We're in the process of serving up some background on the 37 tracks featured on my latest annual holiday mix, titled Christmas Cheer. Today's post looks at Tracks 11, 12 and 13, which are a couple of reggae tunes and a musical sleigh ride invitation that is well-nigh indescribable. Let's get started!
Track 11 Bling Bling Christmas, by The Silvertones (2002)
Today's first track is a spirited reggae number I ran across several years
ago by a group called The Silvertones. I wasn’t familiar with the group, and because I didn’t know too many holiday reggae tunes at the time I initially
assumed this was some sort of novelty record by a new group that formed
specifically to record this song. Not so. The Silvertones have been playing and
making records together for nearly 60 years and they’re well known amongst folks
who follow Jamaican reggae. Formed in Kingston, Jamaica in 1964, the group had formerly been known as both The Valentines and The Muskyteers. In the early 1970s, they
worked with legendary reggae producer Lee “Scratch” Perry.
As for the title, “bling bling,” often shortened to "bling," is a term that was apparently coined in the 1990s to
refer to expensive, ostentatious jewelry or other items worn primarily to
flaunt one’s wealth. The phrase became popular with the 1999 release of a rap song with the same name by New Orleans rap artist B.G., who recorded for the Cash Money label. Rapper Lil
Wayne also claims credit for using the term on the Outkast record “Hollywood Divorce.” Either way, the term was picked up by the Oxford Dictionary in 2003
and Merriam-Webster in 2006, so it’s now officially part of the language.
The Silvertones' record is kind of neat because while it expresses appreciation for the flashy lights and other glittery aspects of the holiday it also emphasizes that the human element is at least as important as the bling:
It's Christmas Time
again,
The jolliest time of the year.
Friends from here, friends for far,
Everyone come to share.
It's bling, bling time, again,
Sparkling lights are everywhere.
Happy children, they are singing,
Christmas in the air.
And what I like of Christmas,
Is to see the Christmas trees.
Bling, bling lights,
Cutest toys, gifts for you and me.
You may not have a turkey,
Roast chicken, champagne and wine.
Whatever you got to give,
Show me you've got to be fine.
Now with your bling, bling lights,
Chicken and wine,
Have a Merry Christmas Time.
You may not have what
Everybody else has,
Have a Merry Christmas Time.
Track 12 Christmas Parade, by Rupie Edwards (1972)
I mentioned above that I wasn't aware of many holiday reggae tunes until recently, but I surely can't make that claim today. There are, in fact, a good many such songs, including this track by longtime reggae artist and producer Rupie Edwards, called "Christmas Parade":
Edwards is a native of Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, where he was born on July 4, 1945. His family moved to Kingston, Jamaica's capital, when Edwards was still a child. As a young teenager, he entered numerous local talent contests, which led to his discovery at age 17 by a Kingston record producer who arranged for his first single.
In 1965, Edwards formed a group called The Ambassadors, which later became The Virtues. The Virtues released a number of singles including "Burning Love," released in 1966, which Edwards himself produced. The Virtues disbanded in 1968, and while Edwards continued to release his own records for a number of years thereafter, his attention became increasingly focused on producing other artists' work. He is said to have been a particularly skilled judge of talent, and he produced records by such groups as The Heptones, The Ethiopians and The Mighty Diamonds.
Edwards is perhaps best known for his 1974 proto dub song "Ire Feelings (Skanga)," which became a big hit in Britain in 1975 and helped fuel the growing popularity of the ska movement there. Ska influenced a number of punk and new wave bands later that decade including The Clash and The Police. Edwards later emigrated to London himself, transitioning from reggae to Christian music in the later years of his career.
I really like "Christmas Parade." It's a simple tune that strikes me as bright and cheerful and puts me in mind of a community celebration on a warm and sunny afternoon. Such holiday events would have been foreign to me in Boston, but I've enjoyed a few such celebrations since moving to Los Angeles in 1999. It's fun to call friends and family back in Boston when it's 75 or 80° in Los Angeles!
Track 13 On a Sleigh Ride, by Bernie Witkowski and His Silver Bell Orchestra (1958)
I first discovered this little gem seven years ago on the wonderful Ernie (Not Bert) blog, where you can find a wealth of holiday music of nearly every style and description. I was lucky enough to discover this blog when I was just beginning to explore the world of seasonal songs, and it was a great way to get acclimated. I've never written or spoken to Ernie directly, but he seems like a super guy and I always enjoy reading his posts.
This track is from the album The Christmas Record, a collection of holiday polka tunes by a man described as the "King of Polka Kings," Bernie Witkowski.
Inducted into the International Polka Association's Hall of Fame in 1971, Witkowski was born in New York into a family of musicians. He was a fourth-generation clarinet player; played saxophone, flute, accordion, drums and organ; wrote, arranged and directed music; developed a number of popular dance moves, and hosted his own weekly radio show. With his Silver Bell Orchestra, Witkowski played in such venues as the Waldorf
Hotel, the Latin Quarter, the Star Club, and La Conga, and in Monte Carlo, Havana, and Madrid, among other fabulous places. For many years, the group was featured at Madison Square Garden's Harvest Moon Polka Contest.
"On a Sleigh Ride" is an odd little tune, which in a few places sounds almost like a joke. I think that's primarily because of the singer's unusually giddy delivery, especially when listing the names of some of the sleigh riders. Her emphatic elucidation makes it sound as though she's singing to a group of small children or perhaps the elderly. The ridiculous laughter at the end of the song makes the whole effort sound slightly deranged.
But if you enjoy the bounce and rhythm of a good polka tune to kick off your holiday season, this one might be just the ticket.
If you follow pop music at all today, you probably check out the sales and airplay charts from Billboard magazine from time to time to see which artists, albums and songs are moving up and down at the moment. Billboard's Hot 100 tracks the top 100 singles every week and the Billboard 200 reflects the top albums or CDs. Most folks in the music interest will tell you that these are the definitive listings when it comes to the current music scene, and Billboard's other charts, including R&B, Dance, Country and Adult Contemporary are equally respected among industry professionals.
Around the beginning of December each year, Billboard features a variety of Holiday Music charts that purport to capture the relative sales and airplay statistics of various holiday tunes. I'm in no position to take issue with Billboard's rankings, one of my greatest pet peeves is the fact that the holiday charts have remained essentially stagnant for the past 20 years or more. Despite the release of a significant number of great new seasonal songs every year, the Top 10 listings feature the same handful of classics at the top of the chart without exception.
Here are two recent charts from Billboard's December 2, 2023 edition, the first of which lists the current Top 10 Holiday Songs, and the second lists the Top 10 Holiday Songs of all time:
Sad, isn't it? I realize many people are reluctant to give new holiday songs a chance because the holidays are a sentimental season and it takes a little longer to grow tired of songs you only hear one month out of the year. I also admit that I never liked the entries by Mariah Carey and Wham! even when they were both fresh and new. But c'mon now! Only one of the current Top 10 Holiday tunes is from this century! The majority are at least 50 years old! We've got to do a little better than this!
Track 8 Journey to Christmas Island, The Rosebuds (2012)
I first mentioned this awesome group here 11 years ago in a short but rave
review of their 2012 album Christmas
Tree Island. I noted then that two of the album’s tracks — “Xmas in New York”
and “Melt Our Way Out” —
were already on my list of all-time holiday favorites, and that each of the 11
other tracks were “bona fide holiday
treats.” I’m no less enthusiastic about the album today, which leaves me
scratching my head as to why it’s taken me so long to include a second song by
The Rosebuds on one of my compilations. (“Melt Our Way Out” was featured on my
2017 mix, It’s Christmas Time Again.)
I truly have no idea; I’m just glad to rectify the oversight with the final
track from their album, which is called “Journey to Christmas Island.” (I guess
you can’t properly call this the title track as the journey here is merely to
Christmas Island. Also, this tune is about a journey, not a land mass, in contrast to the album, whose title
specifically refers to a location, Christmas Tree Island. Are these two completely different islands, or was the
word “Tree” inadvertently dropped from the title in the track listing?
Considering the track is an instrumental, I don’t suppose it really matters too
much.)
Like Dillon Fence, The Rosebuds formed in North
Carolina. Principal members Ivan Howard (vocals, guitar, drums, bass, keyboards
and programming) and Kelly Crisp (vocals, keyboard, drums, guitar and accordion)
met in college in Wilmington, NC and eventually settled in Raleigh after marrying
and forming the band. Like Dillon Fence, the Rosebuds achieved considerable
popularity as an indie band and also claim a particular affinity for holiday
music. Unfortunately, like Dillon Fence, they’ve also disbanded. Their
follow-up to Christmas Tree Island, the 2014 release Sand + Silence,
was their final album. They divorced in 2012. Howard is currently pursuing a solo career on
the West Coast, while Crisp works as writer on the East Coast.
The Rosebuds were active from roughly 2001 through 2014, and during
this period they released over a dozen LPs and singles. I can’t claim to have
heard them all, but they have a unique and pleasant indie sound. True Christmas
music fans should really consider adding Christmas Tree Island to your
collection, although the intimacy and tenderness that makes the album so
special take on an edge of sadness knowing that Howard and Crisp are no longer
together.
Track 9 Holiday Greetings, Former President Ronald Reagan and Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney
I’ve been interested in politics going back pretty much as far as I can
remember, and my interest was warmly encouraged by the adults in my family.
Near as I can tell, our family has always been pretty much solid New England Republican
in its orientation. New England Republicans confound the GOP faithful in other
parts of the nation by staking out relatively liberal positions on issues
involving race, disarmament and individual liberties. They tend to hold views
closer to the traditions of Presidents Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt than Richard
Nixon or Ronald Reagan.
Like many people, college introduced me to new ideas and perspectives
and by the end of my freshman year I’d become the family’s first registered
Democrat. After graduating college I spent ten years as political activist and
neighborhood organizer in Boston, and I’ve remained a stalwart Democrat. To my
great surprise, my Dad, a Republican banker, moved considerably to the left in
his later years. In January 2008, the day before he died, he told me he was
supporting Senator Barack Obama for president. My younger brother, a former
Reagan partisan, is now staunchly anti-Trump and working for a green business in Maine.
I have many friends and a few relatives who are still Republicans, as is their right. It’s a free country. But to me, there’s a big difference
between members of the Republican party and members of the Trump cult. I never
agreed with Ronald Reagan about much, but I respect that he was doing what he
thought was best for the country. I hold a similar view of Liz Cheney, the
courageous Republican who served as vice chair of the U.S. Select Committee to Investigate
the January 6 Attack. Actually I respect Cheney a great deal, because she was
willing to lose her seat in Congress to oppose Donald Trump and bring to light
the facts behind the horrific attack on our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, which Trump
promoted. Unlike Reagan, Trump couldn't care less what's best for our
country. He seeks to benefit only his own twisted self-interest.
This track was produced by Representative Cheney as a holiday message
last December. It consists of an old Christmas message of Ronald Reagan’s followed by a short greeting of her own. The entire track represents a point of
view that has all but disappeared from our land, which is tragic.
Track 10 MAGA Christmas Chipmunks, Patrick Fitzgerald (2022)
There’s an awful lot of history behind this next track, which uses one
of the most recognized holiday songs of all time to take a swing at three of
the most embarrassing characters to ever serve in the U.S. House of
Representatives. The track was released last December by comedian and content
creator Patrick Fitzgerald,
who describes himself as the “[p]oor man's Randy Rainbow[,]” and
“Weird Al [Yankovic] without the accordion or talent.” I’d say he’s a good bit
more talented than he lets on. In just a little over two minutes he manages to
pretty much mop the floor with GOP Representatives Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz
and Marjorie Taylor Green and it’s done in such a light-hearted way you can
almost picture the three of them laughing right along with the rest of us.
The track is based, of course, on the classic novelty hit “The Chipmunk
Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late),” originally released in 1958 by American singer,
songwriter, record producer, and actor Ross
Bagdasarian under the name David Seville. Bagdasarian, who wrote the 1951
Rosemary Clooney hit "Come
on-a My House," had spent the balance of the decade trying to come up with
a suitable follow-up hit but things weren’t going well and by 1957 his funds
were running out. On a whim, he decided to purchase a fancy new tape machine
that allowed material to be recorded at a variety of different speeds.
Recording at higher speeds produced funny, high-pitched voices, which led
Bagdasarian to create a song called “Witch Doctor,” which was
released by Liberty Records and became his first chart-topping hit. He
continued to fool around with the recorder to create a fictional trio of
chipmunks that he named after the top brass at Liberty Records – Simon, Theodore
and Alvin, and their first single was a smash hit at the end of 1958, selling
over 4.5 million copies in just seven weeks and topping the Billboard Hot 100
for two of them. In fact, “The Chipmunk Song” was the last holiday tune to top
the Hot 100 until Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hit the top
spot in 2019.
My Dad bought me a copy of “The Chipmunk Song” sometime during the
mid-‘60s and I nearly wore it out on my little record player. He was a pretty
good sport about it most of the time, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t his all-time
favorite record.
Bagdasarian did pretty well with The Chipmunks franchise, which
eventually produced not only several additional hit records but a number of
movies, a weekly Saturday morning cartoon series and a variety of television
specials.
We're doing pretty well so far, having offered a few notes about the first 10 tracks on this year's mix before December 1. We've got 27 tracks to go and 24 days in which to describe them. Call me Pollyanna, but I think things are looking good.
I've often used the words Pollyanna or Pollyannaish to describe irrepressible optimists and those who tend to find the good in everything. I'd love to be one of them, though I fear I'm not cut out to be. I learned only today that this word comes from the 1913 children's novel Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter. In the book, a young orphan named Pollyanna Whittier is sent to live with her stern spinster aunt in Vermont following the death of her father, who had taught her the values of gratitude and appreciation before he died. Pollyanna used those lessons to create what she called "The Glad Game," which involved finding something to be grateful for in every situation, no matter how grim. For example, upon receiving a set of crutches rather than a doll as her Christmas present at the missionary home, Pollyanna decided to feel good about the crutches because she didn't need to use them. In the book, Pollyanna shared her outlook with the rest of the adults in the Vermont town she later settled in with her aunt. I'd say I have a lot to learn from young Pollyanna.
I'll be back soon with info about my next three tracks.
We continue our look at the tracks on my latest holiday mix, Christmas Cheer, with background on Tracks 5, 6 and 7.
Track 5 Jingle Mint Twist, Sammy Marshall (1962)
Today's first track is another song poem, and it’s from the TJB Brandes Records
label. The artist is the prolific Sammy Marshall, a/k/a Marc Stewart Simpson, or as
he’s known on this 45 “Singing Sammy Marshall.” I first
ran across the track more than a decade ago in a posting by song-poem aficionado Bob
Purse via a post on the wonderful WFMU “Beware of the Blog” site, which is sadly no longer active. As Bob
notes, this one doesn’t necessarily establish itself as a holiday song right off. At first blush it seems to be a song about a kind of dance. But there’s at least a tenuous holiday
connection via the lyrical instructions to would-dancers to strap some jingle bells
around each ankle before commencing any twisting. That sounds good enough to
make this a Christmas song in my book. More to the point, it’s good enough for
Bob Purse, so “case closed.”
Regular
readers of this blog are no doubt familiar with Andy Cirzan, who’s been
creating and circulating amazingly good holiday mixes each year for a good many
years more than I. We report on Andy’s compilations nearly every year, and he
appears on the popular music show Sound Opinions each December to play
selections from his latest mix. Andy included “Jingle Mint Twist” on his 2005
mix, so how much more of a Christmas song could this possibly be?
Marshall is among the most prolific artists in the song-poem business, and he’s recorded tunes in a relatively wide range of styles. I include links to several of his non-holiday tunes, below, including a tribute to the late President John F. Kennedy that really tugs at the heartstrings this week, 60 years after that tragic day in Dallas.
Growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s I spent a lot of time watching and listening to Dick Van Dyke. My family enjoyed his very funny network sitcom, of
course, which ran on CBS from 1961 to 1966, co-starring Mary Tyler Moore, Rose
Marie and Morey Amsterdam. As I kid, though, I especially enjoyed his work in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, two of the
most iconic family movies of that wonderful era. Dick Van Dyke will celebrate
his 98th birthday on December 13, and by all accounts he’s still going strong.
I featured a wonderful song he recorded with Jane Lynch a few years ago on my
2018 mix, My Christmas Time Philosophy. You can see them perform “We’re Going
Caroling” HERE. It’s guaranteed to help put
you in the holiday spirit!
On February 29, 2012, Van Dyke, at the age of 86, married Arlene Silver, a 40-year-old make-up artist he met at a Hollywood awards show.
Programming Note: CBS will be celebrating Van Dyke's amazing career with a special called “Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic” that will air Thursday, December 21 from 9 to 11 p.m. on the network. It will also stream live and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers. Paramount+ Essential subscribers can stream the special on demand starting December 22.
I don’t know
an awful lot about the band Dillon Fence, but I understand they formed in the
mid-1980s in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and that their name is taken from an
iconic fence made by a bunch of artists in Dillon, South Carolina. The band was
signed by Mammoth Records in 1991 and their first release was a three-song EP
titled “Christmas.” This song, of course, is the title track. I really like
this song a lot — in fact, it’s probably my favorite track on this year’s mix. I
guess I’m naturally predisposed to root for a band whose first commercial
release was an EP of Christmas songs.
The band
released three albums on Mammoth between 1992 and 1995, and they split up after
the label rejected their initial demos for a fourth album. The band subsequently
regrouped a couple of times to tour in support of their post-separation live
album and greatest hits packages. They continue to play occasional shows in
North Carolina.
While the
principal members of Dillon Fence continued to make music after the bank’s
break-up, lead guitarist and chief songwriter Greg Humphreys has perhaps been the
most active. In 1996 he founded the soul/funk group Hobex,
which was active through 2007. He subsequently recorded a series of solo albums
before forming The Greg Humphreys Electric Trio in 2012. Humphreys has also
collaborated with Stax recording artist William Bell, who had a Top 10 hit in
1978 with “Trying to Love Two.”
Hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving and didn't spend more than you can afford today on Black Friday. I'll be back with more someday soon.
One holiday tradition I don't respect is the annual promotion by Fox News of the so-called "war against Christmas." According to Fox, Democrats are trying to destroy Christmas by preventing people from celebrating or even acknowledging the holiday. As evidence, they cite the widespread use of the greeting "Happy Holidays," which they see as disparaging Christmas. They've repeatedly promoted Donald Trump's nonsensical thoughts on this topic, including Trump's repeated and thoroughly debunked assertions that Barack Obama never once wished anyone a "Merry Christmas" while he was president. Of course, there are thousands of videos of President Obama not only using the phrase but openly celebrating Christmas in church and elsewhere.
This week, Fox host Jesse Watters, a preposterous buffoon whose sole purpose at the network appears to be terrifying his elderly viewer base with fabricated and preposterous claims, launched his annual holiday meltdown by decrying a couple of cheap decorations now on sale at Target. The first is a nutcracker doll with a rainbow flag. The second is an ornament depicting Santa as a black man in a wheelchair. To hear Watters' sneering account, such toys threaten our very existence as a nation. No need to worry about Donald Trump's 91 indictments, attempts at witness tampering or Nazi threats, the real danger we face is a plastic toy model of a disabled black Santa.
The principal focus of this blog is holiday music, and I try to avoid politics for the most part. But we're facing a vitally important choice over the next 12 months and there are powerful forces seeking to install a fascist dictatorship in the United States and they'll stop at nothing to win. They've managed to win the support of millions of our fellow citizens by promoting fear and chaos through ridiculous lies like the alleged war on Christmas. Please take the time to educate yourselves about what's really going on!
Back in Boston, one of my favorite radio personalities, "Captain" Ken Shelton, launched a tradition that involved playing the long version of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" on WBCN-FM every Thanksgiving in celebration of the holiday and his countercultural roots. I'm not sure how much sense that makes, but it sure sounds right to me.
My 2023 holiday mix is now complete and ready for you to review and/or
download! It’s called My Christmas Dream, it includes 37 tracks and runs almost
exactly one hour and 20 minutes. For more details and links to the mix itself
visit the “Latest” page
of my holiday music website.
Now that the 2023 mix is available it’s time for this blog to turn its
attention to what is, after all, its primary purpose — namely, providing a
little background on each of the this year’s holiday tracks. We’ll cover
anywhere between two and five tracks each day over the next four weeks, except on
those days when I don’t feel like writing. Hopefully we’ll share a little
something about all 37 tracks by Christmas Eve. Sometimes we make it. Sometimes
we don’t. But I’ve got a good feeling about this year’s endeavor.
One quick and silly note about presentation before we get started. In
previous years, for reasons I can’t begin to recall, we posted each day’s track
listings in reverse order. So, for example, if we opted to post notes on the
first four tracks on Monday and the next two tracks on Tuesday, Monday’s post
would cover Track 4, Track 3, Track 2 and Track 1, in that order, and Tuesday’s
post would begin with Track 6, followed by Track 5. Crazy. This year, the
tracks will be simply be posted in numerical order. Despite the overwhelming
weight of evidence to the contrary, I’d like to think this shows I haven’t
completely lost my mind.
Ready, set … here we go!
Track 1 Jingle Bells, Sonny & Cher
(1972)
During the
1960s and ‘70s, network television was the country’s chief source of popular
entertainment, and all three networks worked tirelessly to prepare the nation
for Christmas each December. Regular weekly series programs, whether comedy or
drama, typically offered at least one holiday-themed show each year; each
network offered a variety of annual animated shows including such favorites as
“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
and “The Little Drummer Boy”; some
of Hollywood’s biggest names starred in annual variety specials; and, of
course, major sponsors tied the whole package together with an endless stream of holiday-themed advertising,
some of which was at least as popular as the programming the ads supported.
Among the most popular of the variety show programs during this period were the
shows hosted by Sonny & Cher, both together and individually. The first
track of my 2023 holiday mix is the introduction to the 1972 Sonny &
Cher Christmas Special, which features the duo performing a swinging
version of “Jingle Bells.”
Of course,
Sonny & Cher had been popular entertainers long before their 1972 holiday
special aired, and they would go on to
enjoy even greater success afterward. They met in late 1962 while they were
both working as background singers for legendary producer Phil Spector. They
soon became romantically involved and started recording and performing as a
duo. Sonny, who was 11 years older than Cher, managed their career and wrote a
number of original songs they performed. In the summer of 1965 they released
their first album, “Look
at Us,” and topped Billboard’s Hot 100 with a tune of Sonny’s called “I Got You, Babe.” This initial
success led to more, and they followed their first smash with another album, a
string of hit singles including the Top 10 hit “The Beat Goes On,” and
appearances on many of the biggest TV variety shows, clubs and concert venues.
Unfortunately,
by start of their show’s third season the couple’s personal relationship had
begun to come apart. In late 1974, they formally separated. (I don’t know
whether this was a factor in their relationship problems, but it’s worth noting
that Cher released a bunch of successful solo records during the first half of
the 1970s that Sonny didn’t produce, and three of her solo singles hit #1 on
Billboard’s Hot 100 during that same period.) Not surprisingly, the end of the
marriage meant the end of the show. Both Sonny and Cher were each given their
own network shows in 1975, but these were short lived. By 1976, the couple were
back on speaking terms and they returned to television with “The Sonny & Cher Show,”
which had a similar format to the former “Comedy Hour.” The new show remained
on the air for nearly two years, after which Cher turned to acting and Sonny
became involved in politics.
The Sonny
& Cher franchise produced several successful Christmas specials during the
1970s, including “Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” programs in 1972 and 1973, a
Cher holiday special in 1975, and a “Sonny & Cher Show” holiday broadcast
in 1976. All of these specials followed the same general pattern with an
opening song and welcome from the host(s) followed by anywhere from five to
eight comedy bits and musical numbers featuring a variety of familiar guests
before an emotional send-off.
Among the performances from the 1973 special is
a medley of holiday carols featuring William Conrad, star of the popular ‘70s
detective series Cannon. This number
has become almost legendary thanks to the colorful description Paul Shaffer
repeatedly offered each year as one of the many holiday traditions of The Late Show with David Letterman.
I wrote about Shaffer’s bit several years ago, and you can read about it HERE.
You can also watch the entire 1973 special below. The medley Shaffer discussed begins at 17:50.
Here’s the
first of the Sonny & Cher holiday shows from 1972, with the intro I use to
kick-off “My Christmas Dream” at the very beginning:
Just to
bring things current, Cher recently released her first album of holiday songs
called “Christmas.” She noted on Twitter that while she’d previously been
reluctant to record a holiday album, she’s pleased with result and thinks it’s
as good as any of her other releases. Darlene Love, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper
and Tyga appear with Cher on this one, and you can preview the album HERE.
Track 2 I Wish You A Merry Christmas, Big Dee Irwin, featuring Little Eva (1963)
The second
track on this year’s mix is a fun little number by New York native Big Dee Irwin.
Irwin got his start as a member of The Pastels, a group he formed in 1955 with
a bunch of air force buddies on Greenland’s Narsarsuaq Air Base. In 1957, The
Pastels won a recording contract as the first prize in a military talent show.
The song they recorded, “Been So Long” became
a hit on the R&B charts and the group hit the road to promote the record,
appearing in Alan Freed’s Big Beat Show with Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and
others.
In 1958, Irwin
set off on his own, and over the next 20 years he released a string of records,
mostly soul and R&B, while also writing songs for stars including Ray
Charles, Bobby Womack and The Hollies. On several recordings, he teamed with
Little Eva Boyd, best known for her 1962 version of “The Locomotion,” written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The
first of these was their version of the old Bing Crosby song, “Swinging on a Star.” Another was a 1963 song written especially
for Irwin called “Happy Being Fat.” The third release
with Little Eva was this one, “I Wish You a Merry Christmas,” released in late 1963
as the B-side to “The Christmas Song.” Toward the end of this record, Little
Eva jokingly returns to the subject of Irwin’s weight by asking:
Big Dee, did anyone ever tell you you was big … strong … handsome …
kindhearted – and FAT!?
Irwin’s last
record was released in 1978, though he continued to make live appearances for
another 15 years or so after that. He died in 1995.
If you’ve
listened to any of my previous mixes you know that I like to break things up a
little by inserting brief holiday greetings from various celebrities between
the regular songs. They give listeners a chance to relax for a moment in much
the same way that commercials do on television. It’s surprisingly difficult to
find such clips in the form I’m looking for. To work as an audio clip, each celebrity
needs to identify themselves by name and pass along some kind of holiday wish.
The recording must also be free of excessive background noise and irrelevant
content. The first greeting on this year’s mix is from Shirley MacLaine.
Shirley MacLaine
I’ve been a
fan of MacLaine’s for years. She’s a terrific actor, singer and dancer, of
course, and I especially loved her work in Being There (1979), Terms of Endearment (1983), Steel Magnolias (1989) and Postcards from the Edge (1990).Wikipedia notes that MacLaine is known for “her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed
and eccentric women,” which may explain her great success as an actress – after
all, who better fits the “quirky, strong-willed and eccentric” description than
MacLaine herself!
As a child,
it was MacLaine’s love of dancing that led her to pursue a life in show
business. She started ballet school at the age of three and says it was the fun
of performing that really grabbed her interest. She scored her first Broadway
gig before graduating high school. Her next job was as understudy for one of
the major roles in the musical The Pajama Game(the
character who sings “Hernando’s Hideaway”). As luck would have it, the lead
suffered an ankle injury that kept her out of the show for several weeks, and a
noted film producer who saw MacLaine filling in signed her to a deal with
Paramount Pictures. Her first role was in the Hitchcock thriller The Trouble with Harry, for which she won a Golden Globe — and
she was off!
MacLaine was
nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award five times for her work in Some Came
Running (1959), The Apartment (1981), Irma la Douce (1964), The Turning Point
(1978) and Terms of Endearment (1984), winning for the last of these. She also
won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special for her 1976 show “Gypsy in
My Soul.” In 1998, she earned a Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe Award, and in
2013, President Obama awarded her the Kennedy Center Honors for her contributions to American
culture.
For me,
MacLaine’s professional achievements are only part of her appeal. I also enjoy
her forceful personality, her political activism and her unique range of
interests and enthusiasms. She’s a genuine character, and we’re all the better
for having her among us.
Track 4 Christmas Cheer, The MSR Singers
(1978)
Folks who
follow this blog and/or listen to my annual mixes know that I’m nuts about
“song poems,” an offbeat and sometimes outlandish subgenre within the larger
and increasingly popular category known as “outsider music.” Outsider music
refers basically to material created outside the professional music industry,
often by members of marginalized or disfavored communities. Song poems
typically feature lyrics written by non-professionals that are set to music and
recorded for a fee by companies set up for that purpose.
Throughout
most of the 20th century, song-poem companies advertised in the back of pulp
and other general interest publications offering to set amateur poems to music to
satisfy the demand for new music and help would-be lyricists become famous and
rich. The going rates were generally between $100 and $500 in exchange for
which the submitting poet would get a couple of 45 RPM discs of their fully
realized songs. The quality of the final product varied wildly, of course, as
did the submitted lyrics. But thanks to the song poem, more than a few ordinary
citizens had the thrill of hearing their words come to life as actual songs on
the family stereo.
Well, this
year’s mix is truly top-heavy with song poems — nine in all — and this first
one, “Christmas Cheer,” is a true classic. Released in 1978 as part of a full
album of holiday song poems, “Christmas Cheer” was produced by an outfit known
as MSR, one of the largest song-poem factories. The performance is credited to
The MSR Singers, a group of paid employees who sang on dozens if not hundreds
of songs MSR created from lyrics they received from their paying customers. The
lyrics of this little gem are by Joan Tomaini, and they’re truly special,
indeed:
Christmas is a glad
time,
Christmas is a sad
time,
It’s a time of joy,
For every girl and
boy.
But how about the
lost souls,
The ones whose lives
never unfold,
Does anyone ever
think of those
whose life compares
to a dead rose?
They’re living, too.
And every day gets
duller and duller in every way.
Who is going to
bring them cheer?
Isn’t that why you
and I are here?
Think of them at
Christmas time,
As you go bustling
in your prime,
And when somebody
says, “Brother, can you spare a dime?”
That this could
happen to you sometime.
Now, the sentiment that folks should help cheer the less fortunate at
Christmas is a common holiday theme. There’s nothing novel about that. What
makes this song incredible is its dramatic descriptions. “Does anyone ever
think of those whose life compares to a dead rose?” Wow. “Every day gets duller
and duller in every way.” This is the kind of Christmas cheer I suspect many of
us would just as soon do without!
My latest holiday mix is complete and now available on my holiday website for your listening and downloading pleasure. My 19th annual compilation is called Christmas Cheer, and it's stuffed to the brim with unheralded gems, seasonal greetings and unforgettable little nightmares just for you! There's nothing unusual about that, of course. It's pretty much the same formula I've been using for nearly two decades now. But this year it's ready not only before Black Friday but before you go shopping for your Thanksgiving turkey! Somehow I knew you're going to need your coping skills finely honed to make it through this season, and playing this mess in your car from the supermarket parking lot is simply the best way I know to prepare for the coming onslaught.
I'm not going to tell you too much about this mix at this point. You'll find all kinds of details by returning to this blog now and then between now and Christmas Eve. But I will tell you that Christmas Cheer contains a record number of song-poem tracks. You're familiar with song-poems, of course, right? They're those cute little numbers produced when non-professionals write a heartfelt verse and ship it off to a record company along with a sizeable piece of next year's grocery allowance in exchange for a 45 RPM record and empty promises to maybe make the lyricist a star. Just to set the stage, I've posted links below to a few song-poem tracks from my previous mixes. This should bring the memories flooding back, so I'd get ready with a bucket and mop! There's also a link to the appropriate page of my holiday music website. There you'll find links to this year's mix and a SoundCloud link where you can preview the first few tracks.
I hope we can have a little fun together between now and Santa's arrival going through the tracks together. The weather may be cold and frightful, but the fire's going to be delightful. Be sure to buy a big enough turkey for this Thursday's dinner, and don't forget the cranberry sauce!
One of the most eagerly awaited new holiday records of 2023
is Cher’s album Christmas, which was released on the Warner Records label on
October 20. This is 27th studio album for Cher, her first album of original
material in ten years and her first holiday music record ever. The album
entered Billboard’s Hot 200 album chart at #32 and is already #1 on the Top Holiday Albums chart.
In a Twitter post this past July, Cher acknowledged that she
had never before considered releasing a holiday record, but that she considers
Christmas to be among her finest works to date. Produced by Mark Taylor, who
previously produced Cher’s 1998 album Believe, Christmas contains 13 diverse
tracks and clocks in at a total of just under 40 minutes. The album includes
guest appearances by Stevie Wonder, Darlene Love, Tyga, Cyndi Lauper and
Michael Buble.
With over 60 years in the music business to date, Cher has
to rank as one of the most successful recording artists ever. Not only has she
sold over 100 million records, Cher has been honored with a Grammy Award, an
Emmy Award, an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Cannes Film Festival
award, the Billboard Icon Award, and awards from the Kennedy Center Honors and
the Council of Fashion Designers of America. She is the only artist to date to
have a #1 single on a Billboard chart in six consecutive decades, from the
1960s to the 2010s. Her 2002–2005 Living Proof: The Farewell Tour became the
highest-grossing concert tour by a female artist ever at the time, earning over
$250 million. Since first recording with her ex-husband Sonny Bono in the early
1960s, Cher has attracted almost non-stop media attention for her outspoken
views, political advocacy, charitable endeavors and trendsetting fashion. In
recent years, she has established herself as a stalwart champion of LGBTQ+
rights and HIV/AIDS prevention and research.
One of the benefits of writing a holiday music blog is the steady stream of interesting material I receive from artists and promoters eager to share their latest creations. When I started this blog 12 years ago I had intended to use it simply to share some background on the various tracks from my annual holiday music CDs. Many of the songs I include aren't well known and recipients often have questions about some of the material I feature. Over time, however, I started to post about holiday music more generally, and creators no doubt see blogs like this as potential vehicles to promote their work. I'm happy to help out where I can — after all, it's always fun to share the good stuff with others. However, I don't claim to follow new holiday releases in any sort of systematic way, nor can I promise to promote everything I receive. With those ground rules in mind, here's a quick look at two new releases that may be of interest:
Pineapple & Puddings Tim Gerard & Astro Ranger
Tim Gerard is a guy who gets around. Raised in South Africa, Belgium and the U.K., he migrated to my hometown of Boston in 2014 to attend the Berklee College of Music before settling in the Los Angeles area to launch his career as a singer, songwriter and session musician. He describes his music as "internationally wrapped with a blues rock stamp," which sounds rather distinctive. Pineapple & Puddings, the holiday album he's released with Astro Ranger, has a distinctive sound, too — upbeat, guitar-driven holiday songs with smart lyrics and melodic hooks that harken back to the pop/rock sounds of the '70s and early '80s. The album features 12 songs, most of them original, each of which offers a delightful portrait of one aspect of the season. This would be a great album to play while driving home for Christmas or watching the snow fall from a warm place by the fire..
The magic of Christmas touches people of many diverse backgrounds, so it's hardly surprising to find holiday songs that come in a variety of different musical styles. As of my latest special mix, 21st Century Holiday Classics, I've used a total of 720 different tracks on my various mixes, and you'll find tunes in styles from disco to punk and from bluegrass to ska. Some songs even combine what at first may seem to be incongruous styles. "So Many Christmases Ago" is certainly one of those tunes, as it features a story that might have been illustrated by Norman Rockwell over a steadily building calypso beat punctuated by, of all things, steel drums! The lyrics describe Christmas from the viewpoint of several different generations and the upbeat sound of the tropics wraps the whole thing up with a colorful bow. Not sure what others may think, but it works for me!
I hope to feature some additional new music as the season rolls on. It's now November (Lord, help us) so the start of the season isn't too far away!
