Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.
Fats Domino was one of the top artists of the 50s. He wasn’t wild or flashy like his peers but he was just good or better. When I think of the fifties…this is just me personally…I think of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Everly Brothers, Elvis, and last but not least… Fats Domino. Vastly different styles but all are great.
Domino was the youngest of eight children in a musical family, he spoke Creole French before learning English. At age 7 his brother in law taught him how to play the piano. By the time he was 10, he was already performing as a singer and pianist.
Fat’s first hit in the Billboard 100 was the great “Aint That A Shame” in 1955 written by Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew that peaked at #16 and his last charting song was a cover of the Beatles “Lady Madonna”(great version) that peaked at #100 in 1968. He had 45 songs in the top 100 and 4 top 10 hits…many more top 10 hits in the R&B Charts.
As soon as these artists faded at the end of the fifties and Buddy died…there were 3 or 4 weak years in the early sixties until that band from Liverpool came…gosh I can’t remember their name.
Walking To New Orleans
This time I’m walkin’ to New Orleans I’m walkin’ to New Orleans I’m going to need two pair of shoes When I get through walkin’ me blues When I get back to New Orleans
I’ve got my suitcase in my hand Now, ain’t that a shame I’m leavin’ here today Yes, I’m goin’ back home to stay Yes, I’m walkin’ to New Orleans
You used to be my honey Till you spent all my money No use for you to cry I’ll see you bye and bye ‘Cause I’m walkin’ to New Orleans
I’ve got no time for talkin’ I’ve got to keep on walkin’ New Orleans is my home That’s the reason while I’m gone Yes, I’m walkin’ to New Orleans
I’m walkin’ to New Orleans I’m walkin’ to New Orleans I’m walkin’ to New Orleans
This came off of John Lennon’s debut solo album….John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The church bell heard at the start of this track was actually faster and higher-pitched initially, and John actually slowed it down to make it sound spookier and more haunting.
What I’ve told people is if you have a party going on…don’t play this album! Don’t get me wrong…this is one of the great solo Beatle albums but it’s not a toe tapper to say the least. It’s probably my favorite Lennon album. This song is obviously about his mom Julia.
This is one of three songs which Lennon wrote for his mother, along with “Julia” and “My Mummy’s Dead”.
He lost his mother when he was 17. She was walking to catch a bus and was hit at a crosswalk and killed instantly. The driver was Eric Clague an off-duty cop… he was also a learner-driver and shouldn’t have been on the road unaccompanied, and he was suspended from the force because of it…he was never charged with being drunk, and alcohol wasn’t mentioned at the inquest.
His Aunt Mimi raised John from a youth when his mom and dad split up and his dad left never to be seen by John again until he was famous. He lost his mom when he was young and permanently at 17 when she was killed.
Lennon wrote this while he was undergoing Primal Scream therapy by psychotherapist Arthur Janov… where he was dealing with a lot of issues that were detailed in the lyrics.
The album peaked at #6 in the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, and #8 in the UK in 1970.
Lou Reed: “That was a song that had realism,” “When I first heard it, I didn’t even know it was him. I just said, ‘Who the f–k is that? I don’t believe that.’ Because the lyrics to that are real. You see, he wasn’t kidding around. He got right down to it, as down as you can get. I like that in a song.”
From Songfacts
This features Klaus Voormann on bass and Ringo Starr on drums. In addition to his work in music, Voorman is an artist, and designed the cover of The Beatles album Revolver. He also played bass with Manfred Mann.
On many of his early solo recordings such as this one, Lennon’s arrangements are more simpler and sparser than on the Beatles songs. In the January 1971 edition of Rolling Stone, he explained this was because, “I’ve always liked simple rock.” The former Beatle added: “I was influenced by acid and got psychedelic, like the whole generation, but really, I like rock and roll and I express myself best in rock. I had a few ideas to do this with ‘Mother’ and that with ‘Mother’ but when you just hear, the piano does it all for you, your mind can do the rest. I think the backings on mine are as complicated as the backings on any record you’ve ever heard, if you’ve got an ear.
Anybody knows that. Any musician will tell you, just play a note on a piano, it’s got harmonics in it. It got to that. What the hell, I didn’t need anything else.”
Producer John Leckie explained to Uncut magazine August 2010 that the screams heard on this track were actually edited into the song once the rest of the vocal had been recorded. Lennon would attempt the screaming finale every night, careful never to try it in the daytime in case it destroyed his voice. “The screams were double-tracked,” Leckie pointed out. “John didn’t like the raw sound of his own voice. He always wanted lots of stuff on it. Spector’s contribution, really, was to be generous with reverb and echo.”
Arthur Janov created primal scream therapy, which he detailed in his book The Primal Scream. Folks were always sending Lennon books, and a copy of Janov’s book found him. Lennon was intrigued because the therapy reminded him of the screaming Yoko would often do in her works, but then he looked into it as a way of helping him resolve issues from his childhood. John and Yoko invited Janov to England, where they met with him to vet his practice. They liked what they heard and decided to try some sessions when they went to Los Angeles. For Lennon, it was a breakthrough, and led to this song.
“It’s just a matter of breaking the wall that’s there in yourself and come out and let it all hang out to the point that you start crying,” Yoko said in describing the therapy (Uncut, 1998). She added: “He was going back to the days of when he wanted to scream, ‘Mother.’ He was able to go back to that childhood, that memory.”
This is the theme song to the FX TV series Better Things, which stars Pamela Adlon as a single mom to three girls. To get the song, she wrote a letter to Yoko Ono and lobbied FX to budget for it.
David Bowie covered this in 1998 for a Lennon tribute collection that never came to fruition. His take was done in collaboration with longtime producer Tony Visconti. It remained unreleased until January 8, 2021, when it was made available for the first time to mark what would have been Bowie’s 74th birthday.
Mother
Mother, you had me But I never had you I, I wanted you You didn’t want me So, I I just got to tell you Goodbye Goodbye
Father, you left me But I never left you I needed you You didn’t need me So, I I just got to tell you, mm Goodbye Goodbye
Children, don’t do What I have done I couldn’t walk And I tried to run So, I I just got to tell you Goodbye Goodbye
Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home
Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home
Mama don’t go Daddy come home Mama don’t go Daddy come home
Usually I favor the original version of songs. I would say 9 out of 10 times I do but the Stones covered Just My Imagination and I must admit I like the Stones version a little more than the Temptations….and I LOVE the Temptations. I’m in the minority in this one I’m sure.
This was a song our band covered and covered. I probably have played it more than Mick ever did. That may be the reason I like this one more.
The Stones covered this in 1978 for their album Some Girls. It wasn’t the first time they covered a Temptations song…. in 1974 they covered “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” and had a hit peaking at #17 in the Billboard 100. That song was a little stronger than this one but I like how they roughed this one up.
Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote this song and it was released in 1971 by the Temptations. You really can’t compare the two versions…they are apples and oranges. The Temptation version peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #8 in the UK, and #72 in Canada…#72 Canada?
This was not released as a single in the US.
For The US Office fans….This was used in the season 4 finale, “Goodbye, Toby.” Darryl sings it at Toby’s goodbye party when Jim almost proposes to Pam.
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)
I look out my window, watch her as she passes by And I say to myself I’m such a lucky guy To have a girl like her is a dream come true And of all the girls in New York she loves me true
I’ll tell ya, it was just my imagination, once again Running away with me It was just my imagination Running away with me
Well soon we’ll be married and raise a family Two boys for you, what about two girls for me I say I am just a fellow with a one track mind Whatever it is I want to baby, I seek and I shall find
I’ll tell ya, it was just my imagination, once again Running away with me It was just my imagination Running away with me
Every night I hope and pray Dear Lord, hear my plea Don’t ever let another take her love from me Or I will surely die
Her love is ecstasy When her arms enfold me I hear her tender rhapsody But in reality, she doesn’t even know me
It was just my imagination Running away with me It was just my imagination Running away with me
I’ll tell ya, it was just my imagination, once again Running away with me It was just my imagination Running away with me Running away with me
It was just my imagination, once again Running away with me I can tell ya it was just my imagination Running away with me, running away with me Running away, running away, running away, running away with me Running away, running away, running away, running away with me Running away, running away…
I hope everyone had a great Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing day. My first non-holiday post since last week…we will start off with the smooth ool soul sound of the Chi-Lites.
This song is a perfect soul/pop song. I need to dive into the Chi-Lites catalog more because the two I know from them the most are this one and Have You Seen Her?
I never knew how to prounce their name until I found this bit of info…you pronounce it Shy-Lites“… This song could be the definition of 1970s soul music. I never knew for sure if it was “shy” Chi like Chicago.
Oh Girl was written and sung by group leader Eugene Record. The other three Chi-Lites contributed harmonies. Eugene wasn’t enamored of the song after he wrote it but it soon would prove to be his most successful. Eugene, Robert “Squirrel” Lester, and Clarence Johnson formed the doo wop group the Chanteurs in the late ’50s.
In 1964…they changed their name to Marshall & the Chi-Lites, adding the “C” as tribute to their hometown Chicago. By the end of the year, Johnson had left the group and the remaining quartet shortened their name to the Chi-Lites. Over the next four years, the group continued to perform and release independent singles, with Record slowly emerging as the group’s lead singer, songwriter, and producer.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the R&B Charts, #9 in Canada, and #3 in the UK in 1972.
Members have come and gone in the band. Eugene Record passed away in 2005. The band is still out there performing with Marshall Thompson as the lone original member.
I remember in the 1980s that Paul Young did a really good version of this song. Others to cover this song was Leo Sayer and Smokey Robinson.
Eugene Record:“I gave Carl Davis 7 songs on a tape and he called me to say there’s a #1 tune on there. I named them all before ‘Oh Girl’ and I thought he was kidding.”
Oh Girl
Oh, girl I’d be in trouble if you left me now ‘Cause I don’t know where to look for love I just don’t know how
Oh, girl How I depend on you To give me love when I need it Right on time you would always be
All my friends call me a fool They say, “Let the woman take care of you” So I try to be hip and think like the crowd But even the crowd can’t help me now, oh…oh…oh…oh…oh…oh…
Oh, girl Tell me what am I gonna do I know I’ve got a guilty face Girl, I feel so out of place, oh, yeah…yeah…
Don’t know where to go, who to see, yeah
Oh, girl I guess I better go I can save myself a lot of useless tears Girl, I’ve gotta get away from here
Oh, girl Pain will double if you leave me now ‘Cause I don’t know where to look for love And I don’t, I don’t know how
Oh, yeah Mmm…hmm…
Oh, girl Why do I love you so, yeah Mmm… Better be on my way, I can’t stay
This song is not only my favorite Christmas Carol… I think it’s up there with the best songs ever written. I hope everyone has a great Christmas/Holiday.
There are over 26,000 different versions of “Silent Night” on Spotify, meaning you could listen to a different rendition of the carol every night for 72 years.
Halfway through December 1818, the church organ in St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, 11 miles north of Salzburg in what is now Austria, broke (a popular version of the story claims that mice had eaten out the bellows). The curate, 26-year-old Josef Mohr, realized it couldn’t be repaired in time to provide music on Christmas Eve. He told his troubles to his friend, a headmaster and amateur composer named Franz Gruber, while giving him as a present a poem he had written two years earlier. Gruber was so taken by the rhythm of the poem that he set it to music, and on Christmas Eve there was music after all. Mohr played his guitar while the pair sang the song. It was the first public performance of “Stille Nacht” or as we know it “Silent Night.”
It is believed that Silent Night has been translated into over 300 languages around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time.
From Songfacts
Bing Crosby’s version became his best-seller of the 1930s.
Music licensing company PPL announced in December 2010 that this carol tops the list of Britain’s “most recorded Christmas song of all time.” Said Mike Dalby, Lead Reporting Analyst at PPL: “Silent Night is a beautiful carol which encapsulates the feeling of Christmas entirely. Everyone from punk band The Dickies right through to Sinead O’Connor has recorded it, which exemplifies just how much it resonates with all different types of artists.”
According to PPL, Sinead O’Connor’s 1991 recording was the most popular version of the carol in Britain.
When the organ builder finally did show up to repair the St. Nicholas organ, he was given a copy of the “Silent Night” composition and brought it home. From there, traveling folk singers got a hold of it and began incorporating the carol into their repertoire. It didn’t make its way to America until 1839.
As the song gained traction throughout Europe, Franz Gruber composed several different orchestral arrangements. He donated all profits from the carol to local charities for children and the elderly, and eventually died penniless.
According to Steve Sullivan’s Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Crosby, a devout Catholic, refused to record the religious song, arguing it would be “like cashing in on the church or the Bible.” Crosby met with Father Richard Ranaghan, a priest trying to raise money for overseas missions, and decided to donate the royalties to the cause. But Ranaghan died in a car accident later that year, so the money went to several charities throughout the US and abroad.
This song lends itself to interpretation because the first four bars are all on the same chord. Jim Brickman explains: “There’s room to treat it dynamically in a different way: in the tempo, in the sounds and silences, in the time signature.”
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright.
‘Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright.
‘Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Good morning everyone and I hope you have a great Christmas.
The guitar in this song is haunting…
This song is actually Hynde’s tribute to guitarist and founding band member James Honeyman-Scott, who died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 25.
“2000 Miles” was released as a single in December of 1983 and appeared as the 10th track of The Pretenders’ Learning to Crawl album. The single was popular in the UK, where it peaked at #15 on the UK Singles Chart. Learning to Crawl peaked at #5 in the Billboard 200 albums chart.
In 2014, while finishing up her album Stockholm, Hynde collaborated with Bjorn Yttling on an updated version of “2000 Miles. It was released as a Christmas single in the UK that December.
2000 Miles
He’s gone two thousand miles It’s very far The snow is falling down Gets colder day by day I miss you The children will sing He’ll be back at Christmas timeIn these frozen and silent nights Sometimes in a dream you appear Outside under the purple sky Diamonds in the snow sparkle Our hearts were singing It felt like Christmas timeTwo thousand miles Is very far through the snow I’ll think of you Wherever you go
He’s gone two thousand miles It’s very far The snow is falling down Gets colder day by day I miss you
I can hear people singing It must be Christmas time I hear people singing It must be Christmas time
Merry Christmas to the entire wordpress world. This is a great community we have going on and I hope everyone has a wonderful day today.
I just heard the Jackson 5 version again yesterday. Every year I usually post the Bruce version…that one is my favorite version but I wanted to changed it up this year.
I’ve never been a huge Michael Jackson fan except with the Jackson 5. He was immensely talented and had some great selling albums. Maybe it was just being burned out hearing him.. The Jackson 5 though I really liked and still do. I thought they had some great pop/soul/bubblegum singles in the early to mid seventies.
This version was released in 1970 and it peaked at #46 in the Billboard 100 and it came off the album Jackson 5 Christmas Album. The album peaked at #53 in the Billboard Album Charts and #45 in Canada.
According to Wiki: The album spent four weeks at the number one position on Billboard magazine’s special Christmas Albums chart that the magazine published in December 1970, making it the best-selling Christmas album of that year and also of the year 1972 in the United States.
According to a Top 30 list released by the performance rights organization ASCAP in December 2014, this is the most-performed holiday song of all time. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” was ranked second and “White Christmas” third.
This was written in 1932 by Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots. They had trouble convincing anyone to produce it because it was seen as a kids’ song, which would have been very hard to sell. The big break came when Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio show in 1934, and the song became an instant hit. Coots was a writer for Cantor’s show and pushed for the host to perform it. Cantor was going to pass on the song but was convinced by his wife, Ida, to give it a try.
One of the most successful Christmas carols of all time, this was outsold only by “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “White Christmas.”
Santa Clause Is Coming To Town
Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town
You better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He is making a list And checking it twice Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is comin’ to town, oh yeah Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake He knows if you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness sake
Oh, you d better watch out You better not cry Better not pout I’m telling you why
Oh, Santa Claus is comin’ to town, oh yeah Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town, woo hoo
Woo hoo Woo hoo Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town
Little tin horns And little toy drums Rooty-toot-toot And rump-a-tum-tums Curly-haired dolls That tootle and coo Elephants, boats and kiddie cars too
Oh, Santa Claus is comin’ to town, oh yeah Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town
One more time now
Santa Claus is comin’ to town, oh yeah Santa Claus is comin’ to town Santa Claus is comin’ to town
I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. I looked back and I’ve never posted this song before. It’s never been my favorite Christmas song but it has grown on me through the years.
This song was recorded during the sessions for the McCartney II album which featured Coming Up. Paul went to his farm and laid down all the tracks himself. He was experimenting with an early synthesizer called a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, which was also used on Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” and the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes.”
Released as a single, it peaked at #6 in the UK, #39 in Canada, and #28 in the Billboard 100 in 1979. It took him just ten minutes to write the song.
Although the members of Wings do not feature on the song, they do appear in the song’s music video, which was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex. McCartney recalled to NME in 2012… “We went out to some pub somewhere, and so that was a laugh… we just run out of the pub occasionally, filmed a bit, and then went back into the pub. So that was quite a nice evening!”
Diana Ross, Demi Lovato, Kelly Rowland, Hanson and The Monkees have all made their own versions.
The Monkees did a stripped down version of this song without the synth that is really good.
Here is the Monkees version in 2018
Wonderful Christmastime
The moon is right The spirits up We’re here tonight And that’s enough Simply having a wonderful Christmastime Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
The party’s on The feelin’s here That only comes This time of year
Simply having a wonderful Christmastime Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
The choir of children sing their song Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding ooo Ooo ooo toot toot toot toot toot toot
We’re simply having a wonderful Christmastime Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
The word is out About the town To lift a glass Ah don’t look down
Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
The choir of children sing their song They practiced all year long Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong Ding dong, ding dong, dong, dong, dong, dong
The party’s on The spirits up We’re here tonight And that’s enough
Simply having a wonderful Christmastime We’re simply having a wonderful Christmastime
The moon is right The spirits up We’re here tonight Oh and that’s enough
We’re simply having a wonderful Christmastime Simply having a wonderful Christmastime Simply having a wonderful Christmastime
I know what I was doing on November 30, 1977. I was watching Merrie Olde Christmas special as a kid. I didn’t appreciate the weirdness of the combination of Bing Crosby and David Bowie at the time. Something that the seventies did well and sometimes bad…was to intersect generations on variety shows. This one was a good combination.
This special had guest stars Twiggy, David Bowie, Ron Moody, Stanley Baxter, and The Trinity Boys Choir. It was the duet with Bing Crosby and David Bowie that has been remembered. I remember watching this knowing that Bing Crosby had died the month earlier. The duet was taped on September 11, 1977, and Crosby died on October 14, 1977.
David Bowie’s mother was a huge Bing Crosby fan and Bing Crosby’s children were big David Bowie fans…so the two agreed to sing together. It was questionable at first if it would work out.
Mary Crosby: “The doors opened and David walked in with his wife,” she recalled. “They were both wearing full-length mink coats, they have matching full makeup and their hair was bright red. We were thinking, ‘Oh my god.'” Nathaniel Crosby, Bing’s son, added: “It almost didn’t happen. I think the producers told him to take the lipstick off and take the earring out. It was just incredible to see the contrast.”
Another possible hitch happened with Bowie. He didn’t like The Little Drummer Boy and refused to sing it. The writers then wrote a revised version of the song that he liked. They wrote a counterpart section for Bowie to sing. Crosby liked the challenge of his part. The rest is history and one of the most unusual pairings you will ever see…
One funny part is Bowie’s idea of “older fellas” at the time is John Lennon and Harry Nilsson.
The Little Drummer Boy (Peace On Earth)
Come they told me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum A newborn king to see pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Our finest gifts we bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum
[Verse 2: Bowie and Crosby] Peace on Earth can it be? Come they told me pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Years from now, perhaps we’ll see? A newborn king to see pa-rum-pum-pum-pum See the day of glory Our finest gift we bring pa-rum-pum-pum-pum See the day, when men of good will To lay before the king pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Live in peace, live in peace again Rum-pum-pum-pum, Rum-pum-pum-pum Peace on Earth So to honour him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Can it be When we come
[Bridge: Bowie and Crosby in unison] Every child must be made aware Every child must be made to care Care enough for his fellow man To give all the love that he can
[Verse 4: Bowie and Crosby] I pray my wish will come true Little baby pa-rum-pum-pum-pum For my child and your child too I stood beside him there pa-rum-pum-pum-pum He’ll see the day of glory I played my drum for him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum See the day when men of good will I played my best for him pa-rum-pum-pum-pum Live in peace, live in peace again Rum-pum-pum-pum, rum-pum-pum-pum Peace on Earth Me and my drum Can it be
Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We always have our Christmas on Christmas Eve night. Some of the family comes over and we all celebrate. My nephew has three children and one is only 3 years old so we will have a good time. This year my son is in Germany visiting his girlfriend so it’s our first Christmas without him…that part is hard but we will enjoy this Christmas Eve.
Watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every year is the same as setting up the tree. Every year I would look forward to seeing this along with the others but what a fantastic durable show this has been. When I hear Burl Ives in anything…I think of him as the narrator Sam the Snowman of this program.
I’ve marked out some time to watch this tonight during our Christmas Eve party.
The characters are wonderful. Well except those other young reindeer who really come down on Rudolph when his nose lights up.
Hermey the elf who wants to be a dentist Clarice – The reindeer who likes Rudolph just as he is red nose and all. Yukon Cornelius the prospector who loves silver and gold and has a tongue that can find his silver and gold. Abominable Snowman – The bad guy of the show who only needs a dentist to make him a good guy. Head Elf – He leans on Hermey to get his elf self-act together and discourages him from being a dentist…I never liked him too much.
Throughout the special, Yukon Cornelius is seen throwing his pickaxe into the ground, taking it out and licking it. It turns out that he is checking for neither gold nor silver; Yukon was actually searching for an elusive peppermint mine. In a scene right at the end of the special’s original broadcast, deleted the next year to make room for the Misfit Toys’ new scene, Cornelius pulled his pick from the ground, licked it and said, “Peppermint! What I’ve been searching for all my life! I’ve struck it rich! I’ve got me a peppermint mine! Wahoo!” The scene was restored in 1998 and has been reinstated in all the subsequent home video release except for the 2004 DVD release. However, this scene is still cut from recent televised airings.
The Island of Misplaced Toys got to me when I was a kid. I really felt sorry for these lonely toys. King Moonracer was over the island and tried to convinced Rudolph to tell Santa about them so he could pick them up and find kids who would play with them.
The original 1964 airing did not include the closing scene where Santa picks up the misfit toys. That scene was added in 1965, in response to complaints that Santa was not shown fulfilling his promise to include them in his annual delivery.
The stop animation in this works really well.
The songs are really good. Silver and Gold, Holly Jolly Christmas, Jingle Jingle Jingle, We Are Santa’s Elves, There’s Always Tomorrow, We’re a Couple of Misfits and The Most Wonderful Day of the Year.
Merry Christmas Everybody… for all of the UK readers…I know I know…you are so tired of it. I’ve only heard it for the past three years or so. There are a few Christmas songs along with Alices Restaurant that I reblog every year…and this is one of them. I have this on our music list at Christmas and we love it.
This is fast becoming my favorite rock Christmas song second only to John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
This is a great Christmas song that was released in 1973 and ever since it re-enters the charts every December in the UK. The song never hit in America but it went to #1 in the UK Charts. I first heard it on a Doctor Who episode in the mid-2000s and have liked it ever since.
This was based on a psychedelic song, “My Rocking Chair,” which Noddy Holder wrote in 1967. In 1973 the Slade vocalist decided to convert it into a Christmas song after a night out drinking at a local pub.
He and the band’s bass player and co-writer Jimmy Lea camped out at Noddy’s mother’s house and got down to changing the lyrics to make them more Christmassy. Jimmy Lea incorporated into the verse parts of another song which he was then writing and Noddy re-wrote the words incorporating different aspects of the Christmas holiday season as they came to mind.
This went straight in at #1 in the UK, selling over 300,000 copies on the day of its release, making it at the time the fastest ever selling record in Britain. It eventually became Slade’s best-ever selling single in the UK, selling over a million copies.
In the UK this has become a standard, and it is usually reissued in its original form each Christmas. On several occasions, the song has re-entered the Top 40.
UK copyright collection society and performance rights organization PRS For Music estimated in 2009 that 42 percent of the earth’s population has heard this tune.
The song was written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea of Slade. It was produced by Chas Chandler formerly of the Animals.
Noddy Holder: “I wrote the original verse with the lyrics, ‘Buy me a rocking chair, I’ll watch the world go by. Bring me a mirror, I’ll look you in the eye,’ in 1967 in the aftermath of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper,” I was being psychedelic. Dave (Hill) wrote another part to the song but it didn’t work so we put it away. Then in 1973 he remembered my verse one day when we were trying to write a Christmas single. We changed the words to, ‘Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall?’ and the rest fell into place.”
From Songfacts.
When Noddy Holder wrote the line “Look to the future now, it’s only just begun,” he had in mind the strikes that were blighting Britain at the time. He told the Daily Mail On Sunday November 10, 2007: “We’d decided to write a Christmas song and I wanted to make it reflect a British family Christmas. Economically, the country was up the creek. The miners had been on strike, along with the gravediggers, the bakers and almost everybody else. I think people wanted something to cheer them up – and so did I. That’s why I came up with the line.”
The harmonium used on this is the same one that John Lennon used on his Mind Games album, which was being recorded at the studio next door.
This was recorded at the Record Plant studios in New York while the band were on a tour of the States in the summer of 1973. When they recorded the vocals, they sang the chorus on the stairs in order to achieve the echo that they required. Guitarist Jimmy Lea recalled to Uncut magazine in 2012: “All these Americans were walking past in their suits thinking we were off our rockers singing about Christmas in the summer.”
Producer Chas Chandler opened the song with a howl recorded during some of Noddy Holder’s vocal exercises.
A few months before Slade recorded this song, drummer Don Powell was badly injured in a car crash. Though his physical recovery was quick, the mental scars took longer to heal. Noddy Holder explained to The Daily Mail December 18, 2009: “The doctors told us to get him playing drums again as soon as possible to boost his confidence. But he was suffering from short-term memory loss – he could remember our old songs, but not the new ones. So, instead of recording live, we built up Merry Xmas Everybody layer by layer. That gave it a more poignant, restrained sound. It was something new for us. But the fates were with us and it became our biggest hit.”
Noddy Holder’s earliest childhood memory served as inspiration for one of the song’s lines. He recalled to the Mail On Sunday’s Live magazine: “As a lad we used to knock sleds with old orange boxes and go tobogganing down this big old quarry in the snow at Christmas. It was the inspiration for the line ‘are you hoping that the snow will start to fall.’”
I want that hat he starts off with… in this video…very subtle.
Merry Christmas Everybody
Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall? It’s the time that every Santa has a ball Does he ride a red nosed reindeer? Does a ‘ton up’ on his sleigh Do the fairies keep him sober for a day?
Chorus: So here it is merry Christmas Everybody’s having fun Look to the future now It’s only just begun
Are you waiting for the family to arrive? Are you sure you got the room to spare inside? Does your granny always tell ya that the old are the best? Then she’s up and rock ‘n’ rollin’ with the rest
Chorus: So here it is merry Christmas Everybody’s having fun Look to the future now It’s only just begun
What will your daddy do When he sees your Mama kissin’ Santa Claus? Ah ah
Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall? Are you hoping that the snow will start to fall? Do you ride on down the hillside in a buggy you have made? When you land upon your head then you’ve been slayed
Chorus (4x) So here it is merry Christmas Everybody’s having fun Look to the future now It’s only just begun
You’re a mean one…Mr. Grinch. I first posted this in 2018…It’s not Christmas without the Grinch…
The cartoon was released in 1966 and has been shown every year since. This one along with Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and a few more were a part of Christmas. These specials would prime you for the big day.
One cool thing about the cartoon was that Boris Karloff was the narrator. Thurl Ravenscroft (voice of Tony the Tiger) sang the great song “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch. ”
The citizens of Whoville looked and acted like the others of Dr. Suess’s universe. They were all getting ready for Christmas while a certain someone…or thing looked down from Mt. Crumpit. The Grinch has hated Christmas for years and sees the Whovillians getting ready for Christmas and is determined once and for all to put an end to it.
He dresses up as Santa Clause and makes his poor dog Max act as a reindeer to swoop down and steal Christmas. The Grinch sleds down the hill almost killing Max and they soon reach Whoville. He is busted by one kid…Cindy Lou Who, who asks him questions as the Grinch took her family tree. He lies to her and sends her to bed.
In the morning after he has everything including “The Roast Beast,” he listens for the sorrow to begin.
You need to watch the rest or rewatch…
A live-action remake came out in 2000 but I still like this one the best. You cannot replicate Boris Karloff.
The Budget – Coming in at over $300,000, or $2.2 million in today’s dollars, the special’s budget was unheard of at the time for a 26-minute cartoon adaptation. For comparison’s sake, A Charlie Brown Christmas’s budget was reported as $96,000, or roughly $722,000 today (and this was after production had gone $20,000 over the original budget).
You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch The famous voice actor and singer, best known for providing the voice of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger, wasn’t recognized for his work in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Because of this, most viewers wrongly assumed that the narrator of the special, Boris Karloff, also sang the piece in question. Upset by this oversight, Geisel personally apologized to Ravenscroft and vowed to make amends. Geisel went on to pen a letter, urging all the major columnists that he knew to help him rectify the mistake by issuing a notice of correction in their publications.
Mr Grinch
You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch You really are a heel You’re as cuddly as a cactus You’re as charming as an eel Mr. Grinch You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch Your heart’s an empty hole Your brain is full of spiders You’ve got garlic in your soul, Mr Grinch I wouldn’t touch you with a Thirty-nine and a half foot pole
You’re a vile one, Mr. Grinch You have termites in your smile You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile Mr Grinch Given the choice between the two of you I’d take the seasick crocodile
You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch You’re a nasty wasty skunk Your heart is full of unwashed socks Your soul is full of gunk Mr Grinch
The three best words that best describe you Are as follows, and I quote” Stink Stank Stunk
You’re a rotter Mr Grinch You’re the king of sinful sots Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots Mr Grinch
Your soul is an appalling dump heap Overflowing with the most disgraceful Assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable Mangled up in tangled up knots
You nauseate me, Mr Grinch With a nauseous super nos You’re a crooked jerky jockey and You drive a crooked horse Mr Grinch
You’re a three-decker sauerkraut And toadstool sandwich With arsenic sauce
This Christmas song doesn’t get played a bunch here. I’ve always liked it since is was released. It was written by Billy Squier and was the B side to the single “My Kinda Lover.”
In 1981 MTV made it’s debut and Billy Squier’s career was going strong with the 1981 release of the Don’t Say No album. MTV at the beginning had a more family atmosphere. The crowd in this sing-a-long included technicians, the secretaries, the executives, the production assistants.
MTV helped countless careers. It made some careers larger than they would have been and some had careers beccause of MTV. It changed everything for a while.
Billy had a great career going on until the Rock Me Tonite video with the pink tank top…then it all fell apart in 1984.
The video was filmed at the Teletronics MTV studio.
VJ Nina Blackwood:“It was taped at our original Teletronics Studio on West 33rd Street and featured our original studio crew, who we all loved and were very close to, along with all the people from the MTV offices,” “Everybody traipsed down to the studio from 44th Street & 6th Ave for the taping. Billy Squier’s career was on fire at this time, and since he lived in NYC, he was a frequent guest at the studio, so it was appropriate that he was chosen for the video.”
“Pretty much what you see on camera is an accurate representation of the celebratory and fun feeling that was happening,” Blackwood said. “It was like one big happy family, which sums up the entire vibe of the early days of MTV. One of a kind experience. When I watch all of these early MTV Christmas videos, the overwhelming sensation I come away with is that of joyous love.”
Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You
Christmas is the time to say “I love you” Share the joys of laughter and good cheer Christmas is the time to say “I love you” And a feeling that will last all through the year
On the corner carolers are singing There’s a touch of magic in the air From grownup to minor no one could be finer Times are hard but no one seems to care Christmas Eve and all the world is watching Santa guides his reindeer through the dark From rooftop to chimney, from Harlem to Bimini They will find a way into your heart
Christmas is the time to say “I love you” Share the joys of laughter and good cheer Christmas is the time to say “I love you” And a feeling that will last all through the year
Just outside the window snow is falling But here beside the fire we share the glow Of moonlight and brandy, sweet talk and candy Sentiments that everyone should know Memories of the year that lays behind us Wishes for the year that’s yet to come And it stands to reason that good friends in season Make you feel that life has just begun
Christmas is the time to say “I love you” Share the joys of laughter and good cheer Christmas is the time to say “I love you” And a feeling that will last all through the year
So when spirits grow lighter And hopes are shinin’ brighter Then you know that Christmas time is here
***Since we have two Holiday Weekends coming up,This will be the last Twilight Zone until January 5, 2022…thank you***
The first thing you notice is a young Robert Duvall that stars in this episode. He gives a sensitive portrayal of Charley Parkes who suffers from some sort of social anxiety. Parkes has a hard time interacting with humans but finds a doll house with a doll that he feels comfortable with. He seems to be retreating into a world of fantasy… but is he? Duvall plays it brilliantly with sensitivity.
Barbara Barrie plays Myra Russell and she would later play Barney Miller’s wife in the 1970s. Charles Beaumont’s script is thoughtful and sensitive and flows well for the most part…Duvall is a big reason.
Of all the hour-long Twilight Zone episodes, Miniature is the only one never put into syndication. The reason is that when the series was originally syndicated, Miniature was involved in a lawsuit. A script entitled The Thirteenth Mannequin had been submitted to Cayuga Productions prior to Miniature. The script concerned an old man who preferred the company of store mannequinsmannequins who ultimately come to life. The suit claimed that since both works dealt with main characters becoming involved inanimate human figures who come to life, Miniature had stolen the idea.
Ultimately, the case was dismissed, both by the initial judge and on appeal. The Thirteenth Mannequin was no ancestor of Miniature. The curious thing about this whole affair is that if any Twilight Zone episode was similar to The Thirteenth Mannequin, it was Serlings The After Hoursand that was written long before anyone at Cayuga ever heard of The Thirteenth Mannequin. Even when it was submitted, The Thirteenth Mannequin was not unique; The Twilight Zone had already explored its central idea.
Still, the damage was done. Because of the suit, Miniature was aired only once until… It was re-aired in 1984 as part of The Twilight Zone Silver Anniversary Special. For this showing, the dollhouse scenes were colorized in an early public demonstration of the then-innovative colorization process.
This show was written by Rod Serling and Charles Beaumont
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
To the average person, a museum is a place of knowledge, a place of beauty and truth and wonder. Some people come to study, others to contemplate, others to look for the sheer joy of looking. Charley Parkes has his own reasons. He comes to the museum to get away from the world. It isn’t really the sixty-cent cafeteria meal that has drawn him here every day, it’s the fact that here in these strange, cool halls he can be alone for a little while, really and truly alone. Anyway, that’s how it was before he got lost and wandered into the Twilight Zone.
Summary
Mousey misfit Charley Parkes finds the world unfolding before him in a museum doll house to be more real than his boring job and overbearing mother.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
They never found Charley Parkes because the guard didn’t tell them what he saw in the glass case. He knew what they’d say and he knew they’d be right too because seeing is not always believing, especially if what you see happens to be an odd corner of the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited) Robert Duvall … Charley Parkes Pert Kelton … Mrs. Parkes Barbara Barrie … Myra Russell William Windom … Dr. Wallman Lennie Weinrib … Buddy Russell John McLiam … Guard Barney Phillips … Diemel Joan Chambers … Harriet Chet Stratton … Guide Richard Angarola Richard Angarola … The Suitor Nina Roman … The Maid Claire Griswold … The Doll Norman Burton … Office Worker (uncredited) Sally Kellerman … Office Worker (uncredited) Joseph V. Perry … Office Worker (uncredited)
There has been many versions of this song but this one is the one I listen to the most. The dynamics in this version is great.
This Dec 31st, 1980 performance of Merry Christmas Baby was recorded at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, during The River Tour. The song was played in its E Street Band arrangement. It was released in November 1986 as the B-side to WAR. This was the lead single from the Live/1975-85 box set.
Although Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley covered “Merry Christmas Baby” before Bruce did, it sounds like he based his version on Otis Redding’s 1968 version.
Lou Baxter wrote this song but it was called “Merry Christmas Blues” and Charles Brown took it home to work it out. He rewrote it with the new title. Baxter wanted Charles Brown to record it the way Charles rewrote it and it became a big hit with Brown singing with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers.
Then the music business struck again…The company promised Charles he would have a co-writer credit but of course, it didn’t happen and Johnny Moore had his name listed on the song instead. Charles never got paid royalties for the song. It was originally released in 1947 and peaked at #3 in the Charts.
Moore died, largely unknown, in the 1960s. Brown, meanwhile, became renowned as a pioneer of the laid-back, piano-driven style of West Coast blues and was recognized as an early influence on Ray Charles; he had a renaissance in the 1990s, touring with Bonnie Raitt.
Charles Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 but died before the induction.
It was also on a complication album A Very Special Christmas of various artists released in 1987.
Merry Christmas Baby
Bring it down, band!
Now, I just came here tonight to say… I just wanna say… I just wanna say…
Merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice Come on, merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice I feel just like I’m living, living in paradise
Now listen Now you see, I feel real good tonight And I got music on the radio And I feel real good tonight And I got music on the radio And the boys in the band are playing pretty good! Now, I feel just like I wanna kiss you Underneath my mistletoe
But now listen Santa came down chimney, half past three With lots of nice little presents for my baby and me Merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice And I feel like I’m living, just living in paradise Come on boys!
Well now, Santa came down chimney, half past three With lots of nice little presents for my baby and me Merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice I feel like I’m living, I’m living in paradise
And I just came down to say Merry Christmas baby I just wanna say, merry Christmas baby I just wanna say, merry Christmas baby I just wanna say, merry Christmas baby And happy New Year, too! Oh yeah! Play it boys, go! Merry Christmas Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-happy New Year Ohhhh!
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 