Steve Lawrence

was only 16 years old when he signed to in the spring of 1952. A year later, issued his self-titled debut LP as he began to gain recognition due to his appearances on the late-night talk show , broadcast by the New York station (later to morph into the long-running national series ). It led off with his sole hit, a revival of the 1943 song which had reached number 21 in the charts in August 1952, and included other songs released earlier on singles, including and Not surprisingly, the teenage singer, taking his lead from conductor , who had signed him to the label, tried to mold himself somewhat after such emotive male singers of the day as , working for near-operatic effects, which was not, as it later turned out, really his metier. As a result, his first long-player ranks largely as a work of juvenilia, giving few clues to the singer he would become. ~ William Ruhlmann