I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells!
Merry Christmas, everybody!
Monthly Archives: December 2008
Song of the Day #153: ‘Christmas Time is Here’ – Vince Guaraldi
Of all the great old Christmas specials — and there are many — my favorite has always been A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s quite extraordinary how well the printed comic translated to animation, in my view surpassing anything Charles Schultz pulled off with paper and pen.
From the amazing voice work of the young characters and the famous ‘waah-waah’ voices of the parents to Vince Guaraldi’s delightful score, the Peanuts specials hit on all cylinders. They also tapped into a bittersweet melancholy that I never quite got from the comic strip (though I admit I haven’t been an avid reader of the series).
Song of the Day #152: ‘Little Drummer Boy’ – Bing Crosby & David Bowie
As my sister mentioned in the ‘Life on Mars?’ thread, this was the clip that turned her from David Bowie-averse into a fan.
About as unlikely a pair as you can imagine, Bing Crosby and David Bowie joined up in 1977 to film what would become a classic Christmas clip. Crosby wanted to feature a talented young rocker on his yearly Christmas special and Bowie got the call.
The big ‘top ten’ chart
Every year Movie City News puts up a chart aggregating hundreds of critics’ top ten lists, and it’s usually pretty illuminating to see what stands out.
It’s still early (only 63 lists have been posted and the final number usually comes in around 300) but the current data is already displaying some interesting trends.
Song of the Day #151: ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ – Band Aid
I fondly remember the face-off between Africa awareness tribute songs in the mid-80s. First came today’s song, Bob Geldof’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?,’ released in 1984 and recorded by rock stars across the pond. A year later came the U.S. response, the Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie-penned ‘We Are the World.’
That was my first taste of a British-American feud in popular music, and for my money the Brits won hands down. ‘We Are the World’ was a high-gloss schmaltz-fest, but ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ seemed far more genuine.
Twenty-four years later, I kind of feel like both songs are crap.
Meet Me In Montauk 