And the final three. Enjoy.
Song #3: Stevie Wonder - What Christmas Means to Me
Song #2: Elton John - Step Into Christmas
Song #1: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Santa Claus is Coming To Town
No video, unfortunately. But this has been one of my favorite Christmas songs since I was a little kid. You can find plenty of other versions on YouTube.
Thanks for checking out the lists over the past month. I hope you enjoyed reading them, I sure enjoyed writing them.
Merry Christmas.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Songs 7 - 4
Since it is Christmas Eve, it is time to unveil the final seven on the list.
I'll save the talk and just let you enjoy these seven great songs over the next two days.
Song #7: The Drifters - White Christmas
Song #6: Bing Crosby - I'll Be Home for Christmas
Song #5: Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Song #4: Otis Redding - White Christmas
I'll save the talk and just let you enjoy these seven great songs over the next two days.
Song #7: The Drifters - White Christmas
Song #6: Bing Crosby - I'll Be Home for Christmas
Song #5: Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song
Song #4: Otis Redding - White Christmas
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Movies 6 - 1
No time to waste, Christmas is getting close. This edition is going to be shorter than most.
Movie #6: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Leave it to Tim Burton to make one of the most original Christmas movies out there. Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, and the ghost dog Zero are all great characters. The combination of Halloween and Christmas traditions works great. Remember Jack's first encounter with Christmas town?
This is an absolute holiday must-see, and it bothers me that it has been a few years since I have watched it.
Movie #5: Die Hard
Movie #4: Home Alone
Movie #3: It's A Wonderful Life
Movie #2: A Christmas Story
One thing I do have one lasting memory of the movie:
Movie #1: Christmas Vacation
Could it have been anything else?
Christmas Vacation is hands down my favorite Christmas movie, and probably the funniest of the bunch. It was tough to come up with most of these rankings, but I knew from the very beginning that this would be first. I didn't come across one movie that changed my mind.
--
Stay tuned tomorrow for the last installment of songs.
Movie #6: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Leave it to Tim Burton to make one of the most original Christmas movies out there. Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, and the ghost dog Zero are all great characters. The combination of Halloween and Christmas traditions works great. Remember Jack's first encounter with Christmas town?
This is an absolute holiday must-see, and it bothers me that it has been a few years since I have watched it.
Movie #5: Die Hard
Not only is this one of the best Christmas movies ever made, it is arguably the best action movie ever made. Set in a nearly empty office building on Christmas Eve--save for the Christmas party on the top floor--John McClane has to save his ex-wife and a building full of her co-workers from villain, Hans Gruber. Alan Rickman puts together a flawless performance and Gruber who is every bit the equal of Bruce Willis as McClane.
Movie #4: Home Alone
The movie that made me wish my parents would forget me on their next vacation, and also the launching point that sent Macauley Culkin down the very dark and dangerous path known as child stardom, Home Alone is still wildly entertaining to this day. For as screwed up as he would become later in life Culkin was great as Kevin McCallister, the foil for the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern). The movie is hilarious, touching, and has aged incredibly well.
Movie #3: It's A Wonderful Life
This one is an old sentimental favorite of mine. It's a Wonderful Life has been somewhat of a Christmas tradition for me for many years. It is a sweet story and Jimmy Stewart is one of the few actors who could pull off the wide swing of emotions that George Bailey goes through during the course of the film.
The ending of this movie might be so well known now as to be cliched, but after watching the whole movie, it still brings a tear to your eye to see George running down the street, kissing his family, then getting all that help from the rest of the town. Some movies never go out of style.
Movie #2: A Christmas Story
It has been a few years since I have watched the whole movie (the wonders of cable television mean that I only end up watching the last 45 minutes of almost every movie I see these days) but there is little doubt that this movie deserves such a high spot on this list.
One thing I do have one lasting memory of the movie:
Movie #1: Christmas Vacation
Could it have been anything else?
Christmas Vacation is hands down my favorite Christmas movie, and probably the funniest of the bunch. It was tough to come up with most of these rankings, but I knew from the very beginning that this would be first. I didn't come across one movie that changed my mind.
--
Stay tuned tomorrow for the last installment of songs.
TV Specials 2 - 1
Only a few days left until Christmas, so these lists will be wrapping up over the next couple of days.
TV Special #2: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Few TV specials have become the cultural phenomenon that the cartoon adaptation of Dr/ Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas has over the last forty-four years. Suess first wrote the story of the Grinch in 1957, and nine years later it was adapted into an animated special.
From there, How the Grinch Stole Christmas has become one of the most recognizable Christmas stories, it has spawned numerous parodies and remakes, all while the word Grinch has overtaken scrooge as the ubiquitous term for someone who isn't in the Christmas spirit.
On top of all that there aren't many people out there who couldn't sing along to at least a few lines of You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch.
TV Special #1: A Charlie Brown Christmas
It amazes me sometimes just how popular Charlie Brown comics and TV specials are with children. There are such distinctly dark undertones to most of Schulz's work that it seems like it would drive some away. Where as most childrens comics rely on over the top humor and ridiculous situations, the universe of Charlie Brown is always mostly grounded in reality. What else would you expect a Charlie Brown Christmas special to focus on if not commercialism and pulling off a children's nativity reenactment. Along the way there are plenty of laughs, be it jokes told by the perfectly cast child voice actors, or slapstick bits of physical comedy, but the laughs only serve to keep the mood light enough to focus on the real task at hand.
The dark mood of this special works--with the help of a few well-timed laughs--for the very reason that most of us probably feel the same way from time to time. Christmas is a time of year that is supposed to have a lot of meaning, but that ultimately gets lost in all the little things we get caught up in. Sure, the season is about family and love (and if you are Christian, about Christ) but standing behind thirty people in line at Best Buy or traveling home at one of the busiest times of the year can obscure that.
Charlie Brown understands how you are feeling. He spends the whole special searching for something real on Christmas and coming up with nothing. His dog wants to win money from a house decorating contest, his friends want to dance and play around rather than focus on the Christmas pageant, the one real, live Christmas tree he picks isn't flashy enough, and nobody takes the time to send him a Christmas card. Things aren't good for Charlie Brown, but they rarely are. All he can do is sigh and make the most of the situation.
Just when things look there darkest, when everyone has seemingly given up on Charlie Brown, Linus recites a gospel verse that puts everything back in perspective.
TV Special #2: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Few TV specials have become the cultural phenomenon that the cartoon adaptation of Dr/ Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas has over the last forty-four years. Suess first wrote the story of the Grinch in 1957, and nine years later it was adapted into an animated special.
From there, How the Grinch Stole Christmas has become one of the most recognizable Christmas stories, it has spawned numerous parodies and remakes, all while the word Grinch has overtaken scrooge as the ubiquitous term for someone who isn't in the Christmas spirit.
On top of all that there aren't many people out there who couldn't sing along to at least a few lines of You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch.
TV Special #1: A Charlie Brown Christmas
It amazes me sometimes just how popular Charlie Brown comics and TV specials are with children. There are such distinctly dark undertones to most of Schulz's work that it seems like it would drive some away. Where as most childrens comics rely on over the top humor and ridiculous situations, the universe of Charlie Brown is always mostly grounded in reality. What else would you expect a Charlie Brown Christmas special to focus on if not commercialism and pulling off a children's nativity reenactment. Along the way there are plenty of laughs, be it jokes told by the perfectly cast child voice actors, or slapstick bits of physical comedy, but the laughs only serve to keep the mood light enough to focus on the real task at hand.
The dark mood of this special works--with the help of a few well-timed laughs--for the very reason that most of us probably feel the same way from time to time. Christmas is a time of year that is supposed to have a lot of meaning, but that ultimately gets lost in all the little things we get caught up in. Sure, the season is about family and love (and if you are Christian, about Christ) but standing behind thirty people in line at Best Buy or traveling home at one of the busiest times of the year can obscure that.
Charlie Brown understands how you are feeling. He spends the whole special searching for something real on Christmas and coming up with nothing. His dog wants to win money from a house decorating contest, his friends want to dance and play around rather than focus on the Christmas pageant, the one real, live Christmas tree he picks isn't flashy enough, and nobody takes the time to send him a Christmas card. Things aren't good for Charlie Brown, but they rarely are. All he can do is sigh and make the most of the situation.
Just when things look there darkest, when everyone has seemingly given up on Charlie Brown, Linus recites a gospel verse that puts everything back in perspective.
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men."With that, Charlie Brown picks up his sad little tree and goes home to celebrate away from all the bad influences of the season. What he gets instead is the true spirit of Christmas. His friends all realize they have been too hard on him, they follow him, and decorate his abandoned tree. When he comes outside to see what all the commotion is, all of his friends are waiting for him.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Songs 16 - 8
More snow in the south. I woke last week to two inches of snow on the ground with more still falling. The snow eventually gave way to rain later in the afternoon (making me thankful I don't have to drive anywhere tonight. Everything was slush when I went out for groceries earlier in the day). From what I heard most of the schools were closed and everyone stayed off the roads. Contrast this to Michigan where this much snow doesn't even change people's driving habits.
I saw one kid going door to door offering to shovel snow. He had a garden hoe. Obviously these people are completely confused by winter weather.
Since I fell behind late last week, Today's is a jam packed edition of the nice list. Trying my best to catch up.
Song #16: Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
Rap is one of those genres of music that doesn't often delve into the Christmas tradition. Outside of Snoop Dogg's take on The Night Before Christmas and De La Soul's excellent Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa (which could have easily made this list had I considered it) I really can't think of too much Christmas inspired rap.
Thankfully the boys from Run DMC did their part and came out with a superb Christmas infused hip-hop song. Sampling heavily from a song that was already featured on this list (Clarence Carter's Backdoor Santa) as well as Christmas staples such as Frosty and Jingle Bells, Run DMC throw together an excellent and soulful back beat just dripping with jingle bells and chimes. This song perfectly exemplifies the beauty of the Christmas tradition as an inspiration for popular music. If you use just enough Christmas imagery and a few traditional elements properly, you can produce some truly inspired and original Christmas music.
Song #15: John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War is Over)
This is my father's favorite Christmas song, and it is a great one to choose for that honor. Lennon's Christmas classic throws out most of the traditional imagery we associate with the holiday season and instead focuses on the idea behind the season. Making things better for those around us.
Of course this isn't a surprising twist from a man who sang Imagine and spent two weeks in bed for peace (Maybe I should dedicate all the time I spend on the couch to a higher calling). Lennon knows how to write a pop song, and his use of a children's choir is spot on. This song may not delve as deep into the kinds of Christmas tropes we are used to, but it is a poignant and touching reminder of the deeper meaning of Christmas.
Song #14: Jackson 5 - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
While John Mellencamp did an admirable version of this song that rocks just as well as any Christmas song out there, the definitive version remains the Jackson Five recording. Michael Jackson may have been a lot of things, but first and foremost he was an entertainer, and his ability to elevate a song shines through on this recording. The RnB arrangement suits the song perfectly, and Michael's youthful vocals and spoken arguments with his brothers toward the end of the track fit perfectly with the childlike tone of the song.
Song #13: Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Please Christmas Don't Be Late)
When it comes to slightly gimmicky Christmas songs, The Chipmunk Song has to take the cake. It is a great mix of childish Christmas concerns, humor, and of course non-traditional vocals. Where songs like Hippopotamus and Gettin Nuttin for Christmas are sung by actual children, The Chipmunk Song uses the time honored tradition of speeding up a vocal track. When I was young, well before I developed a real interest in vinyl records, I used to play them and speed the 33's up to 45 speed and laugh like an idiot--you know what they say about simple minds. The Chipmunks may be campy and childish, but if this song is good enough to lead off the movie Almost Famous, it is good enough for this countdown.
Song #12: Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You
I'll be honest, I am a sucker for pop music, and that extends to this particular Mariah Carey track as well. Some songs just call for bombast and showmanship, and nobody delivers that quite as well as Carey, the woman who never met a vocal run she couldn't make, a note she couldn't hit or a lull that she couldn't embellish with probably another vocal run. While less is often more, Carey proves on this one that more can sometimes be just right. The bass pulsates underneath, driving the song along with the rattle of jingle bells and one of the strangest piano tracks I have ever heard (literally jamming on the same note over and over again for two bars at a time).
Carey's tendency to get too into herself and her talent may hurt her in some cases (cough, her acting career), but in this song she is right at home, and there might not be another female vocalist out there who could have done more with less.
Song #11: Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
I suppose in the grand scheme of things, this song should have been right next to Lennon's Happy Christmas. The two songs perfectly illustrate the differences between the dueling creative forces of The Beatles. Lennon's Christmas song is rock and roll with a heart. McCartney's Christmas song is pop flare. Both remain geniuses as song writers, but as a fan of both the Beatles and each artist's solo career, it still feels weird to separate the two.
Song #10: Charles Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas
Yet another song that can't help but show up on this list twice, Please Come Home for Christmas is the kind of blues meets Christmas standard that keep holiday music from swinging too far in the direction of sappy pop and blatant commercialism. Where the Eagles play their version of this song with more rock and roll swagger, Brown does with straight blues--something he does very, very well. It isn't the kind of song you are likely to hear at the mall or on the radio much around the holidays, but it's the kind of song you might hang around the store a few extra minutes to finish if you did.
Song #9: Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
There isn't much to say about this song and it's place in the top ten that isn't readily apparent from just one listen. Sinatra, ever the showman, hits every note impeccably and wrings every bit of emotion that he can from this old holiday standard. Of all the versions of this song that have been recorded, this might be the most widely known, and for good reason. It is almost certainly the best.
Song #8: James Brown - Merry Christmas, Baby
Sometimes an artist and song come together so perfectly that it is a wonder they weren't made for each other. When it comes to the old R&B Christmas standard Merry Christmas, Baby, absolutely nobody does it quite as well as the Godfather of soul himself.
Brown is somewhat uncharacteristically reserved for most of this track. His voice is soft with an almost whisper-like quality. For a man who made his living pushing his voice to the absolute limits, Brown shows just how adaptable a singer he is, squeezing as much energy and passion out of these words as he can. By the end of the song he finally breaks out a few yells for added impact, and they fit perfectly with the music that has built up for three minutes. All of this is backed by an impeccable score utilizing horns, strings, and a beautiful electric guitar over top of a simple blues rhythm section to provide a slowly building R&B track. Part of the reason Brown's vocals are so effective is the way he plays them off of the music. The horns pack a punch and the strings build the tension allowing Browns voice to float underneath until the end of the song.
All in all this is one of the best examples of an artist taking a song and making it his own. Brown sings it like no one else and provides one of the best R&B Christmas songs ever recorded.
I saw one kid going door to door offering to shovel snow. He had a garden hoe. Obviously these people are completely confused by winter weather.
Since I fell behind late last week, Today's is a jam packed edition of the nice list. Trying my best to catch up.
Song #16: Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
Rap is one of those genres of music that doesn't often delve into the Christmas tradition. Outside of Snoop Dogg's take on The Night Before Christmas and De La Soul's excellent Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa (which could have easily made this list had I considered it) I really can't think of too much Christmas inspired rap.
Thankfully the boys from Run DMC did their part and came out with a superb Christmas infused hip-hop song. Sampling heavily from a song that was already featured on this list (Clarence Carter's Backdoor Santa) as well as Christmas staples such as Frosty and Jingle Bells, Run DMC throw together an excellent and soulful back beat just dripping with jingle bells and chimes. This song perfectly exemplifies the beauty of the Christmas tradition as an inspiration for popular music. If you use just enough Christmas imagery and a few traditional elements properly, you can produce some truly inspired and original Christmas music.
Song #15: John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War is Over)
This is my father's favorite Christmas song, and it is a great one to choose for that honor. Lennon's Christmas classic throws out most of the traditional imagery we associate with the holiday season and instead focuses on the idea behind the season. Making things better for those around us.
Of course this isn't a surprising twist from a man who sang Imagine and spent two weeks in bed for peace (Maybe I should dedicate all the time I spend on the couch to a higher calling). Lennon knows how to write a pop song, and his use of a children's choir is spot on. This song may not delve as deep into the kinds of Christmas tropes we are used to, but it is a poignant and touching reminder of the deeper meaning of Christmas.
Song #14: Jackson 5 - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
While John Mellencamp did an admirable version of this song that rocks just as well as any Christmas song out there, the definitive version remains the Jackson Five recording. Michael Jackson may have been a lot of things, but first and foremost he was an entertainer, and his ability to elevate a song shines through on this recording. The RnB arrangement suits the song perfectly, and Michael's youthful vocals and spoken arguments with his brothers toward the end of the track fit perfectly with the childlike tone of the song.
Song #13: Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Please Christmas Don't Be Late)
When it comes to slightly gimmicky Christmas songs, The Chipmunk Song has to take the cake. It is a great mix of childish Christmas concerns, humor, and of course non-traditional vocals. Where songs like Hippopotamus and Gettin Nuttin for Christmas are sung by actual children, The Chipmunk Song uses the time honored tradition of speeding up a vocal track. When I was young, well before I developed a real interest in vinyl records, I used to play them and speed the 33's up to 45 speed and laugh like an idiot--you know what they say about simple minds. The Chipmunks may be campy and childish, but if this song is good enough to lead off the movie Almost Famous, it is good enough for this countdown.
Song #12: Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You
I'll be honest, I am a sucker for pop music, and that extends to this particular Mariah Carey track as well. Some songs just call for bombast and showmanship, and nobody delivers that quite as well as Carey, the woman who never met a vocal run she couldn't make, a note she couldn't hit or a lull that she couldn't embellish with probably another vocal run. While less is often more, Carey proves on this one that more can sometimes be just right. The bass pulsates underneath, driving the song along with the rattle of jingle bells and one of the strangest piano tracks I have ever heard (literally jamming on the same note over and over again for two bars at a time).
Carey's tendency to get too into herself and her talent may hurt her in some cases (cough, her acting career), but in this song she is right at home, and there might not be another female vocalist out there who could have done more with less.
Song #11: Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
I suppose in the grand scheme of things, this song should have been right next to Lennon's Happy Christmas. The two songs perfectly illustrate the differences between the dueling creative forces of The Beatles. Lennon's Christmas song is rock and roll with a heart. McCartney's Christmas song is pop flare. Both remain geniuses as song writers, but as a fan of both the Beatles and each artist's solo career, it still feels weird to separate the two.
Song #10: Charles Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas
Yet another song that can't help but show up on this list twice, Please Come Home for Christmas is the kind of blues meets Christmas standard that keep holiday music from swinging too far in the direction of sappy pop and blatant commercialism. Where the Eagles play their version of this song with more rock and roll swagger, Brown does with straight blues--something he does very, very well. It isn't the kind of song you are likely to hear at the mall or on the radio much around the holidays, but it's the kind of song you might hang around the store a few extra minutes to finish if you did.
Song #9: Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
There isn't much to say about this song and it's place in the top ten that isn't readily apparent from just one listen. Sinatra, ever the showman, hits every note impeccably and wrings every bit of emotion that he can from this old holiday standard. Of all the versions of this song that have been recorded, this might be the most widely known, and for good reason. It is almost certainly the best.
Song #8: James Brown - Merry Christmas, Baby
Sometimes an artist and song come together so perfectly that it is a wonder they weren't made for each other. When it comes to the old R&B Christmas standard Merry Christmas, Baby, absolutely nobody does it quite as well as the Godfather of soul himself.
Brown is somewhat uncharacteristically reserved for most of this track. His voice is soft with an almost whisper-like quality. For a man who made his living pushing his voice to the absolute limits, Brown shows just how adaptable a singer he is, squeezing as much energy and passion out of these words as he can. By the end of the song he finally breaks out a few yells for added impact, and they fit perfectly with the music that has built up for three minutes. All of this is backed by an impeccable score utilizing horns, strings, and a beautiful electric guitar over top of a simple blues rhythm section to provide a slowly building R&B track. Part of the reason Brown's vocals are so effective is the way he plays them off of the music. The horns pack a punch and the strings build the tension allowing Browns voice to float underneath until the end of the song.
All in all this is one of the best examples of an artist taking a song and making it his own. Brown sings it like no one else and provides one of the best R&B Christmas songs ever recorded.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
TV Specials 4 - 3
Let's get right down to business.
TV Special #4: A Garfield Christmas
This one ties Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas as the youngest of the Christmas special offerings on this list, which should go a long way toward confirming that I am in my mid twenties and uninterested in anything that came out in the last 15 years (Maybe there are good Christmas specials that came out in the last 15 years, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without).
I can't even explain how much I enjoy A Garfield Christmas. Garfield and Odie, Jon and Doc Boy (don't call me Doc Boy), Grandma. The songs are plentiful and absolutely perfect. From the very beginning this special is great. Remember Garfield's dream sequence of the perfect Christmas, followed by the Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme song?
"No time for small talk Garfield, it's Christmas morning, and you know what that means."
"Of course I do, Christmas means presents. Lots and lots of presents."
After Can't Wait Til Christmas, the family sits down for dinner. Next comes the trimming of the tree. Garfield is tasked with putting the star on the top of the tree. If this were anything but a cartoon disaster would follow. Cats and Christmas trees do not mix--as we found out once when allowing my parents to cat sit our house's cat while we went to Chicago for New Years.
After singing songs and reading the boy's favorite Christmas story, we get one of my favorite moments of the special: when Odie goes out to the barn to put together Garfield's present as Lou Rawl's You Can Never Find an Elf when you Need One, plays in the background.
I won't spoil the rest--in the hopes that you will watch the rest of the special for yourself. Here is part three. Enjoy.
TV Special #3: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The sixty minute Rankin/Bass Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer just happens to be the oldest special on the list, but it certainly hasn't gone out of style over the last forty-six years. It is currently the longest running Christmas special on TV, and its popularity is evident in just how well everyone knows the story, from the Abominable Snow Monster, to Yukon Cornelius, to the Island of Misfit Toys.
Instead of writing extensively about this special, I am just going to embed the whole thing from YouTube--mostly so I can watch it myself.
(Unfortunately, the person who uploaded these to YouTube left off the last couple minutes.)
TV Special #4: A Garfield Christmas
This one ties Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas as the youngest of the Christmas special offerings on this list, which should go a long way toward confirming that I am in my mid twenties and uninterested in anything that came out in the last 15 years (Maybe there are good Christmas specials that came out in the last 15 years, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without).
I can't even explain how much I enjoy A Garfield Christmas. Garfield and Odie, Jon and Doc Boy (don't call me Doc Boy), Grandma. The songs are plentiful and absolutely perfect. From the very beginning this special is great. Remember Garfield's dream sequence of the perfect Christmas, followed by the Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme song?
"No time for small talk Garfield, it's Christmas morning, and you know what that means."
"Of course I do, Christmas means presents. Lots and lots of presents."
After Can't Wait Til Christmas, the family sits down for dinner. Next comes the trimming of the tree. Garfield is tasked with putting the star on the top of the tree. If this were anything but a cartoon disaster would follow. Cats and Christmas trees do not mix--as we found out once when allowing my parents to cat sit our house's cat while we went to Chicago for New Years.
After singing songs and reading the boy's favorite Christmas story, we get one of my favorite moments of the special: when Odie goes out to the barn to put together Garfield's present as Lou Rawl's You Can Never Find an Elf when you Need One, plays in the background.
I won't spoil the rest--in the hopes that you will watch the rest of the special for yourself. Here is part three. Enjoy.
TV Special #3: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The sixty minute Rankin/Bass Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer just happens to be the oldest special on the list, but it certainly hasn't gone out of style over the last forty-six years. It is currently the longest running Christmas special on TV, and its popularity is evident in just how well everyone knows the story, from the Abominable Snow Monster, to Yukon Cornelius, to the Island of Misfit Toys.
Instead of writing extensively about this special, I am just going to embed the whole thing from YouTube--mostly so I can watch it myself.
(Unfortunately, the person who uploaded these to YouTube left off the last couple minutes.)
Songs 20 - 17
Apparently I haven't moved far enough south. Yesterday morning I awoke to an inch of snow on the ground. By the time I went out to do my Christmas shopping later in the afternoon the roads were clear but the ground was still covered in a thin blanket of white. At that time there really wasn't anything to tell me I wasn't in Michigan still.
Song #20: Andy Williams - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
This is another song that just oozes the holiday spirit. The kind of song you expect to be playing over the PA system at the mall as you rush through crowds of people a few days before Christmas trying to finish up your holiday shopping.
It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but at the same time you can't help but read a little sarcasm into the titular lyrics. There are many great things about Christmas: being together with family, giving and receiving gifts, big meals, booze, but at the same time the level of stress goes through the roof. Weather, shopping lists, and long lines everywhere you go contribute to the overwhelming feeling of stress and anger that accompanies the holidays. For all the great things about the holiday season, the journey to that perfect Christmas day is a perilous one. Just think of all the preparation involved with the great things Williams sings about: parties, caroling, visiting friends and family. It's enough to give anyone a panic attack.
Song #19: Bing Crosby - White Christmas
This is another one of those songs that had to appear on this list more than once. Bing Crosby's version is an absolute classic, and perhaps the best known version of White Christmas, but years later two other versions would come out that are both in the top ten of this countdown. Until we get there, enjoy Bing, he doesn't do too bad with this song himself.
Song #18: Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Rock and roll artists have been trying their hands at Christmas tunes almost as long as rock and roll has been around, but few have done it better than Brenda Lee's awesome version of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Released in 1958, this song has stood the test of time and remained in heavy rotation.
The song swings along like any 50's rock tune, and even features a saxophone solo in the middle. Lee's vocal performance is perfect, distinctive yet in tune with the music. The song works even better if played right after the next song on the countdown.
Song #17: Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
Released one year before Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Bobby Helm's Christmas classic holds much the same place in Christmas music culture. Another great example of a genre of music using Christmas imagery and tradition to inspire an original piece of music.
Song #20: Andy Williams - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
This is another song that just oozes the holiday spirit. The kind of song you expect to be playing over the PA system at the mall as you rush through crowds of people a few days before Christmas trying to finish up your holiday shopping.
It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but at the same time you can't help but read a little sarcasm into the titular lyrics. There are many great things about Christmas: being together with family, giving and receiving gifts, big meals, booze, but at the same time the level of stress goes through the roof. Weather, shopping lists, and long lines everywhere you go contribute to the overwhelming feeling of stress and anger that accompanies the holidays. For all the great things about the holiday season, the journey to that perfect Christmas day is a perilous one. Just think of all the preparation involved with the great things Williams sings about: parties, caroling, visiting friends and family. It's enough to give anyone a panic attack.
Song #19: Bing Crosby - White Christmas
This is another one of those songs that had to appear on this list more than once. Bing Crosby's version is an absolute classic, and perhaps the best known version of White Christmas, but years later two other versions would come out that are both in the top ten of this countdown. Until we get there, enjoy Bing, he doesn't do too bad with this song himself.
Song #18: Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Rock and roll artists have been trying their hands at Christmas tunes almost as long as rock and roll has been around, but few have done it better than Brenda Lee's awesome version of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Released in 1958, this song has stood the test of time and remained in heavy rotation.
The song swings along like any 50's rock tune, and even features a saxophone solo in the middle. Lee's vocal performance is perfect, distinctive yet in tune with the music. The song works even better if played right after the next song on the countdown.
Song #17: Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
Released one year before Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Bobby Helm's Christmas classic holds much the same place in Christmas music culture. Another great example of a genre of music using Christmas imagery and tradition to inspire an original piece of music.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Songs 25 - 21
I may be late with this entry--two days late in fact--but from the weather reports back home I couldn't have timed things better. From what I have heard the midwest got buried overnight. Nothing like half a foot of snow to put everyone in a holiday mood.
Song #25: Bing Crosby - It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas
While the ground is still a sea of slowly dying grass and dry asphalt down here in Virgina, mother nature has taken the time to bless the midwest with the look of the holidays. Of course that means driving has now become perilous and old men across the region are exacerbating their heart conditions while hunched over a snow shovel in the driveway.
Regardless of how much a healthy heaping of snow inconveniences most of us around the holiday season, it still brings out a bit of sentimentality in all of us. So too does Crosby's It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas. There might not be a vocalist better suited for this song than Crosby with his distinctive baritone. The song begins with a quick nod to Jingle Bells before the orchestra brings the tempo down and Crosby works his way through the lyrics of songwriter Meredith Willson about some of the sights we most associate with the holiday season. The song closes with a nod to the greatest sight of all, being home to see your own front door decorated for the holiday season. For someone four states away from home, I can agree.
Song #24: Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Earlier in the countdown I wrote about U2's take on this Christmas classic written by Phil Spector. While the song lends itself well to straight rock and roll--something Bono excels at singing--there isn't another version out there that can compare with the original recording of Darlene Love singing over Phil Spector's wall of sound production.
Originally written for the Ronettes, lead singer Ronnie Spector wasn't able to sing the song with enough emotion so Love was called in to finish it. What came out of that session was a holiday classic that is often imitated yet never replicated. The song has since entrenched itself in popular culture as well. Martin Scorsese included it in his mob masterpiece Goodfellas, and David Letterman loves the song so much that he has had Darlene Love on his show to perform the song on the last recorded episode before Christmas since 1986. If it is good enough for Letterman, it's sure as hell good enough for me.
Accept no substitutes when it comes to Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).
Song #23: Perry Como - No Place Like Home for the Holidays
So good Como recorded it twice. This holiday classic was recorded with two different musical arrangements. One was slow and sentimental while the other was upbeat and backed by a big band. While they are both good, I am giving my nod to the faster version. Something about teh blasting horns and chorus of backup singers draws me in. On top of that, any song about travel around the holidays really has to be fast paced. Besides, "Gee the traffic is terrific" sounds much more sarcastic when sung by a choir.
Song #22: You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch
As I said a few entries ago, I did my best to keep crossover off of these lists. There are plenty of songs from Christmas specials and movies that could have easily made this list, but the intent has always been to keep the song countdown in the realm of Christmas music.
However, if there is one song that has grown out of it's roots as part of a Christmas special, it is the theme from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The song has been covered by multiple artists and has made it's way onto the radio. If any song from a Christmas special deserves to make this list, it is this one.
Song #21: Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
This song is a popular Christmas staple of country music recording artists, and plenty have tried their hand at recording a version, but few are as capable as Elvis Presley of really owning the song. Presley may have been mostly flash and showmanship, but the man could sing the hell out of a sad song. Blue Christmas, a tale of unrequited love around the holidays, is the perfect holiday song for Presley's deep, achy vocals. A simple ballad sung by a man with a guitar, the song is an example of Elvis' ability to captivate an audience without his signature twists and shouts.
Song #25: Bing Crosby - It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas
While the ground is still a sea of slowly dying grass and dry asphalt down here in Virgina, mother nature has taken the time to bless the midwest with the look of the holidays. Of course that means driving has now become perilous and old men across the region are exacerbating their heart conditions while hunched over a snow shovel in the driveway.
Regardless of how much a healthy heaping of snow inconveniences most of us around the holiday season, it still brings out a bit of sentimentality in all of us. So too does Crosby's It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas. There might not be a vocalist better suited for this song than Crosby with his distinctive baritone. The song begins with a quick nod to Jingle Bells before the orchestra brings the tempo down and Crosby works his way through the lyrics of songwriter Meredith Willson about some of the sights we most associate with the holiday season. The song closes with a nod to the greatest sight of all, being home to see your own front door decorated for the holiday season. For someone four states away from home, I can agree.
Song #24: Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Earlier in the countdown I wrote about U2's take on this Christmas classic written by Phil Spector. While the song lends itself well to straight rock and roll--something Bono excels at singing--there isn't another version out there that can compare with the original recording of Darlene Love singing over Phil Spector's wall of sound production.
Originally written for the Ronettes, lead singer Ronnie Spector wasn't able to sing the song with enough emotion so Love was called in to finish it. What came out of that session was a holiday classic that is often imitated yet never replicated. The song has since entrenched itself in popular culture as well. Martin Scorsese included it in his mob masterpiece Goodfellas, and David Letterman loves the song so much that he has had Darlene Love on his show to perform the song on the last recorded episode before Christmas since 1986. If it is good enough for Letterman, it's sure as hell good enough for me.
Accept no substitutes when it comes to Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).
Song #23: Perry Como - No Place Like Home for the Holidays
So good Como recorded it twice. This holiday classic was recorded with two different musical arrangements. One was slow and sentimental while the other was upbeat and backed by a big band. While they are both good, I am giving my nod to the faster version. Something about teh blasting horns and chorus of backup singers draws me in. On top of that, any song about travel around the holidays really has to be fast paced. Besides, "Gee the traffic is terrific" sounds much more sarcastic when sung by a choir.
Song #22: You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch
As I said a few entries ago, I did my best to keep crossover off of these lists. There are plenty of songs from Christmas specials and movies that could have easily made this list, but the intent has always been to keep the song countdown in the realm of Christmas music.
However, if there is one song that has grown out of it's roots as part of a Christmas special, it is the theme from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The song has been covered by multiple artists and has made it's way onto the radio. If any song from a Christmas special deserves to make this list, it is this one.
Song #21: Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
This song is a popular Christmas staple of country music recording artists, and plenty have tried their hand at recording a version, but few are as capable as Elvis Presley of really owning the song. Presley may have been mostly flash and showmanship, but the man could sing the hell out of a sad song. Blue Christmas, a tale of unrequited love around the holidays, is the perfect holiday song for Presley's deep, achy vocals. A simple ballad sung by a man with a guitar, the song is an example of Elvis' ability to captivate an audience without his signature twists and shouts.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Movies 10 - 7
Well, I ended up going to the bar for happy hour yesterday, rather than finishing my promised post on movies, so the two for one is going to come today.
Virginia has finally cooled down to the point of being downright cold. I left the house about 6pm yesterday and just a sweatshirt wasn't enough as I froze in my car until it warmed up. Maybe I need to move further south.
Movie #10: Miracle on 34th St.
When I was younger and people still used to watch movies on VHS, this was one of the go to Christmas movies.
Speaking of VHS, have you watched anything on VHS lately? It is insane how spoiled we have become with the quality of DVDs. I recently bought a movie on VHS from goodwill on the recommendation of a friend, and when I watched it I was almost livid that I had to watch something in such poor quality. Tracking? Can you believe you used to have to fight with a VCR to make sure the tape lined up correctly? Louis CK was right, technology has ruined us.
Anyway, it has been a few years since I sat down and watched Miracle on 34th St, so I won't sit here and mine plot details from Wikipedia to pass time. What I will do is tune in to it next time I notice it is on cable--and lets be honest, it will be somewhere between five and one thousand times in the next two weeks.
Movie #9: Jingle All the Way
Sinbad, Arnold, the late Phil Hartman all together in a movie about the insanity of shopping around the holidays. If there was one thing that Schwarzenegger was good at before his career change to politician, it was playing the dopey lead--Kindergarten Cop for example. As always, Phil Hartman knocks his performance out of the park, and Sinbad takes a vacation from not being funny to turn in a good performance. All in all a good choice for a lighthearted Christmas movie.
Movie #8: Elf
My first experience with the movie Elf was just two years ago. I was substitute teaching at a middle school on a three day assignment right before Christmas break. Of course this meant that I had to show one of three movies to four classes a day. Two of the classes chose Elf, which meant that not only did I watch the movie twice that week, but I watched the first half of it two times in a row, and the second half twice in a row.
Thankfully it is a very good movie, and watching it in such a disjointed and repetitive way is still enjoyable. There isn't a better actor on the planet than Will Farrel for the part of a giant elf. It doesn't hurt that I could watch Zooey Deschanel sit in a chair and stare at the camera with a bored look on her face for two hours, and I would probably pay to see it again.
Movie #7 Muppet Christmas Carol
It is a pretty safe bet that if you make a movie or television special that involves the Muppets, I will be head over heels for it. Sesame Street was the only television show I watched for the first few years of my life, and one of my earliest memories of cable TV as a kid was watching reruns of The Muppet Show on Cartoon Network. Hell, I even asked for a season of The Muppet Show for Christmas last year--season two, almost exclusively for the Steve Martin guest appearance.
Needless to say the Muppet's take on Dickens' Christmas Carol is an easy choice for this countdown. The hard thing was keeping this movie so far down the list, but things get pretty heated from here on out. More on that next week.
Today I promise to get up the last of the weekly posts (songs 25-21) that I have fallen behind on for the past few days. Until then, enjoy.
Virginia has finally cooled down to the point of being downright cold. I left the house about 6pm yesterday and just a sweatshirt wasn't enough as I froze in my car until it warmed up. Maybe I need to move further south.
Movie #10: Miracle on 34th St.
When I was younger and people still used to watch movies on VHS, this was one of the go to Christmas movies.
Speaking of VHS, have you watched anything on VHS lately? It is insane how spoiled we have become with the quality of DVDs. I recently bought a movie on VHS from goodwill on the recommendation of a friend, and when I watched it I was almost livid that I had to watch something in such poor quality. Tracking? Can you believe you used to have to fight with a VCR to make sure the tape lined up correctly? Louis CK was right, technology has ruined us.
Anyway, it has been a few years since I sat down and watched Miracle on 34th St, so I won't sit here and mine plot details from Wikipedia to pass time. What I will do is tune in to it next time I notice it is on cable--and lets be honest, it will be somewhere between five and one thousand times in the next two weeks.
Movie #9: Jingle All the Way
Movie #8: Elf
My first experience with the movie Elf was just two years ago. I was substitute teaching at a middle school on a three day assignment right before Christmas break. Of course this meant that I had to show one of three movies to four classes a day. Two of the classes chose Elf, which meant that not only did I watch the movie twice that week, but I watched the first half of it two times in a row, and the second half twice in a row.
Thankfully it is a very good movie, and watching it in such a disjointed and repetitive way is still enjoyable. There isn't a better actor on the planet than Will Farrel for the part of a giant elf. It doesn't hurt that I could watch Zooey Deschanel sit in a chair and stare at the camera with a bored look on her face for two hours, and I would probably pay to see it again.
Movie #7 Muppet Christmas Carol
It is a pretty safe bet that if you make a movie or television special that involves the Muppets, I will be head over heels for it. Sesame Street was the only television show I watched for the first few years of my life, and one of my earliest memories of cable TV as a kid was watching reruns of The Muppet Show on Cartoon Network. Hell, I even asked for a season of The Muppet Show for Christmas last year--season two, almost exclusively for the Steve Martin guest appearance.
Needless to say the Muppet's take on Dickens' Christmas Carol is an easy choice for this countdown. The hard thing was keeping this movie so far down the list, but things get pretty heated from here on out. More on that next week.
Today I promise to get up the last of the weekly posts (songs 25-21) that I have fallen behind on for the past few days. Until then, enjoy.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Songs 30 - 26
As I sat down to write this entry yesterday I got word that Urban Meyer had retired as head coach of Florida, and after searching for news on it and remembering just how much I didn't like Urban, I got sidetracked writing a post about him and other coaches I hate over at Maize n' Brew. Unfortunately I never came back here.
No matter though. The show must go on.
Song #30: Band Aid - Do They Know its Christmas
I'm going to be totally honest, watching this video again I am realizing it might be a little bit higher on the list than it should.
But then paying close attention to the video makes me realize just how many crappy 80's pop musicians got together to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Look at this list of names:
Linda Ronstadt
Adam Clayton (U2)
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)
Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)
Chris Cross (Ultravox)
John Taylor (Duran Duran)
Paul Young
Tony Hadley
Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)
Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)
Simon Crowe
Marilyn
Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Jody Watley (Shalamar)
Bono (U2)
Paul Weller (The Style Council, and previously The Jam)
James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang)
George Michael (Wham!)
Midge Ure (Ultravox)
Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)
John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
Sara Dallin (Bananarama)
Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama)
Sting (The Police)
Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)
Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)
Dennis Thomas (Kool & the Gang)
Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)
Jon Moss (Culture Club, former member of Adam and the Ants)
Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)
Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)
Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)
David Bowie (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
Boy George (Culture Club)
Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)
Paul McCartney (Wings and The Beatles, who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
Stuart Adamson (Big Country)
Bruce Watson (Big Country)
Tony Butler (Big Country)
Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
I have a few questions after reading that list. Why does it seem like 1/4 of the performers were from either Duran Duran, Bananarama, Kool & the Gang, and Culture Club? What the hell was Big Country? What made McCartney and Bowie say, "screw it, I'll just mail in my vocal track on tape?"
The song isn't bad, and it is for a good cause, but I would have to say I am more blown away by the recent video of 80's TV and movie stars singing Let It Be while superimposed over a beach scene than I am with this video, and that is saying something.
Next year I'll read my list a little bit closer.
Song #29: Gene Autry - Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Now this is a Christmas song that takes me back. If there was any song that got you excited about the holiday season when you were young, it was Gene Autry singing Rudolph.
The old country crooner has a significant place in Christmas music history. Not only did he sing extremely popular versions of two influential Christmas hits--Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman--but he wrote and recorded another Christmas classic, Here Comes Santa Claus. Autry recorded all three of these songs between 1948 and 1950, and they continue to be holiday favorites to this day.
Song #28: Otis Redding - Merry Christmas, Baby
This isn't the last time that Otis Redding or this song will appear on the list, which should give you a good indication of just how highly esteemed both are in my mind.
Redding has been one of my favorite recording artists for a few years now, ever since the Christmas that I received a four disc box set of his work as a gift. When it comes to soul music you would have a hard time finding someone who did it better than Otis. The man could alternate his voice between a booming, powerful yell, and a soft, sweet serenade, sometimes within the same song. When you talk to people about musicians who died too young you will often hear the names Hendrix, Cobain, Morrison, and Joplin thrown around. For my money, I don't think there was any loss more tragic, and more devastating to popular music that when Redding died in a plane crash at just 27 years old. Months before he had finally broken into the mainstream with his blistering performance at the Monterey Pop festival, and he wasn't even alive long enough to witness the release of the biggest hit of his career, (Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay. While Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, and Cobain were all fueled in their music by drugs, booze, and in Cobain's case a distaste for mainstream music, Otis was driven by pure joy and soul, and when his plane went down on that cold December day, 43 years ago tomorrow, the world was robbed of perhaps one of the most promising young musicians it has ever known.
Redding's recording of Merry Christmas, Baby is him at his best, and as always the backing of Booker T & the M.G.'s is spot on. This track is an absolute essential for any lover of Christmas or Soul music.
Song #27: The Eagles - Please Come Home for Christmas
When Pat and I first decided to put this list together, we discussed only using one version of each song. That way we could find the best version of, say White Christmas or I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Ultimately that idea fell through. While there is a large amount of overlap in recorded Christmas music, with many artists working from the same small bank of songs, there are a few songs which have been so well done by multiple artists that it was unfair to discount those versions in favor of mediocre original versions (think, Last Christmas).
This song is a perfect example. I would venture to guess that a lot of people would consider this a top-20 caliber song. I certainly did for many years. The Eagles knocked this one out of the park. The chimes in the beginning set the mood perfectly, and then the ballad slowly rolls in a swinging 6/8 time as Don Henley does some of the best emotive and heartfelt singing of his career. The short guitar solo in the middle isn't flashy, but perfectly fits the longing mood that hangs over the whole song.
Unfortunately the boys just can't hold up the the standard set by the artist higher on this list. That doesn't mean they should be punished, however, as this song is worthy of any Christmas music countdown list you could think to write.
Song #26: Burl Ives - Holly Jolly Christmas
Here is another song that reminds me of my childhood. Most remember Burl Ives best from his voicing of Sam the Snowman in the classic television special Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (which we will come back to later in the countdown, I can assure you). The song was originally written for the special, and was much later released as a single, but it has still managed to become a Christmas music staple. Ives, a folk singer and actor, was the perfect person to pull off such a happy song, and he made one helluva model for a stop-motion snowman as well.
--
Check back later in the afternoon for today's movie entry.
No matter though. The show must go on.
Song #30: Band Aid - Do They Know its Christmas
I'm going to be totally honest, watching this video again I am realizing it might be a little bit higher on the list than it should.
But then paying close attention to the video makes me realize just how many crappy 80's pop musicians got together to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Look at this list of names:
Linda Ronstadt
Adam Clayton (U2)
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)
Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)
Chris Cross (Ultravox)
John Taylor (Duran Duran)
Paul Young
Tony Hadley
Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)
Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)
Simon Crowe
Marilyn
Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Jody Watley (Shalamar)
Bono (U2)
Paul Weller (The Style Council, and previously The Jam)
James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang)
George Michael (Wham!)
Midge Ure (Ultravox)
Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)
John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
Sara Dallin (Bananarama)
Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama)
Sting (The Police)
Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)
Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)
Dennis Thomas (Kool & the Gang)
Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)
Jon Moss (Culture Club, former member of Adam and the Ants)
Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)
Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)
Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)
David Bowie (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
Boy George (Culture Club)
Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)
Paul McCartney (Wings and The Beatles, who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
Stuart Adamson (Big Country)
Bruce Watson (Big Country)
Tony Butler (Big Country)
Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
I have a few questions after reading that list. Why does it seem like 1/4 of the performers were from either Duran Duran, Bananarama, Kool & the Gang, and Culture Club? What the hell was Big Country? What made McCartney and Bowie say, "screw it, I'll just mail in my vocal track on tape?"
The song isn't bad, and it is for a good cause, but I would have to say I am more blown away by the recent video of 80's TV and movie stars singing Let It Be while superimposed over a beach scene than I am with this video, and that is saying something.
Next year I'll read my list a little bit closer.
Song #29: Gene Autry - Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
Now this is a Christmas song that takes me back. If there was any song that got you excited about the holiday season when you were young, it was Gene Autry singing Rudolph.
The old country crooner has a significant place in Christmas music history. Not only did he sing extremely popular versions of two influential Christmas hits--Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman--but he wrote and recorded another Christmas classic, Here Comes Santa Claus. Autry recorded all three of these songs between 1948 and 1950, and they continue to be holiday favorites to this day.
Song #28: Otis Redding - Merry Christmas, Baby
This isn't the last time that Otis Redding or this song will appear on the list, which should give you a good indication of just how highly esteemed both are in my mind.
Redding has been one of my favorite recording artists for a few years now, ever since the Christmas that I received a four disc box set of his work as a gift. When it comes to soul music you would have a hard time finding someone who did it better than Otis. The man could alternate his voice between a booming, powerful yell, and a soft, sweet serenade, sometimes within the same song. When you talk to people about musicians who died too young you will often hear the names Hendrix, Cobain, Morrison, and Joplin thrown around. For my money, I don't think there was any loss more tragic, and more devastating to popular music that when Redding died in a plane crash at just 27 years old. Months before he had finally broken into the mainstream with his blistering performance at the Monterey Pop festival, and he wasn't even alive long enough to witness the release of the biggest hit of his career, (Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay. While Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, and Cobain were all fueled in their music by drugs, booze, and in Cobain's case a distaste for mainstream music, Otis was driven by pure joy and soul, and when his plane went down on that cold December day, 43 years ago tomorrow, the world was robbed of perhaps one of the most promising young musicians it has ever known.
Redding's recording of Merry Christmas, Baby is him at his best, and as always the backing of Booker T & the M.G.'s is spot on. This track is an absolute essential for any lover of Christmas or Soul music.
Song #27: The Eagles - Please Come Home for Christmas
When Pat and I first decided to put this list together, we discussed only using one version of each song. That way we could find the best version of, say White Christmas or I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Ultimately that idea fell through. While there is a large amount of overlap in recorded Christmas music, with many artists working from the same small bank of songs, there are a few songs which have been so well done by multiple artists that it was unfair to discount those versions in favor of mediocre original versions (think, Last Christmas).
This song is a perfect example. I would venture to guess that a lot of people would consider this a top-20 caliber song. I certainly did for many years. The Eagles knocked this one out of the park. The chimes in the beginning set the mood perfectly, and then the ballad slowly rolls in a swinging 6/8 time as Don Henley does some of the best emotive and heartfelt singing of his career. The short guitar solo in the middle isn't flashy, but perfectly fits the longing mood that hangs over the whole song.
Unfortunately the boys just can't hold up the the standard set by the artist higher on this list. That doesn't mean they should be punished, however, as this song is worthy of any Christmas music countdown list you could think to write.
Song #26: Burl Ives - Holly Jolly Christmas
Here is another song that reminds me of my childhood. Most remember Burl Ives best from his voicing of Sam the Snowman in the classic television special Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (which we will come back to later in the countdown, I can assure you). The song was originally written for the special, and was much later released as a single, but it has still managed to become a Christmas music staple. Ives, a folk singer and actor, was the perfect person to pull off such a happy song, and he made one helluva model for a stop-motion snowman as well.
--
Check back later in the afternoon for today's movie entry.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Back in a Few
Today's entry will be coming tomorrow. I got caught up writing a post for Maize n' Brew and didn't find the time for the next installment over here. Look for the next five songs, and the next movie post tomorrow.
I promise.
I promise.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
TV Specials 7 - 5
*(may not have been the right channel, but it's my story so deal with it)
Special #7: Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Most specials function as stories, ways to tell classic tales--for example, those about Scrooge or Rudolph-- or newer original stories. Santa Claus is Coming to Town puts storytelling aside as it focuses on a larger goal: filling in the back story of Santa Claus. Everybody and his brother knows how Scrooge came to find the Christmas spirit and how Rudolph saved the day. What most don't know is anything about the origins of Santa Claus. He exists simply as one of the unexplained myths that surrounds Christmas. We know that the modern day Santa Claus is based on a historical figure "Saint Nicolas", but the rest of the story has been imaginatively filled in over the years to include flying reindeer, chimneys, and elves on the north pole. While there is value in tracing Santa Claus' historical roots as a folk figure, little kids don't care. Why should they? The fantasy and mythology behind Christmas is supposed to be about the impossible and the magical.
This is where Santa Claus comes in. Our narrator, a postman voiced by Fred Astaire, recounts how the legend of Santa Claus that we all--well, not all, but you know what I mean--learn as children. Young Nicolas is left in the woods, adopted by a family of elves, and then saves a small town that has lost the spirit of giving and--gasp--has outlawed presents. Some of the explanations seem forced and laughable, but the spirit behind Santa Claus is pure. Fred Astaire's postman sums up the spirit of (secular) Christmas pretty well at the end. Christmas is a time about thinking of others, spreading joy, and making life a little easier on everyone. Next time you spend two minutes cursing under your breath while standing in the Best Buy checkout line behind 150 people, try to keep that in mind. It is a lesson we can all get behind, even if we don't believe in Santa.
Special #6: Mickey's Christmas Carol
There isn't much that can be said about Walt Disney's wonderful take on A Christmas Carol. Scrooge McDuck is the perfect Disney embodiment of old Ebeneezer himself, and the inclusion of so many great Disney characters from other movies really takes you back. The story is of course well told and concise (the whole thing is a scant 24 minutes long) while doing great justice to Dicken's original.
I can do nothing now but implore you to watch it again for yourself, courtesy of YouTube.
If the room doesn't get a little dusty when Scrooge visits the Cratchits' house at the end, you may have a heart just as cold as the Grinch.
Special #5: Frosty the Snowman
Since I am running late on getting this posted I won't go into too much detail on Frosty, but rest assured it remains one of my favorite Christmas specials of all time. Another short one (25 minutes) it is definitely worth the time to watch on YouTube.
Back with another 5 songs tomorrow. I'll even try to post the list at a decent time.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Songs 35 - 31
The weather has finally begun to turn down in Virginia. The weekend saw temperatures plummet to the 40's during the day, and Saturday night we got our first bit of snow--which quickly melted. While this doesn't do much to foster the holiday spirit around these parts, I prefer the milder weather to whatever is happening in Michigan right now. Snow or no, I like being able to go outside in just a sweatshirt in December.
However, the holiday season is inextricably linked to snow, and todays edition of the countdown has a couple entries that deal specifically with the weather. Let's get to it and see if we can't make me miss the days of six inches of snow and shoveling the driveway.
Song #35: Aaron Neville - Let It Snow
Somehow snow is a comforting thing to have around the holidays--as long as you aren't driving, shopping, working, or really doing anything but looking at it from behind a window pane. I imagine that this is a very regional point of view, and I have yet to hear the thoughts of any southerners who may or may not value snow as a holiday tradition. While I am grateful for the mild weather now, I know part of me will be happy to see a blanket of white when I get home for Christmas.
It's this kind of connection between weather and Christmas that powers some of the most iconic songs of the holiday season. Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, and of course Let It Snow all fall into this category. Songs about our love of shitty weather during the holidays.
Although there is more to Let It Snow than just masochism (if you have shopped a couple days before Christmas in a blinding snowstorm you'll know what I'm talking about). There is something about the harsh conditions outside that adds to the atmosphere of the holidays indoors. A family gathered around the kitchen table eating dinner while wind whips snow against the windows and doors, a warm night on the couch as the snow buries everything outside, it all serves to bring you closer together under one roof. The warmth of the holidays and family is sometimes amplified by the closeness of everyone inside and the foreboding blanket of snow outside.
Neville's version of Let It Snow leans a little bit smooth jazz, but it does so in a warm and inviting way. And anytime you can work an organ into a song you are going to score points with me. Honorable mention for this song would be Wynton Marsalis' version. It is fast paced and chaotic. A perfect counterpoint to the warmth of Neville's version.
Song #34: Cheech and Chong - Santa Claus and his Old Lady
(Admittedly I have linked to some strange videos for this list, but this might be the weirdest collection of pictures yet.)
Nothing says Christmas like a couple stoner burnouts singing off key and recounting a very non-traditional view of the patron saint of Christmas. I honestly can't say much about this song that you won't get from just listening to it. This has always been a favorite of mine, and absolutely hilarious.
Cheech and Chong have absolutely impeccable comic timing and chemistry together, and the backing music is spot on. If you haven't already, I suggest you listen. You won't regret it.
Song #33: Sammy Davis Jr. - Christmastime All Over the World
One of my favorite things about Christmas music is that there are always gems out there that are yet to be discovered. I've written about this before, with such a short window to actually listen to Christmas music, you limit yourself in your ability to really dig deep and find new songs. That leads to a few truly great discoveries each holiday season--if you are looking.
Christmastime All Over the World is just one of those discovers for your humble blogger. I had downloaded a couple of Christmas compilations two or three years ago, but never gotten around to fully listening to all of them. This year while I was home for Thanksgiving I turned on the computer and went through my iTunes to fill in any gaps on this countdown. On a whim I turned on this Sammy Davis Jr. hit, and I couldn't be happier about it.
I am admittedly not well versed in anything Sammy Davis Jr. had done. The only reason I could even pick the man out of a lineup is the fact that there weren't many brothers rolling with the Rat Pack back in the day. However, this song is rapidly climbing my list of favorite Christmas tunes. Sammy's voice is a perfect fit over this bouncing melody, and the children's choir is a wonderful touch.
Here is hoping that next year I find something just as sweet to listen to.
Song #32: Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton - Baby, It's Cold Outside
Is this a Christmas song?
Do I care?
The answer is "yes, kind of" and "hell no". Regardless it is one of my favorite songs to listen to during the holiday season. The interplay between Armstrong and Middleton is absolutely perfect. There might not be a better person to sing the male part than Louis Armstrong, who absolutely kills it. He is simultaneously sweet and funny, and his timing is uproariously funny. Middleton plays the female part straight and milks it for all it is worth. It is a real pleasure to hear two performers who are comfortable enough in a duet that the interplay seems effortless, and these two are great together.
Song #31: Ertha Kit - Santa Baby
Some songs become so entwined with a certain ideal or mood so much so that artists feel compelled to cover them regardless of whether it is a good idea. In some cases this isn't a big deal. Anybody can sing a version of Jingle Bell Rock or Winter Wonderland and have it be decent. However, the mood or ideal that makes a song so unique or powerful can often preclude it from being easy to adapt.
Santa Baby is one of those songs. It is a song that is about decadence and desire, wanting the world delivered to you under the tree: yachts, jewelry, houses, cars, and the like. The original version, sung by Ertha Kit, milks this desire and longing for all it's worth. It's soft and understated, seductive without being overly sexualized. Kit's hushed vocals are almost childish in their sweetness, but that only heightens the mood of the song: shes a woman, and she has needs. It isn't a song about seduction but a song that seduces, and it isn't overtly cutesy or childish but subtly enough to not overpower the general mood.
However, the mood of the song gets inevitably shifted in subsequent covers. Madonna pushes the tempo of the song and pushes the vocals to a cutesy tone that ultimately undercuts the very sense of adult longing that makes the song so powerful in the original version. Madonna hears the childish tone of the first and distorts and overpowers it by singing the song like a child. Taylor Swift divorces the song of any of it's original sultry tone. Although she is essentially a kid, she sings it too sweet and without any seductive undertones. Again the song loses its power (the generic country backing track doesn't help).
Kit struck a delicate balance with this song, and it is not an easy one to get to. Unfortunately, this song seems to be one of the most popular songs for young female singers to cover. Rarely does anyone do it well, and never has anyone hit the right balance of sweet and sensual that Kit did as the original singer of this song.
However, the holiday season is inextricably linked to snow, and todays edition of the countdown has a couple entries that deal specifically with the weather. Let's get to it and see if we can't make me miss the days of six inches of snow and shoveling the driveway.
Song #35: Aaron Neville - Let It Snow
Somehow snow is a comforting thing to have around the holidays--as long as you aren't driving, shopping, working, or really doing anything but looking at it from behind a window pane. I imagine that this is a very regional point of view, and I have yet to hear the thoughts of any southerners who may or may not value snow as a holiday tradition. While I am grateful for the mild weather now, I know part of me will be happy to see a blanket of white when I get home for Christmas.
It's this kind of connection between weather and Christmas that powers some of the most iconic songs of the holiday season. Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, and of course Let It Snow all fall into this category. Songs about our love of shitty weather during the holidays.
Although there is more to Let It Snow than just masochism (if you have shopped a couple days before Christmas in a blinding snowstorm you'll know what I'm talking about). There is something about the harsh conditions outside that adds to the atmosphere of the holidays indoors. A family gathered around the kitchen table eating dinner while wind whips snow against the windows and doors, a warm night on the couch as the snow buries everything outside, it all serves to bring you closer together under one roof. The warmth of the holidays and family is sometimes amplified by the closeness of everyone inside and the foreboding blanket of snow outside.
Neville's version of Let It Snow leans a little bit smooth jazz, but it does so in a warm and inviting way. And anytime you can work an organ into a song you are going to score points with me. Honorable mention for this song would be Wynton Marsalis' version. It is fast paced and chaotic. A perfect counterpoint to the warmth of Neville's version.
Song #34: Cheech and Chong - Santa Claus and his Old Lady
(Admittedly I have linked to some strange videos for this list, but this might be the weirdest collection of pictures yet.)
Nothing says Christmas like a couple stoner burnouts singing off key and recounting a very non-traditional view of the patron saint of Christmas. I honestly can't say much about this song that you won't get from just listening to it. This has always been a favorite of mine, and absolutely hilarious.
Cheech and Chong have absolutely impeccable comic timing and chemistry together, and the backing music is spot on. If you haven't already, I suggest you listen. You won't regret it.
Song #33: Sammy Davis Jr. - Christmastime All Over the World
One of my favorite things about Christmas music is that there are always gems out there that are yet to be discovered. I've written about this before, with such a short window to actually listen to Christmas music, you limit yourself in your ability to really dig deep and find new songs. That leads to a few truly great discoveries each holiday season--if you are looking.
Christmastime All Over the World is just one of those discovers for your humble blogger. I had downloaded a couple of Christmas compilations two or three years ago, but never gotten around to fully listening to all of them. This year while I was home for Thanksgiving I turned on the computer and went through my iTunes to fill in any gaps on this countdown. On a whim I turned on this Sammy Davis Jr. hit, and I couldn't be happier about it.
I am admittedly not well versed in anything Sammy Davis Jr. had done. The only reason I could even pick the man out of a lineup is the fact that there weren't many brothers rolling with the Rat Pack back in the day. However, this song is rapidly climbing my list of favorite Christmas tunes. Sammy's voice is a perfect fit over this bouncing melody, and the children's choir is a wonderful touch.
Here is hoping that next year I find something just as sweet to listen to.
Song #32: Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton - Baby, It's Cold Outside
Is this a Christmas song?
Do I care?
The answer is "yes, kind of" and "hell no". Regardless it is one of my favorite songs to listen to during the holiday season. The interplay between Armstrong and Middleton is absolutely perfect. There might not be a better person to sing the male part than Louis Armstrong, who absolutely kills it. He is simultaneously sweet and funny, and his timing is uproariously funny. Middleton plays the female part straight and milks it for all it is worth. It is a real pleasure to hear two performers who are comfortable enough in a duet that the interplay seems effortless, and these two are great together.
Song #31: Ertha Kit - Santa Baby
Some songs become so entwined with a certain ideal or mood so much so that artists feel compelled to cover them regardless of whether it is a good idea. In some cases this isn't a big deal. Anybody can sing a version of Jingle Bell Rock or Winter Wonderland and have it be decent. However, the mood or ideal that makes a song so unique or powerful can often preclude it from being easy to adapt.
Santa Baby is one of those songs. It is a song that is about decadence and desire, wanting the world delivered to you under the tree: yachts, jewelry, houses, cars, and the like. The original version, sung by Ertha Kit, milks this desire and longing for all it's worth. It's soft and understated, seductive without being overly sexualized. Kit's hushed vocals are almost childish in their sweetness, but that only heightens the mood of the song: shes a woman, and she has needs. It isn't a song about seduction but a song that seduces, and it isn't overtly cutesy or childish but subtly enough to not overpower the general mood.
However, the mood of the song gets inevitably shifted in subsequent covers. Madonna pushes the tempo of the song and pushes the vocals to a cutesy tone that ultimately undercuts the very sense of adult longing that makes the song so powerful in the original version. Madonna hears the childish tone of the first and distorts and overpowers it by singing the song like a child. Taylor Swift divorces the song of any of it's original sultry tone. Although she is essentially a kid, she sings it too sweet and without any seductive undertones. Again the song loses its power (the generic country backing track doesn't help).
Kit struck a delicate balance with this song, and it is not an easy one to get to. Unfortunately, this song seems to be one of the most popular songs for young female singers to cover. Rarely does anyone do it well, and never has anyone hit the right balance of sweet and sensual that Kit did as the original singer of this song.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Songs 40 - 36
Better late than never?
Even though I really have nothing else going on I found a way to totally ignore today's post until this afternoon. Time is a wastin' so let's get on with it.
Song #40: Ella Fitzgerald - Sleigh Ride
Some songs lend themselves well to covers, and in the genre of Christmas music this is amplified a thousand fold. While there are a number of clever original pieces, most of the Christmas music you will hear during the holiday season is a retread of something that came before. Songs that were written over half a decade ago and traditional Christmas carols all populate the Christmas airwaves in one form or another. Most of these versions fall into one of three camps: older crooners like Bing, Frank, Dean, and the like singing in front of a big band, overpowering female vocalists doing their best to convince everyone, "I really have an awesome voice, and you should be impressed by all this," and understated adult contemporary singers quietly singing over a hushed acoustic guitar or piano track. Some of this works, and some of it doesn't. It comes down to matching the singer with the song and somehow making that version stand out.
Ella Fitzgerald certainly has the pipes to fall under category number two, but she has the jazz background to easily hang with the boys club. In Sleigh Bells, she is trancendent, not overpowering the song for effect and allowing her voice to float along on the swing of the band behind her. When she sings "giddy up" she injects it with just enough jazz scat to keep it interesting. Credit is also due to arranger Frank De Vol for the tasteful infusion of a big band swing beat that replaces the "ring-a-ling ring-a-ling" of sleigh bells with the "ch-ch-cha-ch-ch-cha" of the high hat. In the end this version sounds like no other version of Sleigh Bells that you'll ever hear and that makes Ella's contribution a hard Christmas song to ignore--as well as one you don't want to forget.
Song #39: The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
On the other side of the coin is the clever Christmas original, and if there was ever a band equipped to write and perform a song unlike anything you've ever heard before it is the Beach Boys and their distinctive southern California style.
Of course the Little Saint Nick that the song refers to isn't Santa at all, but his sleigh. That sleigh is Santa's pride and joy--as he spends all year working on it--and gets all the descriptors you would expect from the Beach Boys in an ode to a souped up ride: four speed stick, candy apple red, and "when Santa hits the gas, man, just watch her peel." Little Saint Nick is an original look at Christmas reflecting the cultural milieu in which the Beach Boys wrote it. It would be almost three years before the Beach Boys would redefine their sound and release their ambitious album Pet Sounds. However, in 1963 they were still carefree kids singing about girls, cars, and surfing. Little Saint Nick was, not surprisingly, released as a single between Be True to Your School and Fun, Fun, Fun. The Beach Boys had a knack for writing pop music, and they showed that gift on this Christmas hit.
Song #38: Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad
Could a song that wasn't sung half in Spanish get away with this much repetition? Probably not, but for American pop music audiences the repetative verses sung in spanish are novel enough to carry until that final bar out of which the chorus explodes, "I want to wish you a merry Christmas."
Of course the music helps carry this song as well. The verse slowly builds on the back of an acoustic guitar and a sprinkling of percussion, until strings kick in the second time and heighten the anticipation for the chorus sung on top of a fast snare drum and blasting horn section. The little horn licks and string parts help keep this song moving forward over the bouncing beat and the sum of the parts is an eminently likable song that just makes you want to tap your foot. In the end, isn't that what good pop music is all about?
Song #37: John Mellencamp - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Before he ever unleashed the patriotic and achingly bad This Is Ouuuuuuuuur Country on the helpless ears of the American public, and turned a nation of football fans against him due to constant over exposure, John Mellencamp put out some pretty good Americana infused rock music. He exists in a strange place in the rock and roll lexicon. Folksy and distinctive yet with an underlying commercial appeal, he was too hokey and his songs too trite to ever even warrant a discussion of his place next to singer/songwriters like Dylan and Springsteen--not to mention his late entry into the business. Where Mellencamp released songs like Jack and Diane and Cherry Bomb as his ode to adolecence, Springsteen released albums like The Wild, The Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle to which Mellencamp can only respond with a blank stare of humility.
But it is unfair to ask John Mellencamp to be that which he isn't. Think of him as the American Bryan Adams, or perhaps the middle America version of Bob Seger. Rock and rollers, all three of them, with traditional roots and the ability to really open up their voice and wail a few times an album in a way that Mick Jagger could have done in his sleep.
Putting aside my backhanded compliments, Mellencamp's version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a good one. It is a simple rock and roll track showered by powerful backup singers and a honky tonk fiddle. While the definitive statement on this song was done years earlier in a wildly different style, Mellencamp and the band rock this one through and through.
Song #36: Carol of the Bells
This list was originally set out to be an exploration of pop Christmas music, with an avoidance of classical and more traditional versions of songs. The two focuses of Christmas music are different enough that comparing the two is more like apples to oranges. "Better to stay with the radio friendly Christmas music," I thought.
For this song I will make an exception. At the insistence of a fellow collaborator I listened to this song and was instantly reminded just how good it is. It doesn't hurt that it was also included in the movie Home Alone. Carol of bells is a powerful choir song that builds and builds in layers, giving you goosebumps until it gently fades away. While it isn't the sort of song you would hear on a pop Christmas station, it still stands the test of time as a beautiful and haunting holiday song, and a wonderful song to turn on when you get home from hours of immersion in the muzak of malls and department stores during the holiday season.
Even though I really have nothing else going on I found a way to totally ignore today's post until this afternoon. Time is a wastin' so let's get on with it.
Song #40: Ella Fitzgerald - Sleigh Ride
Some songs lend themselves well to covers, and in the genre of Christmas music this is amplified a thousand fold. While there are a number of clever original pieces, most of the Christmas music you will hear during the holiday season is a retread of something that came before. Songs that were written over half a decade ago and traditional Christmas carols all populate the Christmas airwaves in one form or another. Most of these versions fall into one of three camps: older crooners like Bing, Frank, Dean, and the like singing in front of a big band, overpowering female vocalists doing their best to convince everyone, "I really have an awesome voice, and you should be impressed by all this," and understated adult contemporary singers quietly singing over a hushed acoustic guitar or piano track. Some of this works, and some of it doesn't. It comes down to matching the singer with the song and somehow making that version stand out.
Ella Fitzgerald certainly has the pipes to fall under category number two, but she has the jazz background to easily hang with the boys club. In Sleigh Bells, she is trancendent, not overpowering the song for effect and allowing her voice to float along on the swing of the band behind her. When she sings "giddy up" she injects it with just enough jazz scat to keep it interesting. Credit is also due to arranger Frank De Vol for the tasteful infusion of a big band swing beat that replaces the "ring-a-ling ring-a-ling" of sleigh bells with the "ch-ch-cha-ch-ch-cha" of the high hat. In the end this version sounds like no other version of Sleigh Bells that you'll ever hear and that makes Ella's contribution a hard Christmas song to ignore--as well as one you don't want to forget.
Song #39: The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
On the other side of the coin is the clever Christmas original, and if there was ever a band equipped to write and perform a song unlike anything you've ever heard before it is the Beach Boys and their distinctive southern California style.
Of course the Little Saint Nick that the song refers to isn't Santa at all, but his sleigh. That sleigh is Santa's pride and joy--as he spends all year working on it--and gets all the descriptors you would expect from the Beach Boys in an ode to a souped up ride: four speed stick, candy apple red, and "when Santa hits the gas, man, just watch her peel." Little Saint Nick is an original look at Christmas reflecting the cultural milieu in which the Beach Boys wrote it. It would be almost three years before the Beach Boys would redefine their sound and release their ambitious album Pet Sounds. However, in 1963 they were still carefree kids singing about girls, cars, and surfing. Little Saint Nick was, not surprisingly, released as a single between Be True to Your School and Fun, Fun, Fun. The Beach Boys had a knack for writing pop music, and they showed that gift on this Christmas hit.
Song #38: Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad
Could a song that wasn't sung half in Spanish get away with this much repetition? Probably not, but for American pop music audiences the repetative verses sung in spanish are novel enough to carry until that final bar out of which the chorus explodes, "I want to wish you a merry Christmas."
Of course the music helps carry this song as well. The verse slowly builds on the back of an acoustic guitar and a sprinkling of percussion, until strings kick in the second time and heighten the anticipation for the chorus sung on top of a fast snare drum and blasting horn section. The little horn licks and string parts help keep this song moving forward over the bouncing beat and the sum of the parts is an eminently likable song that just makes you want to tap your foot. In the end, isn't that what good pop music is all about?
Song #37: John Mellencamp - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Before he ever unleashed the patriotic and achingly bad This Is Ouuuuuuuuur Country on the helpless ears of the American public, and turned a nation of football fans against him due to constant over exposure, John Mellencamp put out some pretty good Americana infused rock music. He exists in a strange place in the rock and roll lexicon. Folksy and distinctive yet with an underlying commercial appeal, he was too hokey and his songs too trite to ever even warrant a discussion of his place next to singer/songwriters like Dylan and Springsteen--not to mention his late entry into the business. Where Mellencamp released songs like Jack and Diane and Cherry Bomb as his ode to adolecence, Springsteen released albums like The Wild, The Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle to which Mellencamp can only respond with a blank stare of humility.
But it is unfair to ask John Mellencamp to be that which he isn't. Think of him as the American Bryan Adams, or perhaps the middle America version of Bob Seger. Rock and rollers, all three of them, with traditional roots and the ability to really open up their voice and wail a few times an album in a way that Mick Jagger could have done in his sleep.
Putting aside my backhanded compliments, Mellencamp's version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a good one. It is a simple rock and roll track showered by powerful backup singers and a honky tonk fiddle. While the definitive statement on this song was done years earlier in a wildly different style, Mellencamp and the band rock this one through and through.
Song #36: Carol of the Bells
This list was originally set out to be an exploration of pop Christmas music, with an avoidance of classical and more traditional versions of songs. The two focuses of Christmas music are different enough that comparing the two is more like apples to oranges. "Better to stay with the radio friendly Christmas music," I thought.
For this song I will make an exception. At the insistence of a fellow collaborator I listened to this song and was instantly reminded just how good it is. It doesn't hurt that it was also included in the movie Home Alone. Carol of bells is a powerful choir song that builds and builds in layers, giving you goosebumps until it gently fades away. While it isn't the sort of song you would hear on a pop Christmas station, it still stands the test of time as a beautiful and haunting holiday song, and a wonderful song to turn on when you get home from hours of immersion in the muzak of malls and department stores during the holiday season.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Movies 15 - 11
This will be a short post as I started it well later than I should have and don't have much to say about the first five entries of the list.
Movie #15 - Gremlins
Not a Christmas movie you say? Why does Randall buy Gizmo in the first place? The answer is Christmas, and that is enough to get it on this list.
Movie #14 - The Santa Clause
What the hell happened to Tim Allen? During the Home Improvement years of the nineties it seemed like you couldn't turn around without hearing that stupid grunt coming from somewhere. In 1994 Allen starred in The Santa Clause and launched a movie career that would largely fizzle out to a series of flops and ill advised sequels by the end of the decade (and movie "career" might be a bit generous as it includes Jungle 2 Jungle and Galaxy Quest as part of hit golden age). Between the holiday hit and the wildly popular Toy Story soon after, it seemed like the sky was the limit for Allen. I would list his poor movie choices of the past ten years as an illustration of how far he has fallen, but you probably wouldn't know any of them.
Movie #13 - Scrooged
One of the downsides to compiling a list of this sort with other people is that occasionally you run across something that you have no knowledge of. This is one of those times. If I saw Scrooged as a child, I certainly don't remember it.
However, I have a standing rule that anything Bill Murray does gets the benefit of the doubt, and between him in the lead role and the lovely Karen Allen as his love interest, I have nothing but faith that this #13 ranking is deserved, sight unseen.
Movie #12 - Love Actually
What does it say about me that I haven't seen Bill Murray's Christmas movie, but I have seen arguably the biggest holiday themed chick flick of all time? Don't answer that. Not only have I seen Love Actually, but I actually remember enjoying the movie. If you couldn't bring yourself to at least feel some emotion, then I just don't know what will melt your icy heart.
The only bad thing I can find to say about Love Actually is that it seems to me that it is the stylistic origin of progressively worse movies like He's Not That in to You and later Valentines Day.
Movie #11 - Bad Santa
This very well could be the role that Billy Bob Thornton was. A disgruntled mall Santa Claus involved in a crime plot to knock over department stores during the holidays, who is teamed up with a filthy mouthed midget and is trying to pull one over on John Ritter and Bernie Mac as the store manager and head of security? Add in the fact that I have always had a thing for Lauren Graham and the Coen Brothers are involved and you have a perfect recipe for a hilariously dark Christmas movie.
--
Five more songs to come tomorrow, then back on Monday for another week of the countdown.
Movie #15 - Gremlins
Not a Christmas movie you say? Why does Randall buy Gizmo in the first place? The answer is Christmas, and that is enough to get it on this list.
Movie #14 - The Santa Clause
 |
| Terrible tagline, just terrible. |
Movie #13 - Scrooged
One of the downsides to compiling a list of this sort with other people is that occasionally you run across something that you have no knowledge of. This is one of those times. If I saw Scrooged as a child, I certainly don't remember it.
However, I have a standing rule that anything Bill Murray does gets the benefit of the doubt, and between him in the lead role and the lovely Karen Allen as his love interest, I have nothing but faith that this #13 ranking is deserved, sight unseen.
Movie #12 - Love Actually
 |
| Rowan Atkinson is OK in my book. |
What does it say about me that I haven't seen Bill Murray's Christmas movie, but I have seen arguably the biggest holiday themed chick flick of all time? Don't answer that. Not only have I seen Love Actually, but I actually remember enjoying the movie. If you couldn't bring yourself to at least feel some emotion, then I just don't know what will melt your icy heart.
The only bad thing I can find to say about Love Actually is that it seems to me that it is the stylistic origin of progressively worse movies like He's Not That in to You and later Valentines Day.
Movie #11 - Bad Santa
--
Five more songs to come tomorrow, then back on Monday for another week of the countdown.
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