Vic Damone

A lovelorn Vic Damone for you today, calling up Mrs. Jones only to find that her lovely daughter has chosen another. A sad tale, and all too frequent - particularly in 20th century pop songs.

Yes, "Hello Mrs. Jones, Is Mary There?" may have a trite lyric, but that doesn't keep Damone from giving the song his considerable best, and the result is completely convincing.

The record dates from early 1955 - my copy is old store stock and comes complete with an inventory tag telling me they received it on February 25. As far as I can determine, it was not a big seller.

Billboard ad

The flip side is a lesser song, "Foolishly," also done well by Damone, whose output was consistently excellent.

"Hello Mrs. J" also was recorded in the UK by Dickie Valentine, then at the height of his popularity. He had many songs on the charts that year - this not among them.

Conductor on this date was Hugo Peretti, then near the beginning of his career. He went on to much success as a songwriter and producer in the company of his cousin Luigi Creatore ("Hugo & Luigi", who even had their own logo). That said, the arrangements here really aren't very good.

This one is by request of a good friend and longtime supporter of my blogs. There is much more Vic over at my other blog, some of which is still available - Big 10-Inch Record.