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" I'd rather starve than not have what I really want to eat. I'm good at preparation. "
Johnny Mathis
Rather
Good
Want
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" I always felt like what I was doing wasn't selling toys; I was making a happy sound at Christmas. When people hear something so familiar, it brings them back to a special place, and that's been meaningful for me. "
Johnny Mathis
Christmas
Happy
Place
" It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it. "
Johnny Mathis
Care
Night
Morning
" At this stage, most of the awards I get are concerned with my longevity. Even I'm amazed at myself because there have been new generations since I've been born and new music that they create, so it's amazing to still be on the radar. "
Johnny Mathis
Amazing
Born
Create
" For me, hearing my voice is sometimes a little nauseating, especially at Christmas. "
Johnny Mathis
Voice
Me
Hearing
" It doesn't mean a thing when others tell you you're good. You have to feel it yourself. "
Johnny Mathis
Yourself
Good
Mean
" I have no memories of my childhood in Texas. When I was about four, we moved to San Francisco. I was in the middle of seven brothers and sisters: three girls and four boys. Most of my older brothers and sisters got the blame for everything, and the little ones had a free ride. We loved each other but fought like cats and dogs. "
Johnny Mathis
Ride
Cats
Childhood
" When I do an album I try to find a producer that's excited about something that they want me to sing, and I check with the record company to find out what they think they can sell - which is their No. 1 priority. "
Johnny Mathis
Think
Me
Try
" I'm always thinking about songs and how I can sing a song that would resonate with my voice, my persona. I want it to be a pleasant experience that's not just about hearing my voice. I remember some singers whose voices were so pretty, it didn't matter what they sang - you loved it. "
Johnny Mathis
Voice
Experience
Loved
" I cannot tell you how lucky I am: the songs that I sing, I like! "
Johnny Mathis
Lucky
I Am
Sing
" The light dims a little bit as you get older and new generations come along. But it's around the holidays when I am remembered the most. It is very special, and I get a kick out of it now as much as I did when I first started. "
Johnny Mathis
Holidays
Light
Now
" When I was 12 and started to take singing lessons from a woman, she told me that I would probably spend the rest of my life taking care of my voice. "
Johnny Mathis
Singing
Life
Me
" I invite a lot of my friends to some of the performances that I do locally, and some of them know that I'm involved with music, but they're not quite sure how. And so it's kind of fun to play golf with a lot of my friends and then invite them to hear me sing once in a while. "
Johnny Mathis
Friends
Music
Me
" I was a mediocre basketball player. But I was there, and I could remember the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the time. And I was very happy about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player. "
Johnny Mathis
Time
Basketball
Remember
" In other words, the celebrity gets out of hand, and if you're not careful, you will forget what you are about - and that is you are about making music that people want to hear. "
Johnny Mathis
You
Forget
People
" I also met, early on Ella Fitzgerald. Her songbooks are some of the most amazing bodies of work. "
Johnny Mathis
Amazing
Early
Her
" My music has always been enough. "
Johnny Mathis
Always
Music
Enough
" Mancini was a big part of my life. I sang a lot of his music, and he became a good buddy. "
Johnny Mathis
My Life
Music
Life
" I've had relationships with people from all over the world, but there has never been enough time in a day for me to have anything other than just close relationships. I've never been one to give myself over to anybody. I don't know what is wrong with me, but it never happened. "
Johnny Mathis
People
Time
World
" Most of our physical education teachers were just teachers, and they had to do the extra stuff on their own. I remember very vividly that they would hold a cane pole between two of the students down low, and we would all jump over it. And they would raise it and raise it and raise it. "
Johnny Mathis
Jump
Own
Teachers
" I think it's important to cultivate as many people as you can to see which ones you jive with. And it makes you happy. If one dies, you have another one. So living is a process that you have to do by yourself, and if you can learn a few little goodies along the way that might make it easier for you, so much the better. "
Johnny Mathis
People
Happy
Process
" I'm known for mushy music. "
Johnny Mathis
Known
Music
" When I was 13, I used to go to a jazz club. The owner of the club became my first business manager. She was very gutsy and had a lot of friends, one of whom happened to be the head of jazz at Columbia at the time. That's how it all began. "
Johnny Mathis
She
Friends
Head
" The one who really captured me and became my absolute favorite was Nat King Cole. He was a genius at what he did. Most people don't realize what a great pianist he was. After listening to him for years, I finally met him, and he was the nicest human being. "
Johnny Mathis
Listening
Me
King
" Pavarotti's is the best male voice, and Joan Sutherland had a big voice but also acquired great coloratura notes. "
Johnny Mathis
Great
Had
Best
" My mom and dad always tried to make Christmas special for us. We were poor, but it's funny because we had no idea. "
Johnny Mathis
Mom
Always
Christmas
" Every time I try to tell people things about my career, I wonder if that's the truth or something I'm fantasizing about. "
Johnny Mathis
Time
Truth
Try
" When you say, 'I'm going to sing it once, and everyone is going to hear it forever,' that's kind of frightening. "
Johnny Mathis
You
Forever
Going
" Even though there's no forum for me on the radio for the kind of music I sing anymore, I am still excited about having a career where I can sing the best music in the world, and people will come and hear me because of the hit records I've had in the past. "
Johnny Mathis
Best
People
Past
" Each person's voice is very different, so you need to find what works for you. Make sure you keep to your routine. "
Johnny Mathis
Find
Voice
You
" I've never been married, and I have no regrets about not starting my own family. I come from a large one, so there are so many people around all the time. I've been very happy, but I've never gotten married. That's about the size of it. I would have been a good father because I've been a father to my brothers' and sisters' children. "
Johnny Mathis
Good
Children
Family