Johnny Mathis earned the honorific "the Voice of Romance" for a reason. For more than 60 years, he’s applied his classic croon — warm, rich and velvety — to a succession of love songs and slow jams.

There's a classic scene in "Diner," an early '80s buddy picture set in 1959, where two friends are debating the merits of Frank Sinatra vs. Johnny Mathis in a diner booth. Steve Guttenberg's character ...