The Merriest Time

My friend and fellow blogger Ernie asked me a few days ago what I was planning to share this holiday season, and I mentioned this EP, and asked him if he had ever heard it.

Turns out he shared it last year on his blog. And I commented on it, giving him some background on the Honey Dreamers vocal group.

Well now. I guess the old memory isn't what it used to be.

This EP dates from my prime, 1958, when I was nine and ready to conquer the world, or at least the world's record stores. (Still working on that. It's unclear whether the stores or me will be the survivor.)

The Merriest Time! comes to us courtesy of the SESAC performing rights company - and they really were courtesy recordings, sent to radio stations as promotional items. Three of the items feature the skillful post-big band sounds of Richard Maltby, one with the Honey Dreamers, and the other the similar music of Skitch Henderson. The songs are unfamiliar except for Waldteufel's "Skater's Waltz," here called "Skater's Holiday."