We have been host to some of the girls from the finest finishing school across the country – The Mata Hari Finishing School for Young Ladies – for years. Here’s the final guest programmers with some of their favorite Christmas jingles (we can not identify them by name because many of them are avoiding extradition for war crimes in other countries.)
Remember, it’s the holidays (there are no bad choices, especially if the guest programmers soil your hand towels frequently.)
Baby It’s Cold Outside Idina Menzel & Michael Bublé –
Frank Loesser wrote this song in 1944 for a housewarming party he and his wife were throwing after moving into the Hotel Navarro in New York. In 1949, MGM offered Frank Loesser good money for the song, and used it in Neptune’s Daughter. It was performed twice; once with Ricardo Montalban trying to persuade Esther Williams to stay, and again with Betty Garrett trying to detain Red Skelton. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.
Step Into Christmas Elton John –
Step Into Christmas was written on a Sunday morning and recorded in the afternoon at the London Trident Studios. The single was released in November 1973 and received heavy airplay, although it only reached #24 on the UK chart. It may have done better, but buyers may have been put off by the B-side: Ho! Ho! Ho! (Who’d Be A Turkey At Christmas).
All I Want for Christmas Is You Mariah Carey –
In terms of airplay (at least in America), this is by far the most successful Christmas song written after 1963, when Bing Crosby recorded Do You Hear What I Hear? The most popular holiday songs on American radio were all written between 1934-1963, with Sleigh Ride, usually the most-played.
It’s Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas Michael Bublé –
This song celebrates that time when Christmas decorations appear in stores and public displays, which has been earlier and earlier in recent years. There are some dated references in the song, such as the “five and ten,” which is a store selling inexpensive items. The “Hopalong boots” the child wishes for are a reference to those worn by the fictional cowboy Hopalong Cassidy.
Carol of the Bells John Williams –
Most people automatically associate Carol of the Bells with Christmas, but its origins tell a different story. It’s actually based on a traditional Ukrainian folk chant that celebrated the season of rebirth and anticipated a prosperous New Year. In 1916, composer Mykola Leontovich borrowed the four-note melody for a new choir song called Shchedryk, which debuted in the US at Carnegie Hall in 1921. When American choir director Peter Wilhousky heard the song, he wrote new lyrics and introduced his version, called Carol of the Bells, to holiday audiences. He copyrighted and published it in 1936.
The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have. Today’s second Christmas theme is – Genes do not a family make part 1
No family is perfect – Even kids abused by their domineering father
Today’s Christmas countdown – A Beach Boys Christmas
Toy Drive Public Service Announcement
The Man With All The Toys –
As a single in 1964, the song had limited success (No. 6 on the Billboard Christmas chart), but built sales over successive Christmases and is listed by Billboard in the Top 100 selling Christmas songs in history.
Child of Winter (Christmas Song) –
This song was released two days before Christmas and thus had no chance of commercial success. It is now an almost impossible single to find and was released for the first time on album for the 1998 Ultimate Christmas set, though it was intended for the 1977 Christmas album.
Santa’s Got An Airplane –
I’ll be home for Christmas –
This was written by Walter Kent (music) and James Kimball “Kim” Gannon (words). Though Kent and Gannon collaborated on other songs, none reached the same level of popularity as this song.
Another Christmas song they got around to sing in between the verbal abuse from their father
Santa’s beard –
The album, The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album, from which the song is from, was devised as a response to Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift for You, an album Brian had attended recording sessions for. He played piano on the song Santa Claus Is Coming to Town but was dismissed by Spector due to his substandard piano playing.
There is no place like home for the holiday.
21 04
Demand Euphoria!
The Haus of Dcaligari 