JonMichael is Neither Jon nor Michael

Cindy, Oh Cindy! by Eddie Fisher (#10 in 1956)

Why ruin a decent male vocal song of the mid-50s with shrill women singing back-up?  Eddie Fisher’s a pretty competent singer with an established track record. Maybe they using it to compensate for the fact that the instrumentation sounds like it was recorded in another building on a boom box mic.  The story: Eddie’s in the navy but hasn’t found anyone as beautiful as Cindy and if she’d write him, he’d return.  Eddie figures he can always find a girl singing at the top her range behind him so he doesn’t really have to act to get Cindy back.  Dumb.

Singing the Blues by Guy Mitchell (#1 in 1956)

Guy Mitchell coulda been a contender.  His “Singing The Blues” wound up the third biggest song of 1956 after a two-sided Elvis hit and actually beat “Heartbreak Hotel” for weeks at the top.  So, what happened?  Here we have another “weird dichotomy” song where people sing very happy songs about very sad things.  You see, Guy isn’t singing the blues at all, he’s whistling. Is he being ironic?  Probably not.  So what’s going on?  I don’t know; it’s just a great song.  It’s fun to sing along and you truly wonder why Guy couldn’t hold his own against the King. 

Atlantic Puzzler Reviews 1979

Dec 1979 -- Noel C+
Nov 1979 -- Animal Crackers B-
Oct 1979 -- Traffic Jam B
Sep 1979 -- Wrong Number B-
Aug 1979 -- Double Cross (I HAVEN'T DONE THIS ONE)
Jul 1979 -- HI (Shorthand I) B+
Jun 1979 -- Mitosis B-
May 1979 -- Misprints C+
Apr 1979 -- Theme And Variations C+
Mar 1979 -- Crossword Puzzle C
Feb 1979 -- Counterparts C+
Jan 1979 -- Transmutation B

True Love by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly (#5 in 1956)

Bing Crosby is great.  “White Christmas” sold more copies than any single prior to Diana’s tribute.  He represents a lot of what makes pre-1955 great (for the rest, please see Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller). His only rock era foray into the top ten captures some of this greatness. His silky voice sounds even silkier when compared to Grace Kelly and the lyrics of the duet love song are compelling if limited.  But, like his guardian angel on high, Bing isn’t given much to do but carry Grace.  While not memorable, this song certainly OK—completely so-so.