Yeaaaah, a grainy, B&W video from the Boss!
Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen
Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, this song was first sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934; the song became an instant hit with orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day and more than 400,000 copies sold by Christmas that year. It has become a traditional standard at Christmas time and has been covered by numerous recording artists. In 1970, Rankin-Bass produced an hour-long animated television special based on the song, with narrator Fred Astaire telling the original story of Santa Claus.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band has released two versions of the song, one of which is a popular radio version. Springsteen's live December 12, 1975 performance of the song was first officially released in 1981 and has become one of the most popular versions of this Christmas standard. The track sells pretty well in the USA every November-December and is Springsteen's best selling 1-track download in the USA.
The Crystals' version, from which Springsteen heavily borrows, was originally released on November 22, 1963 on Phil Spector's various artists album, A Christmas Gift For You. Unfortunately, the release date coincided with the assassination of President John F Kennedy and the album did poorly in sales. Original pressing are scarce and collectible, now selling for $400-$500 in excellent condition.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
On the fifth day of Christmas . . .
Time for a campy video, everyone!
Step Into Christmas - Elton John
This is yet another great offering from the Elton John/Bernie Taupin team. Recorded during a quickie session in London, it was originally released as a single in 1973, peaking at #23 in the UK. According to the liner notes about the song, it was mixed to sound like one of producer Phil Spector's records, using lots of compression and imitating his trademark 'wall of sound' technique. This was intentional according to both John and Taupin, a homage of sorts to Christmas songs by Spector-produced groups such as The Ronettes.
Step Into Christmas - Elton John
This is yet another great offering from the Elton John/Bernie Taupin team. Recorded during a quickie session in London, it was originally released as a single in 1973, peaking at #23 in the UK. According to the liner notes about the song, it was mixed to sound like one of producer Phil Spector's records, using lots of compression and imitating his trademark 'wall of sound' technique. This was intentional according to both John and Taupin, a homage of sorts to Christmas songs by Spector-produced groups such as The Ronettes.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
On the fourth day of Christmas . . .
What list of contemporary Christmas songs would be complete without the inclusion of this classic?
Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a lot of time in the late 60's and early 70's working to promote peace. In 1969, they put up billboards in major cities around the world that said, 'War is over! (If you want it)'. Two years later, this slogan became the basis for this song when Lennon decided to make a Christmas record with an anti-war message. John and Yoko wrote this in their New York City hotel room and recorded it during the evening of October 28 and into the morning of the 29th, 1971. It was released in the US for Christmas, but didn't chart. The next year, it was released in the UK, where it did much better.
The children's voices are the Harlem Community Choir, who were brought in to sing on this track. They are credited on the single, along with Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band.
At the beginning of the song, two whispers can be heard ... Yoko whispers, 'Happy Christmas, Kyoko' (Kyoko Chan Cox is Yoko's daughter with Anthony Cox) and John whispers, 'Happy Christmas, Julian' (Julian Lennon, John's son with Cynthia Lennon).
Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a lot of time in the late 60's and early 70's working to promote peace. In 1969, they put up billboards in major cities around the world that said, 'War is over! (If you want it)'. Two years later, this slogan became the basis for this song when Lennon decided to make a Christmas record with an anti-war message. John and Yoko wrote this in their New York City hotel room and recorded it during the evening of October 28 and into the morning of the 29th, 1971. It was released in the US for Christmas, but didn't chart. The next year, it was released in the UK, where it did much better.
The children's voices are the Harlem Community Choir, who were brought in to sing on this track. They are credited on the single, along with Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band.
At the beginning of the song, two whispers can be heard ... Yoko whispers, 'Happy Christmas, Kyoko' (Kyoko Chan Cox is Yoko's daughter with Anthony Cox) and John whispers, 'Happy Christmas, Julian' (Julian Lennon, John's son with Cynthia Lennon).
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
On the third day of Christmas . . .
This one is for Julia - because we spent a hilarious day together in Granby, because she made her Didi smile when he was so very sad, because we heard this song while in the car and mostly, because although she laughs at my 'old music', she still knew the words to the song!
Last Christmas - Wham!
Wow. This song generates hype, both good and bad, even after all this time. Written by George Michael (half of Wham!) and released in 1984, it lost out 1st place to Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? (see my first post in this series of two days back). Since then, it keeps making holiday appearances on various countries' singles charts, often making it into the single digits. This year, it has been voted the most annoying Christmas song in a poll in Bulgaria, beating Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas is You'. Go figure. Mariah Carey not being voted most annoying anything. Will wonders never cease!
The video to 'Last Christmas' saw George and Andrew Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at their home in some unspecified ski resort. The cable-car that can be seen in two shots is from Saas-Fée, Switzerland. It was clear early on that Andrew's girlfriend had previously been in a relationship with George, and it was to her character that the song was aimed.
Due to perceived similarities between 'Last Christmas' and the song 'Can't Smile Without You' as popularized by Barry Manilow, an out-of-court settlement was reached in which the first year's royalties were donated to the one-year-old Band Aid Charity.
Last Christmas - Wham!
Wow. This song generates hype, both good and bad, even after all this time. Written by George Michael (half of Wham!) and released in 1984, it lost out 1st place to Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? (see my first post in this series of two days back). Since then, it keeps making holiday appearances on various countries' singles charts, often making it into the single digits. This year, it has been voted the most annoying Christmas song in a poll in Bulgaria, beating Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas is You'. Go figure. Mariah Carey not being voted most annoying anything. Will wonders never cease!
The video to 'Last Christmas' saw George and Andrew Ridgeley accompanying girlfriends to see friends at their home in some unspecified ski resort. The cable-car that can be seen in two shots is from Saas-Fée, Switzerland. It was clear early on that Andrew's girlfriend had previously been in a relationship with George, and it was to her character that the song was aimed.
Due to perceived similarities between 'Last Christmas' and the song 'Can't Smile Without You' as popularized by Barry Manilow, an out-of-court settlement was reached in which the first year's royalties were donated to the one-year-old Band Aid Charity.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
On the second day of Christmas . . .
Ok, so I'll admit that I find the video kinda creepy and not at all
Christmas-y ... but this song ROCKS!
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
As Phil Spector pieced together his A Christmas Gift To You festive album in 1963, his initial intention was to have the Ronettes voice the one custom-written number on display, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Spector’ superlative ”Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. According to Darlene Love, however, Ronnie Spector was never able to channel all the emotion and strength into the song that her producer (and beau) required, so Love was brought forward instead, to turn in what all the watching musicians expected would become a supercharged powerhouse performance.
They were right, of course, and the Ronettes’ failure did the rest of the world a major favor. Though it would pass unnoticed upon its original release in 1963, Love’s so-heartfelt version of the positively shimmering “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” has since become one of the quintessential festive pop hits, an evergreen that still dominates the radio for a few weeks every year, while Love herself recalls that pianist Leon Russell, too, excelled at that session. He threw one line into the mix that so thrilled Spector that he leaped out of the control room and handed the stunned Russell a check for $100 on the spot.
The song was not widely recognized after its initial release; however, it has since been covered many times by different artists over the years. The first cover was recorded by Quiet Jungle in 1968 for The Story Of Snoopy's Christmas LP. The second and most widely known was recorded by U2 in July 1987 during a sound check at a stop during their Joshua Tree Tour in Glasgow, Scotland. Darlene Love provided backing vocals for U2, and the song was eventually released on the A Very Special Christmas compilation album in 1987, and later on the Unreleased & Rare album on 'The Complete U2' digital box set in 2004. Bruce Springsteen covered the song at many of his Christmas shows in New Jersey, however none of the concerts have officially been released.
The song was also used during the main titles for the film Gremlins. It also appears in a memorable scene in the film GoodFellas, when some of the members of the crew foolishly spend money from the Lufthansa Heist on lavish items, thereby drawing unwanted attention.
Christmas-y ... but this song ROCKS!
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
As Phil Spector pieced together his A Christmas Gift To You festive album in 1963, his initial intention was to have the Ronettes voice the one custom-written number on display, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Spector’ superlative ”Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. According to Darlene Love, however, Ronnie Spector was never able to channel all the emotion and strength into the song that her producer (and beau) required, so Love was brought forward instead, to turn in what all the watching musicians expected would become a supercharged powerhouse performance.
They were right, of course, and the Ronettes’ failure did the rest of the world a major favor. Though it would pass unnoticed upon its original release in 1963, Love’s so-heartfelt version of the positively shimmering “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” has since become one of the quintessential festive pop hits, an evergreen that still dominates the radio for a few weeks every year, while Love herself recalls that pianist Leon Russell, too, excelled at that session. He threw one line into the mix that so thrilled Spector that he leaped out of the control room and handed the stunned Russell a check for $100 on the spot.
The song was not widely recognized after its initial release; however, it has since been covered many times by different artists over the years. The first cover was recorded by Quiet Jungle in 1968 for The Story Of Snoopy's Christmas LP. The second and most widely known was recorded by U2 in July 1987 during a sound check at a stop during their Joshua Tree Tour in Glasgow, Scotland. Darlene Love provided backing vocals for U2, and the song was eventually released on the A Very Special Christmas compilation album in 1987, and later on the Unreleased & Rare album on 'The Complete U2' digital box set in 2004. Bruce Springsteen covered the song at many of his Christmas shows in New Jersey, however none of the concerts have officially been released.
The song was also used during the main titles for the film Gremlins. It also appears in a memorable scene in the film GoodFellas, when some of the members of the crew foolishly spend money from the Lufthansa Heist on lavish items, thereby drawing unwanted attention.
Monday, December 13, 2010
On the first day of Christmas . . .
Today marks both my return (yeah, yeah - I've been busy!) and the beginning of the 12 Days of Christmas. As in a previous lifetime and in a previous blog, I've chosen to mark them with my favorite Christmas carols. No, not the Jingle Bells variety (which, incidentally, isn't even a real Christmas carol but more an all-around winter time song), but more like the modern(er) day, less chestnut-y type carols. Yeah ... like the ones they play on CHOM ...
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid (follow the link for the video ...)
Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'. The recording studio gave Band Aid no more than 24 free hours to record and mix the record, on November 25, 1984. The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British Government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made the headlines by publicly standing up to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing the strength of public feeling, the government backed down and donated the tax back to the charity. The record was released on November 29, 1984, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together and surpassing all expectations. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK, thus beating the nine-year record held by Bohemian Rhapsody. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind 1997' (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid (follow the link for the video ...)
Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'. The recording studio gave Band Aid no more than 24 free hours to record and mix the record, on November 25, 1984. The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British Government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made the headlines by publicly standing up to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing the strength of public feeling, the government backed down and donated the tax back to the charity. The record was released on November 29, 1984, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together and surpassing all expectations. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK, thus beating the nine-year record held by Bohemian Rhapsody. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind 1997' (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)