Eddie Fisher was one of biggest stars of the first half of the 1950s, both as a singer and movie actor, and had more than 60 hits across the Billboard, Cash Box and UK charts. He was a singer very much of his era, with an old-school formal singing style that was ideally suited to the big-voiced ballads of the early ‘50s but did not translate well into the rock ‘n’ roll era, and he had his last Top 10 hit a few months after Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel topped the charts in 1956.

Born in Philadelphia on 10 August  1928 and the fourth of seven children born to Gitte Kathrine “Kate” Tisch and Joseph Fisher, Eddie was a talented vocalist as youngster, performing in numerous amateur contests. He starred on radio and crooning with the bands of Buddy Morrow and Charlie Ventura before being drafted in 1951. Following his discharge from the US Army, Fisher began to sing in top nightclubs and had a variety television series, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher, on NBC. His good looks and strong, melodious tenor voice made him one of the most popular singers of the early 1950s.

This 80-track set includes all his chart entries on the Columbia, RCA-Victor, 7-Arts and ABC-Paramount labels from this era, plus selected A & B sides from his other singles during these years. It features his US and UK No.1s with Wish You Were Here, I’m Walking Behind You, Outside Of Heaven, Oh My Pa Pa and I Need You Now, and includes his further hits with The Marlin Sisters, Perry Como, Sally Sweetland and Hugo Winterhalter, plus a duet with his first wife Debbie Reynolds.

It’s a comprehensive overview of his career as a chart artist, and an enjoyable showcase for his notable talents.

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