally covers seven of the 11 tracks that Mathis recorded for this album.
Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972, by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.
Me and Mrs. Jones is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in January 1973 by Columbia Records. While it does cover several big chart hits of the day like his last album, Song Sung Blue, did, it also includes songs that didn't make the US Top 40 or had never charted.
The Heart of a Woman is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 25, 1974 by Columbia Records. Produced by ex-Motowner Johnny Bristol, the LP is made up mostly of new material, in that only three of the 10 songs had already been recorded by other artists.
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.
Feelings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 20, 1975, by Columbia Records and strayed slightly from the practice of covering hits by other artists to include two new songs, both of which were written by Jerry Fuller: "Hurry Mother Nature" and "That's All She Wrote", which Ray Price took to number 34 on the Country chart the following spring.
I Only Have Eyes for You is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on May 10, 1976, by Columbia Records and included two new songs, "Yellow Roses on Her Gown" and "Ooh What We Do", which was written specifically for him, as well as a contemporary arrangement of the 1934 title track that foreshadowed his recordings of standards that incorporated a disco beat a few years later.
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 15, 1977, by Columbia Records and found him firmly planted in the cover album genre once again in that no original songs were included. Allmusic's Joe Viglione did feel, however, that "they seem to be trying to cover all the bases here," meaning that it had a variety of selections, including a standard from 1939, a hit that charted in both the 1950s and '60s, a country crossover, and recent offerings from stage and screen.
You Light Up My Life is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on March 13, 1978, by Columbia Records. While this LP includes three new songs, it doesn’t stray too far from the format of his albums of recent years in covering established material, including a standard, a country number, something from Broadway, and a few soundtrack tunes.
Mathis Magic is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 17, 1979, by Columbia Records and contained an equal balance of new material and songs associated with other artists.
In the Still of the Night is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 8, 1989, by Columbia Records and continues the trend that began with his 1986 collaboration with Henry Mancini, The Hollywood Musicals, in that the project is devoted to a specific theme that ties the songs together. Mathis hints at the theme for this album in the liner notes for his 1993 box set The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection, where he gives his thoughts on the 1964 Little Anthony and the Imperials song "I'm on the Outside Looking In" that he covered for his 1988 album Once in a While: "That was group singers' kind of material. I was singing other stuff. It wasn't the picture of the lone crooner standing in the spotlight. That's what I was doing when all this other stuff was going on. I never listened to it until it was brought to my attention by [that album's producers] Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff." Mathis chose to continue his work with Bunetta and Chudacoff on this project, which focuses on "this other stuff" that Mathis refers to: pop and R&B hits from the 1950s and 1960s.
16 Most Requested Songs is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1986 by Columbia Records and features 12 tracks representing his time with the label from 1956 to 1963, including his Billboard top 10 hits "Chances Are", "It's Not for Me to Say", "The Twelfth of Never", "Gina", and "What Will Mary Say" as well as his signature song, "Misty". The remaining four selections were recorded with Columbia between 1969 and 1977.
The Ultimate Hits Collection is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1998 by Columbia Records. In addition to offering several hit singles, the collection includes the first release of "Brazil ", a song that was originally recorded for his 1986 collaboration with Henry Mancini, The Hollywood Musicals, but not included in the final track selection.
Johnny Mathis has recorded 73 studio albums, 18 of which achieved sales of 500,000 units and were awarded Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Five of his greatest hits albums also accomplished this, and of these 18 Gold albums, six eventually went Platinum by reaching sales of one million copies. In 1999, sales figures totaled five million for his first holiday LP, Merry Christmas, and three million for Johnny's Greatest Hits, a 1958 collection that has been described as the "original greatest-hits package" and once held the record for most weeks on Billboard magazine's album chart with a total of 490. His second longest album chart run was the 295 weeks belonging to his Platinum 1959 album Heavenly, which gave him five weeks in the top spot. In a ranking of the top album artists of the last half of the 1950s in terms of Billboard chart performance, he comes in at number two, for the 1960s, number 10, and for the period from 1955 to 2009 he is at number six.