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Wonderful! Wonderful!

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"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"
ReleasedNovember 5, 1956
Recorded1956
StudioColumbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
GenreJazz
Length2:34
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Sherman Edwards, Ben Raleigh
Producer(s)Ray Conniff
Johnny Mathis singles chronology
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
(1956)
"It's Not for Me to Say"
(1957)
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
Single by The Tymes
from the album So Much in Love
B-side"Come With Me to the Sea"
ReleasedAugust 1963
Recorded1963
GenreDoo-wop
Length3:01
LabelParkway
Songwriter(s)Sherman Edwards, Ben Raleigh
Producer(s)Ray Conniff
The Tymes singles chronology
"So Much in Love"
(1963)
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
(1963)
"Somewhere"
(1963)

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" is a popular music song written by Sherman Edwards, with lyrics by Ben Raleigh.[1] The song was first published in 1956. In the United States, a recording by Johnny Mathis[2] reached number 14 on the Billboard charts.[3] It was Mathis' debut single.

Other versions

  • 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]
  • A cover of the song was created for the X-Files episode "Home".[8][9] 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".[10]

References

  1. ^ "Wonderful! Wonderful! - Sonny Rollins | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 23 - Smack Dab in the Middle on Route 66. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 405.
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 253. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 596.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 244.
  7. ^ CHUM Hit Parade, September 30, 1963
  8. ^ Cornell et al (1998), p. 286.
  9. ^ Delasara (2000), p. 125.
  10. ^ Hurwitz & Knowles (2008), pp. 91–92