Here's A Brand New New Year's Mix to Help Usher in 2015

In addition to my annual holiday mixes, I've put together several special bonus mixes over the years that are built around a particular theme or style. Two of these special mixes focus on New Year's Eve — Happy New Year (2008) and Ringin' In a Brand New Year (2012) — and this morning, I added a third, We Know What You Did Last New Year's Eve. Like its predecessors, my latest New Year's mix celebrates the fun and frolic of New Year's Eve with a number of upbeat party tracks. But the overall tone of this latest mix is a bit more contemplative and thoughtful. We Know What You Did Last New Year's Eve features music from Bing Crosby, Judy Garland and Peggy Lee, as well as songs by Graham Parker, First Aid Kit, The Go Find and David Gray. I'll be posting this mix shortly on my holiday website, along with a track list, printable jewel case inserts and disc labels. In the meantime, you can hear it right now (along with all of my other mixes) by way of the links below or by visiting my new Mixcloud profile page. I hope you enjoy these various New Year's mixes and that the new year brings all good things.

Listen to We Know What You Did Last New Year's Eve on Mixcloud

Listen to Happy New Year (2007) on Mixcloud

Listen to Ringin' In a Brand New Year (2012) on Mixcloud

Check Out My Other Special Bonus Mixes

Working Alone in the Office on New Year's Eve, Nixon Sends Holiday Wishes by Phone

Nixon at His Desk (notice the buttoned jacket)

I've always been a history buff, and from a very young age I've been interested in reading about our nation's political leaders. Growing up in Massachusetts, I idolized John F. Kennedy, and he and his two younger brothers remain my personal heroes to this day. I've also had a longstanding interest -- a fascination, really -- in their nemesis and contemporary, Richard Nixon. My parents were Republicans for the most part, as was I until college, but by the time he left the White House in 1974 I'd come to detest President Nixon and most of what he represented; in fact, the night he resigned I led a small group of other kids on a celebratory parade around the small Maine island where we spent our childhood summers. Over the years, I've developed a more balanced view of our 37th president. Thanks to his infamous secret taping system, we've all had a chance to eavesdrop on some of his most private White House conversations, and while much of what he said is repulsive and pathetic, it's hard not to feel a certain measure of sympathy for someone who was so awkward and uneasy in his own skin. I've included excerpts from Nixon's White House tapes in at least a couple of my previous holiday CDs, and I was thrilled this year to discover recordings of two telephone calls the President made on New Year's Eve in 1971. Looking back, these calls were made at the height of Nixon's presidency, some six months before the third-rate burglary at the Watergate that became his undoing. Of course, he couldn't have known what lay ahead, nor did he seem to appreciate the relative strength of his political position at the time. These two calls reflect a certain unease and insecurity, wrapped tightly, as usual, in a masque of resolve and bravado. This New Year's Eve found Mr. Nixon alone in the Oval Office, working late, as he told one of the men he called that night, on "the year-end review." 

Nixon's first call was to Elmer Bobst, a former pharmaceutical executive and old friend of President Eisenhower who had become something of a mentor to President Nixon (and one of the very few who could get away with calling him "Dick" in conversation).  It was a touching call in many respects, from Bobst's enthusiastic review of Nixon's performance to the President's awkward assertion that Bobst "still ran with the best of them" when it came to the society circuit.  But despite his able performance as a stand-in presidential father figure, Bobst's public image ultimately sunk well below even Nixon's own.  For one thing, he was later revealed to be a notorious anti-Semite, telling the President later that year that "Jews have troubled the world from the very beginning" and were responsible for most of the country's ills. Perhaps more shocking, Bobst was later accused of repeatedly raping his two granddaughters, starting when the youngest was four years old. Making money and wielding power clearly have nothing to do with moral character. 

Nixon's second New Year's Eve call was to someone far better known than Bobst, and certainly more respected -- future President George H.W. Bush, who held a variety of different posts in the Nixon and Ford administrations. Two years earlier, Bush had given up a safe congressional seat at Nixon's urging to challenge Texas Democrat Ralph Yarborough for his seat in the U.S. Senate. Yarborough had become increasingly liberal while serving in the Senate and it was assumed he'd have considerable trouble getting re-elected in Texas, which was true, as he never made it to the general election but rather was defeated in the Democratic primary by fellow Democrat Lloyd Bensten. Far more moderate than Yarborough, Benstsen had  lots of Texas oil money behind him, and he went on to defeat Bush in the general election. Nixon rewarded Bush for his sacrifice by making him U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, a position Bush was still getting used to at the time of Nixon's call.  Bush was viewed as something of a Republican wunderkind at the time, although he was sufficiently modest to take issue with Nixon's strong review of his recent performance and to later tell the President he thought he'd let him down.  It was also interesting to hear the President ask Bush whether he enjoyed "fighting that New York society crowd" (that presumably included Elmer Bobst).  "I don't like that part of it," Bush responded emphatically, before quickly, and wisely, changing the subject.

It's not clear how late Mr. Nixon remained in the office that New Year's Eve, but hopefully he left for the mansion well before midnight and was able to enjoy some quiet time with family and friends.

Tomorrow is Election Day, and the curtain will soon come down on one of the least attractive presidential campaigns in my lifetime.  In some ways, this year's contest makes me yearn for the relative civility of Nixon's day.  This blog is about holiday music, not politics, but my thinking about this Election Day was expressed rather eloquently by the unrepentant progressive rocker who spent much of today traveling with the President on Air Force One:

Don't forget to vote!

For your Election Day enjoyment, here are several moving tributes in song to our 37th president:

Richard Nixon in '76

The Great Richard Nixon

Richard M. Nixon (God's Infinite Wisdom)

Charles Nelson Reilly and the Gang Celebrate Launch of Match Game '76

(L to R) Brett Sommers, Gene Rayburn and
Charles Nelson Reilly

I didn’t realize this until after it was completed, but my latest New Year’s CD, Ringin’ In a Brand New Year, features content that spans an entire century. From 1912’s “New Year’s Medley” by The Prince’s Orchestra to the New Year’s Greeting recorded last year by Newt and Callista Gingrich, this mix covers a lot of ground. Like my annual holiday CDs, this collection draws from a variety of musical styles and features a number of non-musical tracks that help capture certain historical and cultural images in sound. One such track is a recording of the New Year’s Eve ritual observed during much of the 1970s on the set of the popular Match Game television show. Launched exactly 50 years ago, The Match Game survived several different incarnations and aired on all three of the major commercial networks at various times. The original program debuted in December 1962 on NBC and aired weekdays from 4:00 to 4:30 pm. This version featured two teams of three, each of which was led by a guest celebrity. Host Gene Rayburn read questions aloud and awarded points based on the number of matching answers on each side. Although the show was a perennial ratings success, it was dropped by the network in September 1969 to make room for a new show called "Letters to Laugh In." Producers Mark Goodson and Bill Toddman revived the program for CBS during the summer of 1973, although the debut of this second incarnation was postponed by several weeks because of the Senate Watergate hearings. Gene Rayburn was once again tapped to host, but little else from the original survived intact. As Rayburn noted, "This is a now version of your old favorite, with more action,. more money and more celebrities." The number of celebrities increased from two to six, with two non-celebrity contestants. Under the new format, Rayburn alternated questions between the two contestants, who competed to earn the most matching responses from the celebrity panel. The new set was designed in garish '70s style with shag carpeting, lots of blinking lights and plenty of orange. Perhaps the biggest change was the nature of the questions themselves, which had become significantly more risqué. This was undoubtedly a key factor in making this second version of the show the most successful of all. The new version of the show was called Match Game ’73, which, of course, required the title to be updated on an annual basis, and each New Year’s Eve, the gang did something special to mark the unveiling of the new name. From all appearances these special arrangements included an open bar, as a number of the celebrities seemed to have difficulty sitting upright let alone matching answers. My latest New Year's CD includes a recording of the festivities that aired on December 31, 1975, featuring the flamboyant and irrepressible Charles Nelson Reilly, who, with Brett Sommers and Richard Dawson, served as a regular guest on the show. Reilly is probably best known for his work on Match Game, but he enjoyed an illustrious stage career and was also a gifted acting teacher and director.  He enjoys the distinction of having appeared with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show more often than any other guest, due in part to the fact that he lived less than two minutes away from the studio and was typically available to fill in for last-minute cancellations. His last major project was a one-man autobiographical show called The Life of Reilly, which won rave reviews both as a live performance and film.  I heartily recommend it. 

Here’s the excerpt that's included on Ringin’ In a Brand New Year, which captures the transition from Match Game '75 to Match Game '76 on December 31, 1975: 

And for those brave souls who want more, here are clips of three additional Match Game year-end celebrations:

For more Match Game trivia and history, check the Game Show Network's Match Game page or Wikipedia.

Tomorrow (or the next day):  Richard Nixon Spreads His Unique Band of New Year's Cheer!

Start Your New Year's Party Early with "Ringin' In a Brand New Year"

There's always been a certain tension between the Christmas and New Year's holidays -- a sibling rivalry, if you will. Separated by merely a week, they're typically seen as an indivisible package. Together, they serve to protect us from everyday life for at least a couple of weeks each year with a collective force that far exceeds their individual powers. Yet they are also indisputably unique -- one is pious, sentimental and child-like; the other secular, ribald, and free-wheeling. Little wonder then that each of these year-end holidays has its own canon of songs, and its own distinct set of cultural icons and ephemera.

My first New Year's mix was prompted by my discovery of two incredibly wonderful tunes one snowy afternoon in late 2007 while visiting my brother and his family at their home in Maine.  The first was Happy New Year, by Spike Jones and His City Slickers; and the second was Happy New Year, by Charlie Weaver.  Each of these songs was new to me, and they immediately raised my spirits.  In fact I remember singing them aloud as I shoveled and snowblowed my brother's long driveway several times that evening.  The mere fact that I'd volunteered for outside work during a Nor'Easter speaks volumes about my good mood at the time. Anyway, it was a relatively easy matter to find enough additional New Year's material to fill a CD, and by the time I returned to Los Angeles on December 30, my first New Year's mix was recorded and ready to go.

I've kept my eyes and ears open for additional New Year's material over the past five years, and by last Fall I had at least 50 strong candidates for a follow-up mix. But it wasn't until recently that I felt any particular interest in preparing something.  Once I started, however, the whole thing came together quickly, and I'm pleased with the result, which is titled Ringin' In a Brand New Year!  There are 30 tracks altogether, and the complete mix lasts just under 70 minutes. As with my annual Christmas mixes, "Ringin' In a Brand New Year" is a mish-mash of wildly different styles, and it features songs and music interspersed with celebrity greetings, spoken features and short comedy bits.  This mix opens with what I believe to be the oldest recording I've used in any of my mixes to date -- a 1912 recording of a New Year's Medley performed by The Prince's Orchestra, one of the most successful musical acts of that time.  Also included are songs by Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Waits and The Dismemberment Plan, and historical snapshots such as the audio track of the following broadcast from Times Square as Ben Grauer welcomed viewers of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show to the start of 1966:

My latest New Year's mix is now available for download for a limited time from my holiday music website.  You can download the mix as a single .mp3 file or as a zip file containing 30 individual tracks.  You can also download a track list, CD label and jewel box insert, and you can listen to the first nine or ten minutes of the mix from the website itself.  Enjoy the mix, and Happy New Year!

Celebrate the New Year with My Latest Mix, Coming November 1

My latest New Year's CD will be available
 for download on November 1.

Sometime toward the end of 2007, I put together a CD of New Year's themed music that I gave to a small handful of friends in anticipation of the upcoming new year. The previous few months had been challenging ones for me and several other folks I know, and I was sort of hoping a fun collection of New Year's songs might help us to kick-off 2008 on a more upbeat note. Unfortunately, the new year had other ideas, and, for me anyway, things quickly went from bad to worse. Now, I realize that my little CD mix had nothing to do with the spate of bad luck that ushered in that particular new year. In fact, a couple of tracks from that collection helped keep me going during some especially dark days, and I'm pretty sure the disc remained in my car's CD player until sometime in May that year.  Nevertheless, I've felt slightly gun shy about doing a follow-up these past several years, even as I put together a critical mass of suitable tunes. Several weeks ago, however, I found myself with a little too much extra time on my hands and decided to throw caution to the wind. The result is my second collection of New Year's tunes, titled Ringin' in a Brand New Year, which I'll be posting on my holiday music website on Thursday, November 1.

This mix lasts just under 70 minutes and features 30 tracks ranging from a 1912 recording by the Prince's Orchestra to more recent tunes from Death Cab for Cutie and The Dismemberment Plan. You'll also hear features on the origins of the New Year's resolution and how to find someone hot to kiss at midnight, as well as a couple of phone calls placed by President Nixon as he worked alone in the Oval Office one long-ago New Year's Eve. It's the perfect collection to play as you drive from one mall to another to return your unwanted gifts or take advantage of the post-Christmas sales this December. Watch for more details on November 1, and, in the meantime, feel free to download and enjoy a copy of my 2007 CD, "Happy New Year!" It's available now on the "Extras" page of my website.