Perry Como in an RCA recording studio, circa mid 1970s.
Studio albums
38
Live albums
2
Compilation albums
32
Singles
150
Perry Como Decca Recordings
21
RCA Victor 10"
8
RCA Victor 12"
40
RCA Camden 12"
18
Perry Como was a prolific American recording artist for RCA Victor Records from 1943 until 1987, and is credited with numerous gold records. Como had so many recordings achieve gold-record status that he refused to have many of them certified. Over the decades, Como is reported to have sold millions of records, including at least fifteen of his singles selling over a million copies, but he commonly suppressed these figures.[1]
Como was also well known for his recordings and performances in the intimate Easy listening style and religious music of Christian and Jewish faiths. His first religious recordings, "Ave Maria" and "The Lord's Prayer", were recorded in 1949 in a church, with Como asking his parish priest to sit in on the recording sessions, to make certain they were done in the proper reverential tone.[2][3][4] While his performances of "Ave Maria" became traditional on his holiday shows, Como would not perform it for live concert appearances, despite the frequent requests of his audiences, saying, "It's not the time or place to do it."[5] In 1953, Perry Como recorded "Eli, Eli" and "Kol Nidrei", and performed the latter on his television shows each year at the appropriate time on the Jewish calendar.[6] His pronunciation and phrasing in both Hebrew and Yiddish were learned from a member of the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra, who was the son of a rabbi.[4][7][8]
When Perry Como signed his first RCA Victor contract on June 17, 1943, and made his first recording for the company three days later,[19][20][21] the 1942–44 musicians' strike (also known as the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) recording ban) was in full force. Union musicians were allowed to play for live appearances and radio programs, but not to participate in any recording sessions; it was a means to force the record companies to pay royalties to their musical performers. While Como and other vocalists were able to have the backing of a band for a live concert or radio show, that would disappear when they entered the recording studio.
RCA Victor promotional pinback for Perry Como Week. September 2 – 9, 1946
One way the recording industry of the time found to circumvent the problem was to replace the bands with various vocal groups. Como's first RCA Victor record, "Goodbye, Sue", was produced in this manner, along with other Como releases during the strike.[22] The only exception to the musicians' strike or ban was for V-Discs after October 27, 1943, which were distributed to the American Armed Forces and not sold commercially. Two versions of "Goodbye, Sue" were produced: one using a vocal chorus for backup commercially issued by RCA Victor and another made in 1944, with full orchestral accompaniment, available as a V-Disc only.[19][23] Prior to the strike, popular music had been focused on the big bands, where vocal performers were merely featured as part of their performances.[24] Singers came into their own, most likely to some extent because of the strike, and the situation was reversed, with the bands becoming a "backdrop" for vocalists-a very positive career boost for Como and his counterparts.[25] Where previously Como needed to be hired by Freddy Carlone and Ted Weems, by 1948 he was now in the position to hire the band. Mitchell Ayres, who was Como's musical director from 1948 until 1963, was offered the job during a game of golf.[2]
In 1945, Como recorded the pop ballad "Till the End of Time"[26] (based on Chopin's "Heroic Polonaise"), which marked the beginning of a highly successful career.[27] He also became the first pop singer to reach the two million sales mark with two records in release at the same time - "Till the End of Time" and "If I Loved You", that same year.[28] Como was the first artist to have ten records sell more than one million copies. Como's average yearly record sales were four million, beginning in 1943; RCA turned out four million Perry Como records in one week in 1946, setting a record at the time.[29][30] Just three years after Como's first record for RCA Victor, "Goodbye, Sue", his records were selling so well, the company declared the week of September 2 – 9, 1946 "Perry Como Week". Six new Como songs were released along with six new versions of some of his older songs, as well as re-issuing 14 of his previous hit records.[31][32]
There was a second strike of the American Federation of Musicians in 1948. Due to the advent of television; royalties for the new medium were the issue. Most record companies had once more stockpiled recordings of their artists as had been done in advance of the 1942–1944 strike, and again used vocal groups to replace striking musicians when recording new material. RCA Victor kept Perry Como busy in advance of the strike; he produced three years worth of recordings during that time.[33] With this strike lasting less than a year, Como's only recording during the ban was "N'yot N'yow" (The Pussycat Song), with the Fontane Sisters from his radio and television shows.[34] When the 1948 Musicians' strike ended on December 14, 1948, a race began between the record companies, each trying to have the first post-strike record on the market.[35] RCA was the winner with Como having recorded "Missouri Waltz" in the evening and RCA had it in the shops by noon the next day.[2][36][37] Como went from the gala recording at RCA Victor of "I'm Just Wild About Harry" for President Harry Truman celebrating the end of the strike, into another of their studios to record "Missouri Waltz".[38][39]
In 1956, he recorded his first movie theme song, "Somebody Up There Likes Me", for the Rocky Grazianofilm of the same name.[40][41] In the same year, long-time Como associate Mickey Glass found Perry a hit through a late-night subway ride home. Riding along with him in the same car was songwriter Dick Manning. As the two men talked, Glass mentioned the need for a novelty song for Como. Manning replied that he had just done a demo recording like that which had yet to be heard by anyone. They arranged to meet the next day; the result of the chance meeting was Como's "Hot Diggity".[42]
On March 14, 1958, the RIAA certified Como's hit single, "Catch a Falling Star" as its first ever Gold Record.[43] "Catch a Falling Star" was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. The pair were also responsible for penning "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini".[44] Como won the 1958 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, male for "Catch a Falling Star". His final Top 40 hit was a cover of Don McLean's "And I Love You So", recorded in 1973. Quoting Como (who in 1979, signed a 10-year extension of his RCA contract) regarding his last two hits ("It's Impossible" and "And I Love You So"), "I wasn't looking for such big hits at that point in my career."[45] For "It's Impossible", Como learned the details on Top 40 music from his young neighbors: "But the kids in our neighborhood came out and said, 'Well, we're finally glad you made it to our list.' I didn't know what they were talking about. They have all kind of Top 40s. How they grabbed onto this is a little beyond me."[2] The record was nominated for a Grammy in three categories.[46] "And I Love You So" was such a hit that RCA prevailed on him to record it again, this time in Spanish. When Como said he didn't speak the language, David Franko, the head of RCA International, provided personal language lessons to get the recording made.[47] The song was also Como's biggest hit in England, staying in the UK Top 20 for close to a year. After Como performed some concerts in the UK, the album went back to number one once again.[48] In 1974, Como recorded a song called "Christmas Dream" for the soundtrack of the movie, The Odessa File.[49]
In 1987, he recorded his final album for RCA, Today, with his trusted friend and associate Nick Perito[48][50] at Evergreen Studios, Burbank, California.[51] His recording of "The Wind Beneath My Wings" was almost autobiographical, a fitting end to a long and successful recording career. Como recorded only once more, privately, for his well-known Christmas Concert in Ireland in 1994.[52]
One More Time ~ Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters[153]
On the Radio – The Perry Como Shows 1943
On November 10, 2009, On the Air issued a three disk box set of recordings made from Como's CBS radio show Columbia Presents Como called On the Radio – The Perry Como Shows 1943. Como was the host of this radio show from March 12, 1943, until December 11, 1944, when he moved to NBC as the host of The Chesterfield Supper Club.[154][155] The Raymond Scott Orchestra was heard with Como while he was on CBS.[156] These recordings were originally issued individually in 1996 as The Perry Como Shows-1943: Volume 1, The Perry Como Shows-1943: Volume 2, and The Perry Como Shows-1943: Volume 3.[157][158][159]
Chesterfield Supper Club
On September 21, 2010, Sounds of Yesteryear issued a compact disk compiled from transcripts of The Chesterfield Supper Club made for the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) in May 1946. A second compilation compact disk with transcriptions from 1946 and 1947 was issued on March 15, 2011, and a third compilation disk was issued on August 16, 2011.
"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" (1959 version)
22
—
—
—
—
2021
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
13
—
—
50
—
"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" (1959 version)
28
—
—
—
—
2022
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
14
—
—
69
—
"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" (1959 version)
41
—
—
—
—
2023
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
14
—
—
76
—
"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" (1954 version)
50
—
—
—
—
2024
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
16
—
47
40
—
When the peak position is marked with an asterisk, the song reached No. 1 in one (or two) of the three specific Billboard charts (sales, disc-jockeys, jukeboxes), but not on the overall Top 100. Regarding the peak positions of the songs between 1940 and 1955, priority was given to the sales chart, since an overall chart does not exist.
Holiday 100 chart entries
Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over.[165] In December 2011, Billboard began a Holiday Songs chart with 50 positions that monitors the last five weeks of each year to "rank the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay, and sales data",[166] and in 2013 the number of positions on the chart was doubled, resulting in the Holiday 100.[167] A few Como recordings have made appearances on the Holiday 100 and are noted below according to the holiday season in which they charted there.
^Theiner, Bonnie (5 October 2003). "The song lives on". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
