For the past few weeks we've been posting just a bit of background on each of the 37 tracks on my 19th and most recent holiday holiday mix, Christmas Cheer. Today, with two shopping days left to go before December 25, I'm proud to share some information about the final three tracks on the mix. I believe this is the earliest we've ever completed this task, and because we started early we were able to proceed at a pleasant and leisurely pace with nobody getting upsot. There's a lesson in the somewhere, though I'm darned if I can figure out just what it is!
Track 35 Yonder, The Sisterhood (1974)
Track 35 is the last of the song-poems on this year’s mix, and while it
appeared on an M.S.R. Records album titled "Christmas Album," the lyrics don't seem to have anything to do with December 25. Frankly, it’s not
immediately apparent just what they are about:
Yonder with a
village view sits a village queen
And around all
reading through planted with all colors of green
A little boy far
traveled,
Might also care to
travel back
With a seaboard,
crates and masts
He is educational,
years of more track
Towards yonder,
where all work is done
With harvest
enduring years
And more of
distribution begins where all reading is shown by far and nears
[Repeat both stanzas]
Where all reading is
shown by far and nears
Far and nears
The song is credited to The Sisterhood, a group of several female
singers who worked for the M.S.R. label. The lyrics are by a fellow named Thomas Jackson Guygax, Sr.,
a Springfield, Missouri resident who wrote at least ten sets of lyrics that
were ultimately set to music and released by M.S.R.
To say Guygax had an unusual style would be an understatement.
Many of his efforts read like a jumble of random words that tumbled out of a high-speed blender in no particular order — and yet . . . there’s a certain
weight, even majesty, to some of them.
The Sisterhood
Song-poem enthusiast Phil Milstein has speculated that English may not
have been Guygax’s first language, which would certainly explain the jumbled
syntax. Or maybe he just wrote to the beat of a different drummer.
In any case, I’ve grown rather fond of “Yonder” over the many years
since I first heard it. I guess I never really paid too much attention to the
lyrics, however, for it was only recently that I figured out that this isn't a Christmas
song at all. All M.S.R. had to do is include the tune on one of its several holiday releases and that was apparently all I needed to park it in an honored spot on this year's mix.
Before we bid adieu to M. Guygax, allow me to share another set of lyrics from one of his ten M.S.R. releases:
Thomas J. Guygax
A POET
(Thomas J. Guygax,
Sr.)
as recorded by Dick
Charles
A poet once sat
among his papers
Letters from here
and far across the sea
He scribbl'd with
his pencil a moment
Saying, "My!
what's happen'd to me?"
"Should I wrote
poetry or prose?
Heaven only knows!
I wish I had
something to write about
Then I wouldn't have
to sit here and pout
So let's call Jerry
and dance about."
I think that pretty much says it all, n’est-ce-pas?
Track 36 Happy Holidays, Robbie Robertson (2019)
I surprised myself by finishing this year’s mix in early September, roughly three months ahead of my typical schedule. The way I have to assemble
these things today makes it very difficult to make any changes to the mix once it's complete, so I really figured it was done until the first weekend in November when I happened upon this song on YouTube.
I knew instantly that I had to include it, so I removed what had been the
penultimate track (“The True Meaning Christmas,” by
Ambulances) and stuck this one in its place.
Robbie Robertson has long been one of my favorite artists, and news of
his death this past August cast a long shadow over 2023 for me — a year that
started off on a sour note with the January 18 death of another of my all-time favorites, the legendary David Crosby. I used to try to include tracks by those artists I really liked who’d passed each year but discontinued the practice because the lists of
departing celebrities were beginning to get too long. But I certainly wanted to
honor Robertson and this is a terrific and appropriate track to do it with.
Recorded during the sessions for his last solo album, Sinematic (2019), “Happy Holidays” is Robertson’s playful attempt at
pointing out the yin and yang of the modern holiday season.
“We love Christmas and the holidays,” Robertson said in statement
quoted in Rolling Stone. “[They] brings good cheer, and also stress and
depression, so I wanted to do a song that celebrates both sides and have a
little fun.” This is evident from the very first verse:
Please don’t leave
Old Saint Nick
Too much milk and
cookies
’Cause by the time
he gets round to us
He won’t be able to
get
His fat ass down the
chimney.
Proceeds from the song were donated to the American Indian College
Fund. Robertson himself had indigenous roots, as his mother was part Cayuga and
part Mohawk, and two of his six outstanding solo albums focus on Native American themes.
I was familiar with Robertson’s work as a member of The Band but became a really big fan with the release of his first self-titled solo album in 1987. I loved the video for the first single off the album, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” which was directed by Martin Scorsese. I was also wowed by Robertson’s appearance on Saturday Night Live around that same time, which featured the rock song “Testimony” that he recorded with U2.
He
also worked closely with Martin Scorsese, scoring a series of the famed
director’s biggest films. Shortly before his death, Robertson completed the
score to Scorsese’s latest release, Killers of the Flower Moon.
Robertson was one of a kind, and he’ll be sorely missed.
This year's mix goes out pretty much the same way it came in, with an excerpt from the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. This track features Cher singing her version of the 1969 song "One Tin Soldier," written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter and originally recorded by the Canadian pop group The Original Caste. It was later recorded by the group Coven for the 1971 Warner Brothers film "Billy Jack." Cher's version begins with her singing an excerpt from the classic carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," followed by Cher singing Coven's version of the song over a
video created by animator John David Wilson:
I remember loving this song as a child, although I recall it took me a few listens to understand its principal message. It's profoundly sad to think that 50 years later we're no closer to world peace than when the song was first released.
Well, that's it, folks. I hope you've enjoyed many of these tracks and that you have a most enjoyable holiday with family and friends!
It's almost time for one of our favorite holiday traditions — the annual Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular, featuring offbeat holiday music expert Andy Cirzan. Andy's been making his annual holiday mixes for even a good bit longer than I have; in fact, it was Andy's work that inspired me to attempt my own pale imitations. Each year in December, Andy's the featured guest on the weekly radio show Sound Opinions to unveil his annual mix and talk about unusual holiday music.
As luck would have it, Andy's latest mix and the corresponding Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular both focus on holiday song-poems, which is also the theme of my latest mix, Christmas Cheer. In fact, the first song featured on the Sound Opinions show is "Snowman," which can also be found on Christmas Cheer. A preview of this year's Spectacular appears below, along with links to hear or download the entire show.
Sound Opinions is a weekly show where people who love music
can come together, make discoveries, debate, learn about pop culture, engage,
have fun and find new ways to further enrich our lives through music.
Whether you're an expert, or just a casual fan, Sound
Opinions is your source for smart and engaging music criticism and
conversation. Each week on the show, nationally respected rock critics Greg Kot
and Jim DeRogatis interview artists, talk about pop culture and music industry
news, review new record releases and give trends a historical context. And,
because on Sound Opinions, "everyone's a critic," listeners are
invited to join in the debate.
Sound Opinions is distributed nationally by PRX. Sound
Opinions can be heard on stations across the country and online at
SoundOpinions.org.
I'm back with the next three songs from this year's mix. The end is now in sight!
Track 32 Snowman, Bob Gerard (1978)
Track 32 is another song-poem called “Snowman,” which was released in 1978
on the Tin Pan Alley label. The song is performed by Bob Gerard, who seems to
be competing with his bass player to see which one could sound the flattest.
The lyrics don’t win any prizes either; in fact, it’s hard to imagine anyone
paying to have these words set to music:
I made a little
snowman,
He was cute as could
be,
I made him by the window,
So he could look at
me.
Next morning when
the sun came,
And he took a little
peek,
I saw the snowman
wink at me,
And tears ran down
his cheeks.
[Instrumental]
[Repeat earlier
verses]
Bye, bye, snowman!
See you again!
Goodbye!
Mercifully, the song lasts for only 93 seconds. That doesn’t sound very
long. But try playing it with your eyes closed while blocking everything else
from your mind. When you’re truly being tortured, a minute and a half can seem like an
eternity.
The
final celebrity holiday greeting on this year’s mix is from Tony
Bennett, who died this year at the age of 96. Providing a complete biography
or even an appropriately detailed appreciation is really beyond the scope of
this blog, but I sure know he was an extremely talented singer
and performer who also seemed like a thoroughly decent man. He was certainly a
prolific recording artist. Bennett released 61 studio albums in his 69-year career,
including at least three Christmas albums:
Snowfall:
The Tony Bennett Christmas Album (1968); Christmas with Tony Bennett
and the London Symphony Orchestra (2002) and A
Swingin’ Christmas (2008). Each of these offers music with Bennett's signature sound, and all three are likely to brighten up any holiday gathering with memories from times gone by.
Track 34 The Day Snowflakes Were Born, The M.S.R. Singers (1978)
This year’s mix contains a number of song-poems, and, as a result, I’ve
had several people ask me about my interest in this particular oeuvre. One
friend asked bluntly, “Aren’t you just trying to make fun of the poor folks who
wrote these awful lyrics?” Actually, that’s not it. Some of the lyrics are
pretty awful, but many of them aren’t bad at all — and most of them offer a
glimpse of real life that commercial releases miss altogether. If I had to
guess, I’d say most song-poem fans are more contemptuous of the companies that
churn out the typically half-baked arrangements than of the poets who put their
souls into the words of each song. Track 24 is one of those rare offerings where
the tune is every bit as appealing as the message. This is a song-poem I truly
love, and while there are elements that are slightly amusing I’ve been
listening to it for years and genuinely enjoy it each time.
This song was originally released in 1978 and achieved considerable
recognition some 20 years later when it was featured in the 2003 documentary “Off
the Charts: The Song Poem Story,” which was broadcast multiple times on
many PBS stations. It was also recorded and frequently played live by the
Boston band The Weisstronauts. There aren't many song-poems that were recorded and or played by other bands, although as Christmas music collector Andy Cirzan has pointed out, another is the classic "Rudolph Pouts," which was recorded by Mary White (the original) and Israfel's Son (the remake). Which version is more enjoyable? Darned if I can say. They're both awesome.
It's been about a week since I've posted information about the tracks of my 19th and latest holiday mix, Christmas Cheer, so I'd say it's high time to get back to the task at hand. Here's a little background on three more of this year's tracks:
Track 23 First Snowfall, The Coctails (1993)
I first heard this pretty little tune on A
John Waters Christmas, a compilation of oddball holiday tunes curated by
the infamous director of such films as Polyester (1981), Pink Flamingos
(1972) and Female Trouble
(1974). I went to college in Baltimore, where Waters is a genuine celebrity,
and listening to his holiday collection made me feel like I was an undergraduate again, roaming
the streets of Fells Point and Waverly.
Kitty's Lounge in Baltimore's Waverly Section
I loved Baltimore in the late 1970s. I'd grown up in a beautiful town called Dover, Massachusetts, about 45 minutes southwest of Boston, It was an idyllic community with thousands of acres of protected woodlands and very few major problems. Baltimore was different in so many ways. There was poverty, crime, racial tensions, decay; but there was also excitement and character. The world just beyond our campus offered the promise of adventure and danger, and I resolved to spend as much time in it as possible. It opened my eyes to what was then a whole new world to me.
Along with two friends, I applied for a cashier position at the local Rite Aid pharmacy. Applicants were required to take a polygraph test as part of the hiring process, which I apparently passed. To my surprise, my two friends didn't, but despite my disappointment and a certain amount of trepidation I took the job. I'm glad I did. I probably learned more in the 20 hours I worked at the Rite Aid each week than I did in class, and I wound up making some very good friends among the local community. In my senior year I became an intern for the area's neighborhood council and wrote my senior paper on the role such groups can play in less affluent urban communities. I learned a great deal, and some of the lessons were painful. I once saw a purse snatching on Greenmount Avenue and chased the thief nearly a dozen blocks to retrieve what he'd taken. The pride I felt returning the elderly victim her purse soured a little when she confessed that all she had in the purse were a few Rite Aid discount coupons and around a dollar in loose change. I also befriended another elderly woman who lived in a pitiful single room and often ran through her monthly income well before the end of the month.
Two of my Rite Aid Coworkers, 1979
“First Snowfall” is probably the tamest song on A
John Waters Christmas — a sweet instrumental number that I’m told
features someone playing a hand saw. The Coctails were a Chicago-based band
that formed when the members were all attending the Kansas City Art Institute.
They were active from around 1988 through the mid ‘90s and regrouped several
times after that for brief reunion shows.
The band consisted of members Archer Prewitt, Mark Greenberg, John
Upchurch, and Barry Phipps. While they were often described as a lounge band —
due, in part, I'm guessing, to their name — The Coctails described themselves as a “garage
jazz” band. They were rather prolific during the seven or eight years they made records, and their music actually included songs of many different styles.
The members were also heavily into the visual arts, and they even created a print shop at one point where they made posters, cards and such to promote the band and create other projects. A Japanese company later marketed a set of four action figures depicting the members of the band, and a book was published featuring the album covers and promotional materials created by the group.
This one's another song-poem, from the album Peace is a Song to Cherish, which featured tunes by two different M.S.R. acts: Bobbi Boyle and the M.S.R. Singers and Dick Kent and The Lancelots. M.S.R. was one of the biggest of the song-poem mills that operated in this country throughout the 1960s. '70s and '80s. The company name comes from the initials of its founder, Maury S. Rosen, and it's been estimated that they produced more than 3000 45s and something like 300 compilation albums before winding down in 1983. Boyle, who sometimes went by the name Bobbi Blake, was one of the group of M.S.R. staff who comprised The Sisterhood, M.S.R.'s go-to group of female Singers.
I first heard this song on one of the terrific Mondo Diablo podcasts from Hellbound Alleee, an atheist and song-poem enthusiast from Wenatchee, Washington, whose real name was Alison Randall. I used to love listening to her podcasts, which covered a wide spectrum of issues and included lots of diverse holiday music each year. The Christmas podcasts in particular were exceptionally well-curated, and it's clear she put a great deal of work into each show. Sadly, Alison died of cancer in 2019. Her husband, Francois Tremblay, has been posting her podcasts on her YouTube channel so they can be more readily accessible. You might want to stop in a take a look around. Start with any of the Christmas shows and you'll probably wind up listening to some of the other ones. Allee was outspoken, genuine and fearless, and she's missed by many, including me.
Like so many of the old song-poems, there isn't an awful lot of information available about "Let Us Be Gay." I don't know who wrote the words that M.S.R. set to music, but I'm sure wherever the lyricist now resides, he/she is pleased to learn that we're listening to her work as the world falls apart around us in 2023.
You can hear "Let Us Be Gay" in the player, below, starting at around 1:09:49. Thanks to WFMU-FM for providing the player and its content, which features a collection of nostalgic and offbeat holiday tunes from Bill Mac's show The Zzzzzero Hour from December 25, 2010. Enjoy!
Track 25 My Christmas Dream, Dian Rosamond (1975)
I can't remember where or when I found this holiday song-poem and the only information I have to offer is that it was released on the Halmark (sometimes spelled "Hallmark") label.
I did discover that there is a woman named Dian Rosamond who apparently wrote a short story titled "Obsession," that looks to me to be rather odd. I have no idea whether there's any connection to the singer of "My Christmas Dream," but who knows?
Here's the song, for your holiday enjoyment:
I recently learned of another Halmark song-poem that marries a different set of lyrics to the same tune and arrangement as "My Christmas Dream." It's called "The Christmas Message" and is credited to Raymond Spence, which is interesting because the vocalist is a female who sounds exactly like the woman singing "My Christmas Dream." I discovered the second of these two songs courtesy of Bob Purse's excellent blog titled The Wonderful and the Obscure. I sure hope they didn't charge full-price to both lyricists for the same tune.
That's all for now. I'll be back with more sometime soon.
Three weeks to go until the Big Day, and I'm back with a little information about the next three tracks from my latest holiday mix, Christmas Cheer:
Track 20 Hanukkah Mambo, The Yule Logs (2012)
This is the fourth song I’ve included in my annual mixes from The Yule
Logs, a band based in Chico, California. Known as the “hardest working band in snow business” and the “greatest
Christmas band of all time,” The Yule Logs have made spirits bright each
holiday season for close to 20 years with their festive brand of original
holiday songs and storied live performances.
Based in Chico, California, the band consists of Kirt Lind, Marty
Parker, Jake Sprecher, and Maurice Spencer. In addition to their traditional
string of live shows during the holiday season, The Yule Logs have released six
albums of mostly original material, all of which is top-quality and lots of fun
to boot.
Unfortunately, late last year the band announced in a social media post
that they were calling it quits:
Hey friends. As you
may have heard, we’ve decided to call it a day as a band. Time marches on, ya
know? Thank you so much for 17 amazing seasons. Take care, and see you around
town.
I’m disappointed because I never did get
to see them perform live, and because I was looking forward to another album or
two. But they leave a rich legacy and they did provide lots of folks with a
great deal of fun and merriment.
I’ve included songs by The Yule Logs on three of my previous mixes.
This one’s the fourth, and it’s also the second Hanukkah tune. I try to include
Hanukkah and Kwanzaa songs in my compilations when I can, although it isn’t
always easy to find strong entries. Fortunately, The Yule Logs have released a
number of great Hanukkah tunes over the years.
I’m posting two mini players, below, featuring two of The Yule Logs
albums — The Yule Logs (2009), which includes “Hanukkah Mambo,” and their most
recent release, Fezziwig (2021). There’s also a link to their Bandcamp site, where, for a limited time, you can purchase all six of their albums for
just $22.50. That would be a deal at twice the price!
Track 21 is another song-poem (surprise!), produced by the Columbine publishing mill and credited to Ms. Lee Scott. This
tune was featured on Columbine’s compilation “The Now Sounds of Today,” which was
released sometime around 1976. The lyrics were penned by Myrtle Moorhouse, who
seems to have been smitten by a handsome man she saw riding a red skidoo. It’s
not a Christmas song per se, but it’s
got a skidoo in it and those require snow and winter weather — so what the heck!
Truth be told, I’d say that Ms. Moorhouse wasn’t thinking so much about
Christmas when she scrawled out these lyrics. We all know what good ol’ Myrtle
had on her mind.
I don’t have much more to offer in the way of background on this
track; about all I can do is point you toward some additional tunes Lee Scott
performed. (WARNING: Most of Ms. Scott’s
other performances fall short of the standard she set with “The Red Skidoo.” If
that doesn’t frighten you, well, you’re made of strong stuff, indeed.) Some of
her material is available through the links listed below. Additional titles
appear HERE.
Columbine apparently offered its customers a little more than just a 45
RPM pressing of their joint efforts. They also produced hundreds of compilation
albums like “The Now Sounds of Today,” most with equally exciting titles. This
was no doubt intended to suggest they were committed to promoting and not
merely creating the various tunes they produced. God knows what they did with
these compilation albums once they rolled off the presses. I can’t believe many
of them were sold or that anyone actually paid much attention to them, but you
can usually find lots of them on sale via eBay “for a song.”
Rosie Perez is a singer, dancer, choreographer and activist who’s
appeared in more than 40 feature films and 70 television shows. A Brooklyn
native of Puerto Rican ancestry, Perez first captured the public’s attention
playing Tina in Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing.” The following year, she started a
four-year run as a dancer and choreographer on the Fox sketch comedy show “In Living Color.” She handled the choreography for a number of
popular music videos by artists including Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, LL Cool J
and Bobby Brown.
Perez was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress
for her work in the 1993 film Fearless, and also starred in “White Men Can’t Jump,” starring Wesley Snipes. She made her
Broadway debut in 2002 in Terrence McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair
de Lune.” In 2014-15 Perez served as panelist and co-host on The View.
Perez is also known for her activism and charitable work, particularly
around Puerto Rican rights, HIV/AIDS prevention and support for the arts. She’s
been a busy and productive woman over the past 30+ years, and yet she still had
the time to pass along her holiday greetings.
That’s all for today. I’ll be back soon with more.
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.
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!
