THE FOUR VOICES DANCING WITH MY SHADOW - BON BON 45 rpm single

Despite close to 20 singles released by the giant Columbia and all their promotional capacity, The Four Voices (first tenor Allan Chase, second tenor Sal Mayo, baritone Bill McBride and bass Frank Fosta) barely avoided becoming a bona-fide member of the One-Hit Wonder club by virtue of a modest, middle-of-the-road nationally-charting single a full two years after their debut hit. Signed by Columbia major-domo Mitch Miller in 1955 after he heard them compete on The Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts show, and mostly with the backing of the Ray Conniff orchestra, their first two singles that year went largely unnoticed - Hey! Honey (Kissin' Is Free) b/w Honest, Darling (Believe Me) as Columbia 4-40516 (the 45-rpm covered here), and The Big Eyes b/w Darling, Thanks To You as Columbia 4-40582.Another orchestra with which they recorded was that of Fred Weismantel who also happened to be the composer of their breakthrough hit, Lovely One, but it was again Conniff backing when it peaked at # 20 Billboard Pop Top 100 in March/April 1956 as Columbia 4-40643 b/w Geronimo. They then experienced five straight failures: Let's Write Our Own Love Story/Bim Bam Baby (Columbia 4-40699) and I'm Dreaming Of Wedding Bells/The Ties That Bind (Columbia 4-40749), both in 1956 and, the following year, I Love You Still/Sentimental (Columbia 4-40838), Such A Shame/Angel Of Love (Columbia 4-40933), and Sidewalk Bop/Kingdom Of Love (Columbia 4-40983).Then, just when it appeared they may indeed be destined for One-Hit Wonder status, Dancing With My Shadow managed to get to # 50 in April 1958 b/w Bon Bon as Columbia 4-41076 (that's the 45-rpm covered here). But that was to be it, as none among these singles could get them back on the charts: You Know I Do/Ev'ry Hour, Ev'ry Day Of My Life (Columbia 4-41167), The Box/Each Time You Kiss Me (Columbia 4-41291) and Tell Me You Love Me, Tell Me That You're Mine/Tight Spot (Columbia 4-42234), all in 1958, 1959's Who Knows Why?/Who, Who, Who? (Columbia 4-41405) and The Wang Wang Blues/The Little Cloud That Cried (Columbia 4-41524), and 1960's Good, Good Thing/Stay With Me (Columbia 4-41643) and Sealed With A Kiss/You're All There Is (Columbia 41699).It's worth noting that their rendition of Sealed With A Kiss introduced the song that would become a # 3 in 1962 for Brian Hyland at ABC-Paramount. Their introductory version can be heard in the great Ace of London CD release You Heard It Here First, Volume 2 as well as in the Macy CD Hey! Look What I Found, Volume 13. As for Lovely One, this can be found in Ace's The Golden Age Of American Popular Music - Hard-To-Get Hot 100 Hits From 1956 To 1965, Volume 2, an off-shoot of their fantastic 12-volume series, The Golden Age Of American Rock `N' Roll. Dancing With My Shadow seems only to be in the Macy CD Hey! Look What I Found Volume 12.They never recorded an album so it would be nice if some distributor was able to put together a proper remastered anthology of their Columbia output, but I'm not holding my breath considering who owns the rights.