PEGGY KING - When Boy Meets Girl / Wish Upon a Star [2003]

The Collectables reissue of two mid-'50s LPs by Peggy King reveals a singer who possessed a cute soprano voice with the character and subtle strength of Debbie Reynolds. The first of two concept LPs, 1955's Girl Meets Boy pairs King with Jerry Vale for a musical dissection of a love affair, beginning with King's sweetly innocent "The Boy Next Door" and continuing through "Would You Like to Take a Walk?" and "Let's Fall in Love." Felicia Sanders briefly catches the eyes of Vale with "I Wanna Be Loved" and "Temptation," but King of course wins the boy back and they celebrate with the closer, "Love Is Here to Stay." In similar company to Mel Tormé's Prelude to a Kiss and several other story-in-song LPs of the time, Girl Meets Boy leans less on jazz (or even jazz interpretation) than the musical scores that were lighting up the charts during the mid-'50s. Still, King carries the LP well, and Percy Faith's orchestration is appropriately grand, sweeping along at the pace of a promenade. The second record, 1956's Wish Upon a Star, finds King on the long road to fame, encompassing "When I Was Ten," "When You Wish Upon a Star," and "Hooray for Hollywood." Just before the title song is reprised at the end, King's character is discovered by an A&R executive while she sings a radio jingle for Hunt's Tomato Sauce, in the exact circumstances King is said to have been discovered by Mitch Miller. Between the theme of the LP and King's voice, listeners can barely stop thinking about Reynolds' role in the 1952 film smash Singin' in the Rain. by John Bush 
Tracklist:
1     The Boy Next Door    1:39
Ralph Blane / Hugh Martin
2     Would You Like to Take a Walk?    2:06
Mort Dixon / Billy Rose / Harry Warren
3     All I Do Is Dream of You    2:10
Nacio Herb Brown / Arthur Freed
4     Let's Fall in Love    1:49
Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler
5     You Better Go Now    3:16
Robert Graham / Bickley S. Reichmer
6     Goodnight My Love    2:32
Mack Gordon / Harry Revel
7     I Wanna Be Loved    3:25
Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Billy Rose
8     Temptation    3:40
Nacio Herb Brown / Arthur Freed
9     Conflict    1:26
10     It's Easy to Remember    2:27
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
11     Just One More Chance    1:54
Sam Coslow / Arthur Johnston
12     Love Is Here to Stay    2:47
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
13     Part I: When I Was Ten (Beginning)    1:55
14     When You Wish Upon a Star    2:53
Leigh Harline / Ned Washington
15     When I Was Ten (Conclusion)    0:55
16     Part II: A Girl With a Band    0:36
17     Let There Be Love    1:49
Ian Grant / Lionel Rand
18     Part III: New York    1:27
19     Little Girl Blue    3:28
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
20     Hooray for Hollywood    0:44
Johnny Mercer / Richard A. Whiting
21     Part IV: Screen Test/Long Ago (And Far Away)    3:03
22     Part V: Nobody Asked Me to Sing    1:05
23     Ev'ry Time    3:17
Ralph Blane / Hugh Martin
24     Paret VI: Discovery/Hunts Tomato Sauce Jingle    0:59
25     When You Wish Upon a Star (Reprise)    1:11
Leigh Harline / Ned Washington

 PEGGY KING -  When Boy Meets Girl / Wish Upon a Star

 [2003] Sony . Colectables / CBR320 / scans