Art Mooney "Honey Babe"

Say, has this song been issued on any CD except "Your Hit Parade: The 50's Forever"? It's definitely a crackly disc dub on that title. (Something you should add to the database, Pat.)

I know it's coming out on a Shout Factory box set in mid-December, so I don't know if it'll be in better sound there. But is it available on any other compilation except that Art Mooney import, which would also be a disc dub?

Edited by Brian W.

Brian, thanks for alerting us to this upcoming box set. I'm surprised "Honey-Babe" would be included on a set titled '50s Love Songs. With lyrics like "I'm engaged to marry Sue/I'm afraid to get undressed/'Cause Mary's tattooed on my chest", "Got a gal in every port/They're suing me for non-support", and "Never saw a dame so large/Broader than a landing barge/For kissing her they gave to me/The purple heart for bravery", I'm not sure I'd consider it a love song. (The lyrics are quite daring for 1955).

The UK CD mentioned above, Greatest Hits And More, on the Sepia label is mastered from 78s using the CEDAR system with mixed results. They've done a decent job of removing pops and clicks, but this has caused the fidelity to be lifeless and dull. "Honey-Babe" is also considerably slowed down, running (2:59). My promo 45 (which I'm not sure is an original 1955 pressing) states a time of (2:53), which is correct to within a second or two. ("Toot, Toot, Tootsie" is slowed down even more compared to my 78.)



As mentioned on this board before, in the UK and Canada recordings over fifty years old are in the public domain. On iTunes Canada, "Honey-Babe" is available on three CDs (all most likely digital-only releases) but is mastered from a record on all of them with considerable surface noise present but sounding much brighter than on the Sepia CD. (Even David Carroll's highly-elusive "Melody Of Love" is available on iTunes Canada but, alas, also dubbed from a record.)

I see Snooky Lanson's "It's Almost Tomorrow" will also be on the Shout Factory set. Hopefully it'll be from a tape source; it's mastered from a record on the Eric/Hit Parade CD.

There's talk that the UK will soon extend the fifty-year copyright protection on recordings, which means Canada would likely do the same. So these Hit Parade CDs may soon be a thing of the past.

Good news! Shout Factory's "'50s Love Songs" is out, and "Honey Babe" sounds beautiful. Clearly they found the master tape.

Also one of the better Georgia Gibbs "Kiss of Fire" masterings I've heard. It's problematic because it was recorded on lacquer disc. Steve Massie did a nice job of cleaning it up digitally, though. Not perfect, but one of the better jobs I've heard.