The Star You Wished Upon Last Night Explained

The Star You Wished Upon Last Night
Artist:Gisele MacKenzie
with Richard Maltby and His Orch.
Language:English
Length:2:22
Label:Vik 4X-0233

"The Star You Wished Upon Last Night" was a song recorded by Gisele MacKenzie. It was released on the Vik label and became a hit for her in 1956. It was also recorded by Nick Noble and Jeannie Carson.

Gisele MacKenzie version

Background

"The Star You Wished Upon Last Night" was composed by Jimmy McHugh and Buddy Kaye. It was backed with "It's Delightful to Be Married" by Anna Held and Vincent Scotto. Gisele Mackenzie sang lead on both sides, and the backing was provided by Richard Maltby and His Orchestra. The recordings were released on single, Vik 4X-0233 in October, 1956.[1]

The single had a review in the This Week's Best Buys section of the November 24 issue of The Billboard. Since it was released it had made good progress, but in the last ten days prior to the review, it had gathered some great momentum. Saying that it could be a "dangerous" record, the good potential of the record was noted. The B side, "It's Delightful to Be Married" was getting good attention in some key cities.[2]

Airplay

For the week of November 17, "The Star You Wished Upon Last Night" was at no. 9 on Johnny Micheals' playlist of WOKY in Milwaukee, Wisc.[3] It was listed in the radio section of Tunes With Greatest Radio - TV Audience feature for the week of November 24.[4] It was reported by The Billboard in the December 1 issue that was getting good radio coverage.[5] It was shown in the December 15 issue of The Billboard that a survey of NBC affiliate stations for records receiving the most airplay showed the record was the top single in Detroit.[6]

Juke box

The song was one of the top juke box records in Milwaukee as recorded by the December 15 issue of The Billboard.[7]

Charts

On the week ending November 24, the record was at no. 9 in the Coming Up Strong section.[8] On the week ending December 1, the song was at no. 8 on the Coming Up Strong chart in The Billboard.[9]

It made it to no. 42 in the US main chart.[10] The Top40Weekly website has it entering at no. 70 in the New This Week section for the week ending 31st October, 1956,[11] and two weeks at no. 42 in the Power Hits section for the week ending 5th December, 1956.[12]

Nick Noble version

Nick Noble's version of "The Star You Wished Upon Last Night" was backed with "You Don’t Know What Love Is" and released on Mercury 70981 in 1956.[13]

Other versions

Jeannie Carson recorded a version of the song which was released on Decca 3113 in 1956.[14]

Dickie Valentine recorded a version which was released in 1989.[15]

Notes and References

  1. Discogs - Gisele MacKenzie – The Star You Wished Upon Last Night
  2. The Billboard, November 24, 1965 - Page 40 This Week's Best Buys
  3. The Cash Box, November 15, 1956 - Page 20 Disk Jockey REGIONAL RECORD REPORTS, JOHNNY MICHAELS WOKY-Milwaukee, Wisc.
  4. The Billboard, November 24, 1965 - Page 42 * Tunes With Greatest Radio - TV Audience, Radio
  5. The Billboard, December 1, 1956 - Page 36 * Tunes With Greatest Radio - TV Audience, Radio
  6. The Billboard, December 15, 1956 - Page 52 VOX JOX By JUNE BUNDY MONITOR MUSICAL SURVEY, Detroit
  7. The Billboard, December 15, 1956 - Page 91 COINMEN YOU KNOW
  8. The Billboard, November 24, 1965 - Page 40 RECENT POP RELEASES, Coming Up Strong
  9. The Billboard, December 1, 1956 - Page 34 RECENT POP RELEASES, Coming Up Strong, 8.
  10. Music VF.com - Gisele MacKenzie Top Songs, Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography
  11. Top40Weekly - Top Songs Of 1956, US Top 40 Singles For The Week Ending: 31st October, 1956 Issue Date: 10th November, 1956, NEW THIS WEEK:
  12. Top40Weekly - Top Songs Of 1956, US Top 40 Singles For The Week Ending: 5th December, 1956 Issue Date: 15th December, 1956, POWER HITS:
  13. The Cash Box, November 3, 1956 - Page 9 RELEASES TO WATCH - COMING UP STRONG
  14. The Billboard, October 27, 1956 - Page 57 * Reviews of New Pop Records, JEANNIE CARSON
  15. Second Hand Songs - COVER, The Star You Wished Upon Last Night by Dickie Valentine