"Wonderful! Wonderful!" is a song by American singer Johnny Mathis from his first greatest hits compilation, Johnny's Greatest Hits (1956). The song was written by Ben Raleigh and Sherman Edwards, while production was helmed by Mitch Miller. Columbia Records released it as the album's lead single on November 5, 1956.[1][2] In the United States, the song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard charts.[3]
| "Wonderful! Wonderful!" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Johnny Mathis with Ray Conniff and his Orchestra and Chorus | ||||
| from the album Johnny's Greatest Hits | ||||
| B-side | "When Sunny Gets Blue" | |||
| Released | November 5, 1956 | |||
| Recorded | September 21, 1956 | |||
| Studio | CBS 30th Street Studio (New York City) | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 2:49 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Mitch Miller | |||
| Johnny Mathis singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Other versions
editThe song has been covered by various artists. In the United Kingdom, Ronnie Hilton recorded a version that reached number 27 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] In 1963, a recording by the Tymes peaked at number 23 on the R&B charts and number 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[5] Their version also spent four weeks at number 2 on the Easy Listening chart[6] and reached number 7 in Canada.[7] American alternative rock band Sebadoh covered the song for their 1991 album Sebadoh III.[8]
A cover of the song was created for the X-Files episode "Home".[9][10] The reason a cover was used rather than the original was because when Mathis read the episode's screenplay and saw its graphic content, he refused to allow his version to be used in the episode, thus necessitating a cover. David Nutter, an X-Files producer, originally planned to record the cover himself as he also had a background in music but in the end, another singer was hired because he sounded more like Mathis than Nutter did. The episode's director Kim Manners explains his reason for wanting to use the song because "certain songs [like 'Wonderful! Wonderful!'] have a creepy, icky quality that none of us have really openly acknowledged".[11]
References
edit- ^ "Wonderful! Wonderful! - Sonny Rollins | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
- ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 23 - Smack Dab in the Middle on Route 66. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 405.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 253. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 596.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 244.
- ^ "CHUM Hit Parade, September 30, 1963". Chumtribute.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
- ^ Cornell (1998). X-Treme Possibilities. p. 286.
- ^ Delasara (2000). PopLit, PopCult and The X-Files: A Critical Exploration. p. 125.
- ^ Hurwitz; Knowles (2008). The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series the Myths and the Movies. pp. 91–92.
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