Mike's Christmas Countdown

[RGMike]

Day 10: Celebrate the Solstice!

Sunday is the first day of Winter (amazingly, considering the frigid weather the country's been experiencing for the past week). I've always been fascinated by the fact that so many of what we consider "Christmas songs" are actually "winter songs" that don't mention Xmas at all.  "Marshmallow World", "Winter Wonderland", and so on. OTOH, there are winter songs that aren't associated with Xmas (Ginger did a wonderful "winter set" in lieu of a Christmas 10@10 a few years ago) and so here are a couple of fave winter tunes that really should get more play at this time of year.

First, Love Unlimited's fabulous "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart it's Spring)", produced by the maestro himself, Barry White. He originally produced a version by Felice Taylor in the late '60s, a very Supremes-soundalike fauxtowwn thing.  Then he re-did it in '73 with Love Unltd, feat his lovely wife Glodean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgdLDSjfXO8&feature=related

One of my fave forgotten LP tracks of the early prog-FM days is Blood Sweat & Tears' "Sometimes in Winter", the only track on their hit-laden 2nd LP that doesn't feature a David Clayton-Thomas lead vocal. A lovely tune that never really got it's due IMHO. Couldn't find the original, but check out this live concert version from 1971:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHEuOFHd6GQ&feature=related

Finally, solstice reminds us that Christmas was just the church's attempt to re-purpose an already existing pagan feast. So here's Dar Williams inviting "Christians & Pagans" to celebrate together (tho' I suspect Rick Warren is not who she plans to invite).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_KiHRHwaAs

[Gazoo]

Love Unlimited's fabulous "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart it's Spring)", produced by the maestro himself, Barry White. He originally produced a version by Felice Taylor in the late '60s, a very Supremes-soundalike fauxtowwn thing.  Then he re-did it in '73 with Love Unltd, feat his lovely wife Glodean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgdLDSjfXO8&feature=related

Marvelous pick, and I agree on the beauty of Glodean and her twin sister.  Finally heard the Felice Taylor original this week - it peaked at #42 in '67.

[RGMike]

Love Unlimited's fabulous "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart it's Spring)", produced by the maestro himself, Barry White. He originally produced a version by Felice Taylor in the late '60s, a very Supremes-soundalike fauxtowwn thing.  Then he re-did it in '73 with Love Unltd, feat his lovely wife Glodean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgdLDSjfXO8&feature=related

Marvelous pick, and I agree on the beauty of Glodean and her twin sister.  Finally heard the Felice Taylor original this week - it peaked at #42 in '67.

yes, this week was the first time I heard the orig (bless you Barry Scott) -- a total Diana Ross-soundalike to my ears.  And BTW this week was the first time I read that whole Barry Scott-vs.-the-P-town-police saga. Jeezus.

[RGMike]

Day 11: Chappy Chanukkah!

One of my earliest memories as a small child riding the NYC subway involves Jewishness: the ubiquitous (in 1960) ads for Levy’s Real Jewish Rye Bread with the famous slogan "You Don’t Have to be Jewish to Love Levy’s." Featuring obvious non-Jews (a Chinese kid, a black guy, a Native American) eating the product, this was multiculturalism decades before the term was invented.



There were also ads every December, sponsored by some Jewish group or other, celebrating "Chanukkah", which I of course assumed was pronounced "Cha-NOO-ka". It’s said all Noo Yawkers are honorary Jews, so today I’ll celebrate those 8 Crazy Nights, while keeping this thread an Adam Sandler-free Zone. First up (and pun definitely intended): a "Dreidel" twin-spin!

In late 1972, Don McLean ("NOT a Jew", as Mr. Sandler would say) delivered his follow-up to "American Pie" in a single called "Dreidel". No Chanukkah reference, just a downbeat song rooted in the old adage that we begin dying as soon as we are born. Not surprisingly, it peaked at #21… and he wouldn’t hit the Top 40 again until 1981. But I’ve always liked it and think of it every December regardless. Here's a performance clip from '74"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K164MKTMLVw

But the real meaning of "Dreidel" is highlighted in the wonderful song from the South Park Xmas CD, in which showtune queen par excellence Marc Shaiman turns the traditional folk tune about that little top made of clay into a veritable Broadway extravaganza. Jews! That’s why they’re gay!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnzVq2t7bi4&feature=related

Finally, quite simply one of the greatest holiday clips I’ve ever seen, the SNL classic "Xmas for the Jews", absolute genius (Robert Smeigel RULES!) and sung by the Queen of Christmas herself, Darlene Love (and more on her tomorrow).

http://video.aol.com/partner/hulu/saturday-night-live-christmas-for-the-jews-song/iwbNvcaWbFCEy0CKAPuhxgz3dlsydIa2

[ggould]

I just want to say how much I've enjoyed the high-quality prose you been puttin' down for us here.  Excellent stuff.

[RGMike]

I just want to say how much I've enjoyed the high-quality prose you been puttin' down for us here.  Excellent stuff.

Thank you kind sir! 

[RGMike]

Day 12: Love for Christmas!

If I've learned anything from David Letterman, it's this: when making a list, it's the next-to-last entry that counts (the #2 item on his Top Ten is always the funniest).  And so for our penultimate post, we present quite simply the Greatest. Christmas. Record. EVAH.

I was shocked -- SHOCKED! -- to discover that someone here didn't know whether this song was recorded by Ronnie Spector or Darlene Love. (Oh, the horror...) But "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is Darlene Love's career peak, and while she continues to do fine work -- she's performed it on Letterman every Xmas for the past, what, 15 years? -- she'll never top her blazing vocal on this Spector/Barry/Greenwich comp, the only original on 1963's legendary A Christmas Gift For You. 



I actually saw Darlene perform it live in the late '80s, when Paul Shaffer put together a show at NYC's legendary Bottom Line nightclub, in which Darlene, Ronnie and some sterling backup singers (including Ula Hedwig) peformed the entire LP and then some, twice a night for a week in December. Fab. Yoo. Luss.  Today, I considered pairing "C(BPCH)" with a link to "All Alone on Xmas", her unofficial sequel from 1992, a fine collaboration with Little Steven and most of the E-Streeters, but the original must really stand alone. Oh, and her distinctly non-Spectorized Xmas CD from a couple years ago is pretty swell too.



There were many YouTube clips to choose from, mostly Letterman perfs from the past decade, but the original must be heard in all its Spectorian glory.  Happy Christmas Eve Eve to all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV8x7H3DD8Y

[RGMike]

Day 13: Merry Christmas to All!

And so we come to this thread's final post of the year.  Warmest wishes to everyone who posts (or lurks) here; this outlet truly helps keep me sane, which may be cold comfort in these times but hey -- it's something. You're all a swell bunch, even when we disagree. Thanks, kids.

Oh, the clips -- just a couple of heartfelt wishes. First, John Denver and Rowlf the Muppet want you to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdovEOXEQeM&feature=related

And then the granddaddy of Xmas wishes, from Nat "King" Cole.  I always knew the season had started when Top 40 WABC in NY played this one in early December each year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_W7p35SzuI

"And tho' it's been said many times, many ways... Merry Christmas to you..."

[RGMike]

One more: Gaz's blog post today, featuring ABBA's "Happy New Year", reminded me how few New Years songs there are. You got your "Auld Lang Syne", you got your U2 "New Years Day", you got your "What Are You Doing New Year's?", covered by everybody-and-his-brother, and there's a New Years song on the Atlantic "Soul Christmas" album whose title escapes me.

And then there's George Harrison's wonderful "Ding Dong Ding Dong", ringing out the old and ringing in the new -- I've always loved this song, and despite making the Top 40 as a single it's completely forgotten -- can't recall the last time i actually heard it on the radio at New Years. So here it is, in a vintage promo clip from '74:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r61noMrx3qw

[RGMike]

Must be a reference to A Christmas Carol.  Or maybe A Scooby Doo Christmas?

ROTFL on the 2nd point (my kids actually have that DVD), but always thought it was the first.

and Mike, to follow up on your comments about Nashville & the GOP, it raises for me a question: Will NASCAR nation will be giving the same undying support to our next administration as they have to the current one?  Or will their sector of the pop culture become one of antagonism?

I decided to re-read this thread because I'm gonna be posting Xmas clips on Facebook this year, and I saw Mark's comment about NASCAR Nation above.  Guess that question has been answered, eh?

[RGMike]

Day 6: A trailer-trash Christmas!

This has become a small sub-genre in recent years, thanks to people like Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the (not really a) Cable Guy, but it's not exactly new.  My fave in this category is still Commander Cody's "Daddy's Drinking Up Our Christmas", which I couldn't find...

went looking for some of the songs that weren't on YT last year, and found this non-clip clip of Commander Cody -- it's just audio with a black screen. Apparently someone taped it off the radio during a Dr Demento broadcast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcsHjlB2Wf0

[mshray]

and Mike, to follow up on your comments about Nashville & the GOP, it raises for me a question: Will NASCAR nation will be giving the same undying support to our next administration as they have to the current one?  Or will their sector of the pop culture become one of antagonism?

I decided to re-read this thread because I'm gonna be posting Xmas clips on Facebook this year, and I saw Mark's comment about NASCAR Nation above.  Guess that question has been answered, eh?

TANC, I went to see The Blind Side yesterday, having really liked the book.  Good film, quite faithful to the book.  Sandra Bullock is good, but it would have to be a weak year for Leading Actresses (or a concerted marketing effort by Warner's) to get her an Oscar nom.  But the funniest line in the movie is when Bullock's rich white family is going to see their adopted black son's first football game, and her character (keep in mind that they live in Memphis & she and her husband went to Ole Miss, which is a major plot point) remarks, "I've never seen so many rednecks in one place!"  And her precocious elementary school son retorts, "NASCAR. Not even close!"

[RGMike]

I went to see The Blind Side yesterday, having really liked the book.  Good film, quite faithful to the book.  Sandra Bullock is good, but it would have to be a weak year for Leading Actresses (or a concerted marketing effort by Warner's) to get her an Oscar nom... 

It *is* a very weak year, as it turns out.   And given the Academy's determination to up their ratings and appeal to a broader audience, I'm guessing she gets a nod. (the movie has made $100M in just 10 days!)  Here are the female perfs considered "in play" for a nomination right now:

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Gabby Sidibe, Precious
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Penelope Cruz, Broken Embraces
Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M.
Catalina Saavedra, The Maid

I think the first 4 on that list are slam-dunks; the 5th nominee will be one of the others, all of whom are in smaller, little-seen art-house or foreign-language movies except for Clotillard (Nine will be getting a BIG Oscar push). The only other variable is if someone decides Streep is Supporting in J&J and Lead in It's Complicated.

What do you say, re: the criticism that the black kid barely has 10 lines of dialog in the whole film and is portrayed as "a bystander in his own story", to quote one review I've read?

[Tinka Cat]

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Gabby Sidibe, Precious
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Penelope Cruz, Broken Embraces
Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M.
Catalina Saavedra, The Maid

I haven't seen any of these, although Precious is on my list.

[urth]

It *is* a very weak year, as it turns out.  And given the Academy's determination to up their ratings and appeal to a broader audience, I'm guessing she gets a nod. (the movie has made $100M in just 10 days!)  Here are the female perfs considered "in play" for a nomination right now:

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Gabby Sidibe, Precious
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Penelope Cruz, Broken Embraces
Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M.
Catalina Saavedra, The Maid

I think the first 4 on that list are slam-dunks; the 5th nominee will be one of the others, all of whom are in smaller, little-seen art-house or foreign-language movies except for Clotillard (Nine will be getting a BIG Oscar push). The only other variable is if someone decides Streep is Supporting in J&J and Lead in It's Complicated.

What do you say, re: the criticism that the black kid barely has 10 lines of dialog in the whole film and is portrayed as "a bystander in his own story", to quote one review I've read?

AMPAS upped the number of nominations *only* in the Best Pic category, right? So we still get just 5 noms in the acting and other categories?

While we were back east, Sarah's aunt & uncle (who we were staying with) went to see The Blind Side, and she just LOVED it, although her taste is nothing if not middle-of-the-road. She didn't mention a dearth of lines for the kid in the film, although it's possible she didn't notice.