Some years ago, shortly before the arrival of Christmas, I received a package at my home, in Toronto at the time. To my surprise, it turned out to be a gift of a CD.
Some years before this occurrence I became friendly with Gene Puerling and his wife Helen through very close friends of mine in Chicago, Audrey and Stuart Genovese. We had at various times, when I was appearing at the London House, spent many evenings listening to various recordings by the then Hi-Los and enjoying each other's company.

Upon opening the package, it turned out to be a CD with no label. Once I recognized that it was from Gene and Helen Puerling, I opened it and proceeded to play the CD out of curiosity. To my surprise, I was immediately immersed in some of the most wonderfully harmonic and musically performed Christmas carols. At the conclusion of the musical part of the CD, there was a Christmas salutation from Bonnie Herman, Don Shelton, Gene Puerling and Len Dresslar, The Singers Unlimited.

I must have played that CD thirty or forty times in total disbelief of the wonderfully musical and interpretative harmonic structuring that the Singers applied to each Christmas carol on the CD.

I was so overjoyed and heightened by this unexpected performance of musical taste and ability, that I could not resist playing the CD for any visitors to my home during and after the Christmas season.

I would insist (upon friends visiting) that we all had to sit down and listen to the CD from beginning to end. I was so moved and inspired by this wonderful musical awakening that I decided that a friend of mine should be made aware of this immense musical talent. I immediately got on the phone and called up Hans-Georg Brunner Schwer (the then head of MPS Records). He insisted, due to my emotional trauma, that I send him a copy of the album. This I did, and about three days later I received a phone call from Hans-Georg. The conversation went something like this: - Hans-Georg: "Oscar, who is this group? I must have them! Please get them for me. I must have them on MPS Records."

I made hurried calls to Gene and asked him to immediately get in touch with Hans-Georg. Happily he did this, and this phone call resulted in a series of what I consider some of the most talented and musically enlightening vocals by the now Singers Unlimited, structured by the humongous talents of Gene Puerling, with his wonderful voicings and harmonic genius.

There is an unspoken procedure that takes place in my home each and every Christmas season. On the day that we decorate our Christmas tree, it is done to the inspiring and wonderful music of the Singers Unlimited Christmas album. I consider this to be one of the highlights of my musical career: simply having had the good luck to in some small way help in bringing this talented group's Christmas salutation to the world. If you haven't heard the album, in my opinion, you have missed a major part of Christmas.