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Today, we begin our 5th annual week-long celebration of Christmas songs. This year, we have a whole new batch of Great Yuletide Songs from the '70s and the '80s to highlight! So let's get to it!
In late 1979, Paul McCartney released his first solo single in 8 years, and it was a complete tour-de-force—just in time for the Holidays!
“Wonderful Christmastime” featured Sir Paul singing all the parts, and playing all the instruments (keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, and jingle bells).
He also produced the track. Whew!
Note: Although Linda and several others appeared in the video, sources confirm they were not on the recording.
Over the past 44 Holiday seasons, “Wonderful Christmastime” has charted repeatedly charted in more than 20 countries all over the world–including places like Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia. Pretty impressive–even by Sir Paul’s standards!
“Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney: A Great Christmas Song of 1979…and ever since!
Today, we're highlighting the song that Rolling Stone Magazine has named the #1 Rock & Roll Christmas Song of All Time:
"(Christmas), Baby Please Come Home" by Darlene Love, written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector.
The song was originally recorded for--and released from-- the 1963 album, "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector." Unfortunately, it was released the day that JFK was assassinated.
The album was full of Great Songs that featured Phil's Wall-of-sound treatment--and today, it's considered a classic, but at the time, it only received a lukewarm response. It's pretty obvious that the mood of the country at the time was not conducive to enjoying much of anything festive.
(Christmas), Baby Please Come Home" did not chart, at least not right away...but
23 years later, something happened to change everything.
In 1986, Paul Shaffer, the quirky bandleader for David Letterman, took on a side gig as musical director for a revue of Ellie Greenwich Songs called "Leader of the Pack," which included "(Christmas), Baby Please Come Home," and sung by Darlene Love.
Of course, Paul talked David into having Darlene on the show at Christmastime, and with help from Paul & the band, she knocked it out of the park.
Dave was so impressed, he invited Darlene back every Christmas for the next 29 years! This includes both his NBC & CBS shows. (Note: There was no show in 2006 due to a writers' strike.)
FINALLY, the song made the charts--in 2014.
After Dave retired, Darlene was invited to sing annually on "The View" starting in 2015.
Over the past several years, "(Christmas), Baby Please Come Home" has been covered--quite nicely--by Mariah Carey, Michael Buble' and U2...but at 82 years old, Darlene is still hard to top!
Note: Earlier this year on the "Christmas at Rockefeller Center" TV Special, Darlene sang it as a duet with Cher--which was pretty amazing--especially when you know this piece of trivia: Cher was one of the background singers on the original recording in 1963! (And Sonny played percussion!) Darlene was 19 and Cher was 17!
"(Christmas), Baby Please Come Home" by Darlene Love: a Great Song of the '60s...that became a Great Song of the '80s, '90s, and right up to today!
I'm posting her final Letterman performance below, followed by the original version, to illustrate the how hard Paul Shaffer worked to create the wall-of-sound original--LIVE! And, the Cher duet is also linked just for fun!
Letterman:
Original:
Cher/Darlene:
Today, we're taking a look at a Christmas Song that, in reality, is a post break-up song...but has still become a Holiday standard.
There's a lot to unpack about "Last Christmas" by Wham, beginning with its origin.
In 1983, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were visiting George's parents, when George wandered into his old bedroom and discovered a music track he had written and taped years before.
Before long, he had worked it into "Last Christmas," and the song was released as a charity single for famine relief as the "B" side to a song called "Everything She Wants."
One thing led to another, and "Last Christmas" became the hit instead--reaching #2 in the UK in 1984 & 1985.
After that, believe it or not, it fell off the British Charts until 2014... but since then, it has charted annually at Christmastime and finally reached #1 in 2020, 2022 and 2023!
That's what happened in the UK...but what about the US?
Surprisingly, "Last Christmas" wasn't officially released in the States until 2014...but it has charted on various charts every year since, peaking at#3 on Billboard's Holiday 100 in 2019.
That didn't stop American radio stations from playing it before then. After all, by 2014, the song had charted in 15 other countries around the world...and we knew a Great Song when we heard one!
Over the years, there have also been some terrific cover versions, and many of them have charted at one time or another. The list of artists includes Ariana Grande,
who took it to #1 on Billboard's Digital Song Sales Chart in 2014, and the cast of "Glee," whose cover reached #3 on the same chart in 2020.
Links to those versions are below, but the original version of "Last Christmas" by Wham has become the standard...and remains a Great Christmas Song of 1984!
While not always the case, it often takes a while for a new Christmas song to become a Holiday standard.
Today, we're looking at a song from 1970 that initially received very little attention, but now, 53 years later, you hear it all the time on the radio by the original artist, and perhaps by one of the MANY artists who have covered it.
Donny Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor wrote "This Christmas," and for some reason, Donny's original version initially received very little airplay.
It reached #11 on Billboard's 1972 Christmas Chart, but didn't appear again until 2014! Since then, however, "This Christmas" has appeared on several charts annually.
It's hard to understand why it took so long. In the words of Nadine, "This Christmas" is a delightful song that "celebrates the possibilities, the expectations, and the anticipation of Christmas and the good fun and happy loving times."
Exactly.
In recent years, cover versions have exploded. Here is just a partial list of artists who have recorded it: The Temptations, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Patti La Belle, Diana Ross, Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, and Lady Antebellum.
Both Seal and Train took "This Christmas" to #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
I've included links to both of those versions below, but quite literally, Donny Hathaway's original version of "This Christmas" is a Great Song of 1970, and an all-time classic!
I guarantee that today's Great Christmas Song is unique.
It's the only Holiday tune that started life as a "goodbye song" sung by the ladies at a brothel after it was shut down and they're going their separate ways.
"Hard Candy Christmas" was written by Carol Hall for the Broadway musical "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," and was carried over into the 1982 film starring Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, Jim Nabors, Dom DeLuise and Charles Durning.
Th song gives each of the girls a short solo as they tell each other their uncertain plans for the future, while Dolly (as Miss Mona, Madame of the "Chicken Ranch") consoles them, and professes that she'll be "fine and dandy," and likening the situation to a "Hard Candy Christmas, a reference to the type of inexpensive gifts given during tough economic times.
The song is surprisingly touching, and Dolly, along with the rest of the ladies, infuse it with a sadness that can bring tears to your eyes, regardless of the setting and situation.
A beautiful solo version of "Hard Candy Christmas" by Dolly reached #8 on Billboard's Country Chart during the Holiday season of 1982-83, and has since become a Christmas standard In all formats.
Although I love Dolly's solo version, I personally think the film version packs even more of an emotional wallop, so I've included links to both below. You be the judge.
The setting for "Hard Candy Christmas" may be somewhat questionable for a Holiday song, but thanks to Dolly Parton and, by extension, the ladies of the Chicken Ranch, it became a Great Song of 1982-83, and continues to be Great 40 years later.
Dolly Solo:
Dolly & Cast:
Tomorrow: A seldom heard version(in America) of a British/Jamaican Holiday Classic.
The history behind today's Great Christmas Song of the ’70s might surprise you. It certainly surprised me!
In the early 1950s, songwriter/actor Jester Hairston (who you may remember as Rollie on the TV series “Amen,” starring Clifton Davis and Sherman Hemsley) was asked to write a calypso-style song for a birthday party.
The song, “He Pone and Chocolate Tea” was never recorded, but a few years later, Walter Schumann asked Jester to write a Christmas song for his Hollywood Choir.
Jester adapted “He Pone and Chocolate Tea” into “Mary’s Boy Child,” and when Harry Belafonte–the King of Calypso–heard it performed, he asked permission to record it, which was promptly granted.
It was released in 1956 and became a HUGE hit in the UK, reaching #1 on the charts. A slightly different version was released in 1957 with the same result.
Over the years, the song–which has become a Christmas standard–has sold nearly 2 million copies in the UK alone. And, of course, it has also sold quite well here in the US.
Now, let’s skip to 1978, when an unlikely cover version of “Mary’s Boy Child” by the disco group Boney M was released in the UK as a medley with a song called “Oh My Lord.”
It also topped the the British charts, and has since sold well more than 2 million copies in the UK alone! When 78-year-old Jester heard about it, he said, “God bless my soul. That’s tremendous for an old fogey like me”
In the US, however, the Boney M version has received very little attention and has never charted.
Bu that doesn’t mean it’s not a Great Christmas Song of the ’70s. In fact, in my opinion, it’s actually quite beautiful in its own way–just like (and yet unlike) Harry Belafonte’s version was in the ’50s.
You, of course, can judge for yourself by clicking the links below. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Harry Bellafonte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N8aNhbnP-Y
Tomorrow: Whitney.
Merry Christmas!
Today's Great Christmas Song was an instant hit when it was first released in the '60s...but even after it was recorded and released by a regular parade of amazing singers, no one could top the version that came out in the '80s.
In November of 1962, The Harry Simeone Chorale released the original version of "Do You Hear What I Hear," a song loosely based on the Nativity story from the Book of Matthew, written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne. It sold more than 250,000 copies by the end of the year.
In 1963, Bing Crosby's version became the go-to version for radio stations throughout the US, but the flood gates were open, and by the end of the decade, the song had been covered by Andy Williams, Pat Boone, Kate Smith, Diahann Carroll, Jim Nabors, Robert Goulet, Perry Como, Mahalia Jackson, and Johnny Mathis. Whew!
That was about it...until 1987 when Whitney Houston's version, released from the "Very Special Christmas" charity album for the Special Olympics blew everyone else's version out of the water. Its popularity kept growing exponentially every year, peaking at #1 on Billboard's Gospel Digital Download Chart for a record 42 weeks in 2011! Then in 2018, it topped the Gospel Streaming Chart for 20 weeks!
Definitely hard to top...but in 2019, Pentatonix gave it a good try. They took Whitney's vocals and added their distinctive harmonies for a version that went to #9 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart. (The video features a wonderful ballet.)
So really, when it comes right down to it: Whitney Houston's version of "Do You Hear What I "Hear" is not just a Great Christmas Song of the 80s, it's THE ALL TIME DEFINITIVE version! Check out the links below to hear all the Great Versions of the song!
Whitney & Pentatonix:
Bing Crosby:
Harry Simeone Chorale:
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