"The Birthday Party of the King" (1956)
Johnny Desmond
Coral Records
While we were reviewing songs from the 1970 movie musical "Scrooge," I started thinking about other musical versions, which always brings me back to the 1956 TV special "The Stingiest Man in Town," which was basically the first Broadway-style adaptation (the 1954 "Shower of Stars" adaptation being more operatic).
A while back in this post, we heard Jonny Desmond (Fred in "Stingiest") with his studio recording of "An Old Fashioned Christmas," but I never did post the flipside, "The Birthday Party of the King," which was Johnny's other number from the show.
So, here's the studio version of the song on Coral Records:
Sounds good!
What did "Billboard" have to say? From November 24, 1956:
I always like a bit of context, so for a bonus, here's Johnny Desmond with one of his biggest singles, "Play Me Hearts and Flowers (I Wanna Cry)" from 1955:
Always interesting to hear how singers that started with big bands adapted to the ever-changing tastes of the music biz!
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