ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS 2023… IS A NEW (Older) XMAS SONG AT NO. 1!

Happy Holidays everyone!  I hope you are all doing well and staying safe out there!  So, it’s been awhile.  How long, you ask?  Well, since July 2022, when I was bursting with excitement over the newfound success of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).”  Before that, just two blog posts in 2021.  

Before I continue with this (return) blog post, I want to thank everyone who’s been reading my blog (which started in early 2016) and continue to enjoy it and comment about it, and continue to subscribe to it!  I’m forever grateful. 

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror, Christmas 2023 is already here…at least in the form of holiday music.  

For decades, pop singles charts in other parts of the world have celebrated the holiday season with an annual offering of old and new Xmas classics.  And, in Britain, at least, they’ve always made a big deal out of what would be the coveted “Christmas No. 1!”

Over here in the U.S., from at least the late 70s until a few years ago, it was very hard for a Christmas song to even chart on the BILLBOARD Hot 100.  The Eagles’ “Please Come Home For Christmas” reached No. 18, and the 1984 charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid (the biggest-selling U.K. single during the entire 1980s, and still the second-biggest of all time in the U.K.) made a big debut inside the Top 40, but by then, it was already January, and the highest it could go was No. 13, despite selling 2.5 million copies here in America and going Gold, because, at that point, no radio stations were playing it. 

Well, thanks in large part to streaming services and digital song sales, a few years ago, BILLBOARD updated its Hot 100 rules to include Christmas songs every year, if they got enough sales, airplay and streaming to warrant an appearance.  It’s been interesting.  

You have holiday classics more than or close to 60 years old by Burl Ives (“A Holly Jolly Christmas” from 1964), Brenda Lee (“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” from 1958) and Bobby Helms (“Jingle Bell Rock” from 1957) hanging around the Top 5 every Xmas since the Hot 100 update, and it’s cool.  

Even Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (which was never officially released as a single here in America) has found its way to the upper echelon of the BILLBOARD Hot 100, and with every year, climbs higher and higher, and in the last chart week of 2022, has since given Wham! their first Top 5 hit since “I’m Your Man” reached No. 3 in February 1986. 

And, leading the way during the holiday season every year since the update, Mariah Carey’s HUGELY POPULAR “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” from her 1994 multi-platinum holiday album, MERRY CHRISTMAS (which has sold 15 million copies worldwide).  “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was not allowed to chart in 1994, per BILLBOARD Hot 100 rules at the time, since it wasn’t officially released as a physical single.  

Now, I will easily admit that, while Mariah certainly has talent and then some, I have never really been a fan of Mariah Carey, and certainly not a fan of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”  But, when BILLBOARD updated its Hot 100 rule to include holiday music, as a singles chart nerd, when “All I Want For Christmas Is You” went to No. 1 in 2019 (after waiting 25 years), the various records (no pun intended) it set were impressive.  

To briefly borrow from Joni Mitchell’s “River” (from 1971), we’re coming on Christmas 2023, after ruling the BILLBOARD Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks spanning four holiday seasons, can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let another song, a new (older) song be the Christmas No. 1 here in America? 

With that said, and kind of inspired by Kate Bush’s monumental, unparalleled and triumphant return to the Hot 100 over the summer of 2022 with her brilliant 1985 classic, the aforementioned “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” what if we delved deep into the 80s for other Xmas classics to be the new (older) Christmas No. 1!

Thanks to its Season 4 inclusion in STRANGER THINGS, “Running Up That Hill” (the BILLBOARD No. 5 Song of Summer in 2022; No. 23 for all of 2022!) surprised everyone (yours truly included) by reaching No. 3 on the Hot 100, spending 15 consecutive weeks in the Top 10, and 20 new weeks on the Hot 100 (for a total of 40 weeks, when adding the 20 weeks it spent on the Hot 100 in 1985).

We could take a page from Kate Bush’s amazing chart run in the Summer of 2022 and do the same with a holiday gem from the 80s and beyond!  I know these are all long shots (…or are they?…), but it’s fun to think about.  So, let’s go!

KATE BUSH — DECEMBER WILL BE MAGIC AGAIN (1979).

Kate Bush performed a song on her 1979 Christmas holiday special called “December Will Be Magic Again.”  That version was never released as a single.  Another version a year later WAS released, and reached the U.K. Top 30.  But, it’s the original 1979 version I would love to see released and maybe even do well, especially after the comeback Kate had in 2022.

JOHN & YOKO AND THE PLASTIC ONO BAND — HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) (1971).

It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 43 years since the tragic death of John Lennon.  But, John’s music has endured, and, surprisingly, the 1971 song never reached the Top 40 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, until 2022, where it reached No. 38 on the Hot 100.

Following John’s death in 1980, several of his songs re-charted in the U.K. and other parts of the globe.  “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” reached a new U.K. peak in 1981 at No. 2 — right behind “Imagine” at No. 1.  I could totally see “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” re-enter the upper reaches of the Hot 100 every holiday season!

THE WAITRESSES — CHRISTMAS WRAPPING (1981).

“Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses (from the 1981 EP, I COULD RULE THE WORLD IF I COULD ONLY GET THE PARTS) is a song that started many of the holiday shows Maryhope and I did on STUCK IN THE 80s.  Honestly, it’s so much fun, I don’t know why it’s not on the Hot 100 every Christmas already!

THE RAMONES — MERRY CHRISTMAS (I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT TONIGHT) (UK REMIX; 1987).

The Ramones have actually hit the BILLBOARD Hot 100 three times, and all from the 1977 album, ROCKET TO RUSSIA: “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” reached No. 81, “Rockaway Beach” (their highest-charting single) went to No. 66, and their cover of the 1958 Bobby Freeman classic, “Do You Wanna Dance?” stopped at No. 86.  

In 1987, they released the song, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight),” and a U.K. remix of which became a holiday staple on STUCK IN THE 80s for a long time.  Wouldn’t you like to see The Ramones back on the chart and in the Top 40 for the first time?  Or the Top 10?  Or even No. 1?  I know I would!

CHRIS REA — DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (1986).

Englishman Chris Rea has had so much success in his U.K. homeland, but very little success here in America.  He reached No. 12 on the Hot 100 in 1978 with “Fool (If You Think It’s Over),” and despite having five other Hot 100 hits between 1978 and 1989, Chris Rea is criminally regarded as a one-hit wonder here in America.

First released in 1986, “Driving Home For Christmas” was widely available in 1988, found on the Chris Rea compilation, NEW LIGHT THROUGH OLD WINDOWS.  In 1988, “Driving Home For Christmas” stopped at No. 53 on the U.K. singles chart, and reached a new peak of No. 10 in 2021!, and over the years, has reached the Top 10 in at least 10 other countries.  It’s time for some American chart love during this holiday season!  

Up until a few years ago, I had actually forgotten about this holiday treasure, but since then, it’s been part of my holiday go-to playlist.  And, I love it more and more each year.  If you have never heard this gem before, in a word, I call it “lovely.”  You will too!  Check it out!

DAVID BOWIE & BING CROSBY — PEACE ON EARTH/LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (1977 / 1982).

When I saw this performed on BING CROSBY’S MERRIE OLDE CHRISTMAS on television during the 1977 holiday season, I thought it was so magical, and it will be a part of me for all time.

Since I wasn’t really following music back in 1977 (I know, hard to believe now), David Bowie was not on my radar (also very hard to believe).  But, for a long time now, “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” has been my favorite Xmas song ever.  There’s just something so special about it.

This song was one of the last songs Bing Crosby recorded before he passed away in October 1977 at the age of 74.  It reached No. 3 in the U.K. and Ireland, and No. 6 in Norway.  I will love this song for all time, and I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t reached the Hot 100 ever.  Maybe this year?

THE HIVES & CYNDI LAUPER — A CHRISTMAS DUEL (2008).

Cyndi Lauper has put out so many holiday songs over the years that are worthy of Hot 100 representation EVERY holiday season, like 1992’s “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” with Frank Sinatra, 1993’s “Feels Like Christmas” and the always fun “Christmas Conga,” from Cyndi’s wonderful 1998 holiday album, MERRY CHRISTMAS…HAVE A NICE LIFE.  But, it’s Cyndi’s memorable 2008 duet with the Swedish band The Hives, “A Christmas Duel,” that has topped my Cyndi Xmas list for the past 15 years.

One of the many things I love about Cyndi Lauper is that she will perform with pretty much everyone, no-holds-barred.  And on “A Christmas Duel,” you have this amazing 60s Motown-type, girl-group sound replete with lyrics that are, well, I’ll just say, non-traditional.  It’s brilliant, it’s fun, it’s bold, it’s got swears and managed to reach No. 4 in The Hives’ homeland of Sweden.  Pretty fucking impressive.  And, yes, a big honkin’ longshot of making the Hot 100 here in America ever.  But it’s a nice thought.

THE POGUES featuring KIRSTY MacCOLL — FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK (1987).

I had already started working on this blog post when today, Thursday, November 30, 2023, I learned of the very sad passing of The Pogues’ singer and principal songwriter, Shane MacGowan, who had passed away at the age of 65.  Of Shane MacGowan’s passing, Irish president Michael Higgins said:

“[Shane’s] words have connected Irish people all over the globe to their culture and history …  The genius of Shane’s contribution includes the fact that his songs capture within them, as Shane would put it, the measure of our dreams — of so many worlds, and particularly those of love, of the emigrant experience and of facing the challenges of that experience with authenticity and courage, and of living and seeing the sides of life that so many turn away from.”

If there is any one holiday song that I have come to love more and more every year, it’s this one.  “Fairytale Of New York” by The Pogues and the late, great Kirsty MacColl has become one of my all-time favorite holiday songs.

“Fairytale Of New York” originally reached No. 2 in 1987, and has returned to the Top 20 on the U.K. singles chart every year since 2005.  It is THE most-played Christmas song in the U.K. of the 21st century, and as of the week ending today, November 30, 2023, “Fairytale Of New York” has amassed a total of 113 non-consecutive weeks on the U.K. Top 75 singles chart, good for sixth-best of all time.  There are many in the U.K. and beyond that are calling for “Fairytale Of New York” to be this year’s Christmas No. 1 in the U.K., myself included.

Though the song has gone five-times Platinum in the U.K., “Fairytale Of New York” and its holiday message of nostalgia, alcoholism, addiction and lost love has never quite resonated here in America, which is disappointing and sad, though with Shane’s passing today, “Fairytale” is now No. 11 (as of this writing) and moving up on the iTunes chart here in America.  That makes me smile!

In the U.K., the most-popular Xmas song ever is “Fairytale Of New York,” while here in America it’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”  Let’s go to change that!

LAST CHRISTMAS — WHAM! (1984)

So, if “Fairytale Of New York” isn’t an option for a new (older) Christmas No. 1 in the U.S. of A., how about one of the songs that has the best chance of unseating Mariah Carey at the top this Xmas — “Last Christmas” by Wham!

Why would it be cool to have “Last Christmas” be the Christmas No. 1 here in America this year?  Well, besides replacing Mariah Carey at No. 1, “Last Christmas” is already No. 13 and moving up on the latest BILLBOARD Hot 100 (dated December 2, 2023).  “Last Christmas,” which has risen steadily in the past few years, reached a new peak in 2022 at No. 4.  

The late, great George Michael (who passed away on Christmas Day 2016) was just inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Class of 2023.  I think that a 39-year-old holiday pop song reaching the top all these years later is a testament to George Michael’s work, with Wham! and solo.  

The day after Halloween 2023, Mariah Carey released a video basically saying it’s almost Christmas and time to play her song and make it No. 1 again.  Ugh.  How fucking annoying.  Some say it’s not Xmas until Mariah Carey says it is (and the day after Halloween no less)?!  I don’t think so.  But it’s another reason to hope that “Last Christmas” rules the top of the Hot 100 chart this Xmas.  AND, it’s an 80s Xmas song!  Of course I want it to be No. 1!  

So, let’s go to make it this year’s new (older) Christmas No. 1 song in America!  “Last Christmas,” the 2023 Christmas No. 1 in America, and “Fairytale Of New York” as the 2023 Christmas No. 1 in the U.K.!  And no Mariah Carey!!  That would be a Happy Christmas for this chart nerd indeed and beyond!

Thank you, so much, my partner, Maryhope, for inspiring me to write and get back to doing something I love, and for everything you do, and everything you are!

Maryhope and yours truly during our annual holiday and solstice show at WMPG-FM, Portland, Maine, December 17, 2017!

And thank you Shane, for your words and your music, Christmas will definitely be missing a light and then some this year…

A toast to you, Shane MacGowan, wherever you are…

song of the day – “Under Pressure” – QUEEN & DAVID BOWIE | 1981 / 1982.

Today, January 8, 2020, would have been David Bowie’s 73rd birthday.  But, on David Bowie’s birthday, for the past few years, I tend to think about January 10th, the day we lost him at age 69.  I know it’s weird to think of it like that.  It also reminds me that one of my first blog posts ever was about David Bowie. 

With this blog being three parts autobiographical, singles chart nerdiness and my love for the 80s, one thing I didn’t count on was how much more about myself I would learn through these songs and these artists when writing about them.  When I first wrote about David Bowie, I mentioned that, growing up, although I enjoyed his music very much, he wasn’t one of my immediate favorites.  But, and this surprised me the most, when I thought about it after he died, I realized that David Bowie was always a part of my life, in some form, at least since the 1977 Xmas special he did with Bing Crosby.  More than 42 years later, “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy” is still my favorite Xmas song.

David Bowie and Bing Crosby, 1977.

David Bowie was also on the first record I ever bought with my own money, QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS, at the former LaVerdiere’s Drug Store across the river from where I’m writing this (in Wooterville, Maine, or Waterville, Maine for the uninitiated).  You throw in LET’S DANCE, LIVE AID, LABYRINTH and more, over the years, my love for David and his music grew more and more.  For years, I resisted getting a tattoo, and three months and a week after he died, I got my first tattoo with Mr. Bowie on my right shoulder, saying “We can be Heroes, just for one day.”  Just felt right and still does.  Sometimes, when Maryhope and I are on the air together, and we play David Bowie, I tend to refer to him as “the ever-present David Bowie.”  And he is, and not just because he’s on my shoulder.

Some of the early Elektra pressings of QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS had a new song on the album, with David Bowie — “Under Pressure.”  And I’m so grateful I got one of the early pressings.  My 39-year-old copy of the album is beat to shit, after the millions of times I played it, but as the first album I ever owned, I’ll never part with it.

Not my copy, this is mint compared to my beat-up copy!

Being a lanky 14-year-old singles chart nerd (and nerd in general) in 1981, one of the things I enjoyed most about QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS were the liner notes.  It had mini bios of each song, and revealed what positions the songs charted in both the U.K. and the U.S., which was a thrill for me, because at that time, I had little knowledge of how songs did across the pond, or other parts of the globe.

Here’s what the liner notes looked like on the first U.S. pressings of QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS, right down to the crease in the upper right corner.

What I didn’t know is that, on the U.K. and Ireland versions of QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS (or actually just titled GREATEST HITS, though I never called it that), “Under Pressure” was nowhere to be found.  But, on (at least) the American, Canadian and Japanese versions of the compilation, it was thankfully there.  And I instantly fell in love with it. 

“Under Pressure” was the brilliant pairing of two of the greatest voices in the history of music — Queen’s Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.  Absolute total fucking genius.  I’ve heard stories of stressful moments between them during the recording of “Under Pressure,” which, depending on your interpretation of the song, could be about stress and pressure because of work, politics, life, love, family, war, war within yourself, or anything.  When I hear “Under Pressure,” I don’t feel pressure at all, I don’t think about the battles Freddie and David had whilst making the song.  I just feel the love that was put into the song and I hear the passion and conviction in each of their voices:

“Love, love, love, love, love / Insanity laughs under pressure we’re breaking / Can’t we give ourselves one more chance? / Why can’t we give love that one more chance? / Why can’t we give love, give love, give love, give love / Give love, give love, give love, give love, give love?…”

The unassuming, pressure-free cover art for the “Under Pressure” single.

“Under Pressure” was released the last week in October 1981, on the same day as QUEEN’S GREATEST HITS.  Within two weeks, it debuted on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 at No. 80.  In early December 1981, it debuted in the Top 40 at No. 40.  A month later, in early January 1982, it spent a couple of weeks at its peak position of No. 29, 15 total weeks on the Hot 100, and was gone by late February.  I can’t express enough how pissed I was (or as pissed as a then-15-year-old nerd living in Central Maine could get) that “Under Pressure” didn’t get the recognition it deserved. 

Unbeknownst to me, though, in many other parts of the globe, “Under Pressure” DID indeed get the recognition it deserved.  In the U.K., it spent two weeks at No. 1, a week at No. 1 in the Netherlands, and reached the Top 10 in (at least) Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.  Why Americans couldn’t get behind this masterpiece is a question that eluded me for a very long time.

10 years to the week after “Under Pressure” hit No. 1 in the U.K., Freddie Mercury sadly passed away at the age of 45.  His loss was felt everywhere, and less than six months after he died, a benefit concert was put together in honor of him.  Many artists performed with the surviving members of Queen, including Robert Plant, Paul Young, Seal, Lisa Stansfield, George Michael, Elton John, and when it came time for “Under Pressure,” Queen’s Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon performed with David Bowie, and singing Freddie’s part of the song, the extraordinary Annie Lennox of Eurythmics.  The performance was magnificent, and an amazing tribute indeed, that I’m sure Freddie would have loved.

Annie Lennox and David Bowie, from the Freddie Mercury Tribute, April 20, 1992.

Over the years, you couldn’t escape “Under Pressure” being featured in numerous TV shows and movies, including a touching scene in the brilliant 1997 John Cusack film, GROSSE POINTE BLANK.

John Cusack and a baby, quietly jamming out to “Under Pressure” in 1997’s GROSSE POINTE BLANK.

When David Bowie died in 2016, many of his songs returned to the charts everywhere in the world, even here in America.  On the BILLBOARD Hot 100, “Under Pressure” was the highest Bowie song to re-enter the chart, at No. 45 — over “Let’s Dance,” over “Fame,” over “Space Oddity.”  And now (maybe also due in part due to the excellent 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY), “Under Pressure” is in heavy rotation at Retro Rock and Classic Rock stations all over.  It took awhile, but here in the U.S., “Under Pressure” has finally gotten the recognition it has deserved all along.

I want to travel back in time and go to there!

It’s hard to believe that, at one time in my life, David Bowie was not one of my favorite artists.  But, today, January 8, 2020, and well before today, and with many eternally grateful thanks to Maryhope, I can honestly say David Bowie is one of my all-time favorite artists.  I can’t imagine my life without him or his music. 

If I had access to a working DeLorean time machine, you can bet your 88 miles an hour ass that I would go back in time and see David perform live and buy everything of his that I could, at those moments.  But, since that’s not yet physically possible, I take comfort in the fact he left us an incredibly brilliant catalog of music that stretches far across the universe and then some. 

I also take comfort with something Maryhope often reminds me of, how we existed on this planet at the same time as David Bowie.  That’s so fucking cool.  Also so fucking cool is a thought I’ve had of David hanging out with Maryhope’s dad, Dennis, and my two baby brothers, Mark and Jonn — because they can.

Happy Birthday, Starman, wherever you are.  My love to you all…

“Cause love’s such an old fashioned word / And love dares you to care for / The people on the edge of the night / And love (people on streets) dares you to change our way of / Caring about ourselves / This is our last dance / This is our last dance / This is ourselves / Under pressure / Under pressure / Pressure…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

song of the day – “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” | OUTLAWS | 1981.

On June 15, 2014, Casey Kasem, host of the longtime countdown program, AMERICAN TOP 40, passed away at the age of 82.  From my first blog post (and prolly some more inbetween then and now), I explained how, in 1979, I was a geeky, lanky and somewhat lost 12-year-old living in Central Maine, had a few friends and not a lot of interest in much of anything, but at some point early that year, I discovered AMERICAN TOP 40, and was glued to it every weekend.  Not only could I hear the 40 biggest songs in the country every week, but also Casey’s cool trivia and facts about the songs and the artists, a trait I treasure to this day.  For me, the show was No. 1 with a bullet.  And still is (thanks to the re-airing of broadcasts of AT40 on iHeart Radio).

In honor of my radio hero, Casey Kasem, for the entire month of June, I will be highlighting a song each day (some days will have two songs!) that peaked in the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (including five (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s), and with every blog post, just like on AMERICAN TOP 40, the hits will get bigger with each post.  On June 1, 2017, I featured a song that peaked at No. 40.  On June 30, I’ll feature a “song of the day” that went all the way to No. 1. 

As Casey used to say on AT40, “And on we go!”

There are some songs in the history of music that just keep coming back and back and back again.  If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the late songwriter and actor, Stan Jones (who died of cancer in 1963 at the age of 49) would be flattered to the moon and back and then some.

“(Ghost) Riders” writer and originator, Stan Jones.

When Stan Jones wasn’t acting in Westerns directed by the legendary (and Portland, Maine native) John Ford, he was writing songs, and one of those songs, a 1948 composition (written at the time he worked for the National Park Service in Death Valley, California) titled “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky: A Cowboy Legend” became a legend all its own.

Stan Jones recorded his original version of “(Ghost) Riders” in late 1948, and from there, it became one of the most-covered songs in history.  Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Peggy Lee, The Ventures, Bob James and Dick Dale have covered it.  So have Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Duane Eddy and Peter, Paul & Mary.  Deborah Harry of Blondie recorded a trance version of it in 1998, and more recently, Judy Collins, Concrete Blonde and various Death Metal bands have covered this classic.

Pretty bleepin’ cool.

“(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” has even reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in four different versions.  In 1961, The Ramrods (an Instrumental Rock band out of Connecticut) reached No. 30, and Lawrence Welk reached No. 87 with his version.  In 1966, the Baja Marimba Band took it to No. 52.  And, in 1981, Southern Rockers the Outlaws scored the second-highest charted version in BILLBOARD Hot 100 history with their cool, rockin’ 6-minute cover.

The Outlaws, formed in Tampa, Florida in 1967,  released their sixth studio album, GHOST RIDERS, in late November 1980.  The band had some moderate success in the 70s with their 1975 hit, “There Goes Another Love Song,” reaching the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100.

The single released from GHOST RIDERS was “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky.”  It made its Hot 100 debut at No. 83 on the last chart of 1980, a couple of days after Xmas.

Throughout the first weeks of 1981, the Outlaws steadily climbed the Hot 100, entering the Top 40 on Valentine’s Day 1981.  “(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” reached No. 31 in early March 1981, but fell out of the Top 40 the following week and left the Hot 100 in early April 1981 after 15 weeks on the chart.  It was the last time the band would reach the Hot 100.

Bruce Willis as John McClane singing “(Ghost) Riders?”  It could happen!

DREAM COVER: Someone should get Bruce Willis to cover this song, but as his famous character from the DIE HARD films, John McClane – “Yippe-ki-yay (motherfucker)!  Yippie-ki-yo (motherfucker)!”  Wouldn’t that be fun?

The Outlaws have been around for the better part of 50 years, with a long list of lineup changes that would take up another post entirely.  None of the original members are still with the band (a couple of them died in 1995, another in 2007).    They released their last studio album, IT’S ABOUT PRIDE, in 2012, and their fifth live album, LEGACY LIVE (a 2-CD set), in 2016.

It’s hard to believe that I had nearly forgotten about this amazing cover from the Outlaws when Hope brought it to my attention years ago.  Long story longer, I fell in love with this version all over again and played it on STUCK IN THE 80s often during the show’s last several years.

And if I were a betting man, I think Stan Jones might have have been much more than flattered when he heard The Outlaws version, and I think he would have raised his fist up and started jammin’ to it, or at the very least, tipped his cowboy hat in appreciation.  Yippie-yi-yaaaay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmpvpypXKf0

xmas song of the day – “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy” | DAVID BOWIE & BING CROSBY | 1977 / 1982.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show (TONIGHT!!; 12.25.2016) on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

Thank you so much for reading this first year of my blog, especially the holiday treasures that comprised THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS.  Xmas has long not my favorite time of year, but these songs help get me through and then some every holiday season. 

The song for Day 31 of THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is my all-time favorite holiday song – “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy” by David Bowie and Bing Crosby, included in the 1977 holiday special, BING CROSBY’S MERRIE OLDE CHRISTMAS.

I was 10 going on 11 for Xmas 1977, and it was a time where I wasn’t really into music (that would happen in 1979), and I don’t remember anything else about that Bing Crosby variety holiday show, but I’ll never forget the one thing I do remember – “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy.” 

It’s hard to believe now, but that famous duet almost never happened.  When the producers of the show asked David Bowie to sing “Little Drummer Boy” with Bing Crosby, he said no.  David said, “I hate this song.  Is there something else I could sing?”  Of this news, one of the show’s songwriters, Ian Fraser said, “We didn’t quite know what to do.”

From there, Ian Fraser got together with the show’s other songwriter, Larry Grossman, and the show’s scriptwriter, Buz Kohan, and wrote “Peace On Earth” for David Bowie as a counterpoint piece to Bing’s version of “Little Drummer Boy.”

With less than an hour of rehearsal, Bowie and Bing performed the song, and it was magical.  It was also my first exposure to David Bowie (and my whole family’s, I believe; in 1977, we just had the one TV set in the house).  After the show’s taping, Bing said David Bowie was a “clean-cut kid and a real fine asset to the show.  He sings well, has a great voice and reads lines well.”  David later admitted that he only appeared on the show because “I just knew my mother liked him.”  David also performed his then-new hit, “Heroes,” on the show, but, for some reason, I don’t remember it.

For five years, “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy” was only available as a bootleg single, but in late November 1982, David’s label at the time, RCA Records, released an official single version of the holiday gem, replete with all the dialogue from the show.  By 1982, David Bowie’s relationship with RCA (his label since 1971’s HUNKY DORY album) was already seriously strained and he was not happy with the record label releasing that song.  He left the label soon thereafter. 

Despite David’s unhappiness about the release of “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy” as a single, it performed very well, reaching No. 3 in Ireland, No. 6 in Norway, and No. 12 in Sweden.  In the U.K., it reached No. 3 and was certified Silver.

In 1995, I was elated when retro label Oglio Records released the single version on their holiday compilation, THE EDGE OF CHRISTMAS, but also as a stand-alone CD single, with both the single version and the full-length version from the Bing Crosby special.  And, with it being a few years before the Interweb really took off, there was also a CD-ROM of the video from the 1977 show. 

BING CROSBY’S MERRIE OLDE CHRISTMAS was filmed on September 11, 1977.  Nearly five weeks after filming the special (and a month-and-a-half before the special aired), Bing Crosby sadly died of a heart attack at the age of 73.  And now, David Bowie’s gone too.  But, as I’ve been told before, I was lucky enough to be on the same planet as David Bowie for almost 50 years.  And that’s pretty damn cool.

“Peace on Earth, can it be / Years from now, perhaps we’ll see / See the day of glory / See the day when men of good will / Live in peace, live in peace again / Peace on Earth, can it be / Can it be…”

Peace on Earth – can it be?  I’d truly love to think so…

“It’s a pretty thing, isn’t it…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ

xmas song of the day – “Winter Wonderland” | EURYTHMICS | 1987.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

The song for Day 5 of the 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is “Winter Wonderland” by Eurythmics, from one of my all-time favorite Xmas albums, 1987’s A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS, which came about from an idea of super-producer Jimmy Iovine. 

Long before Jimmy Iovine was the co-founder of Interscope Records and Beats Electronic (with Dr. Dre), Jimmy was an engineer on such classic albums like Bruce Springsteen’s BORN TO RUN, DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN and THE RIVER, Meat Loaf’s BAT OUT OF HELL and John Lennon’ WALLS AND BRIDGES. 

Before 1987, Jimmy Iovine produced or co-produced such memorable albums  Patti Smith’s EASTER, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ DAMN THE TORPEDOES, Dire Straits’ MAKING MOVIES, BELLA DONNA by Stevie Nicks, ONCE UPON A TIME by Simple Minds and The Pretenders’ GET CLOSE.  He also supervised the music for the 1984 John Hughes classic, SIXTEEN CANDLES, and in 1988, he produced U2’s excellent double-album soundtrack to their rockumentary, RATTLE AND HUM, and supervised the music for the Bill Murray holiday film, SCROOGED.

For the first A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS album in 1987, Jimmy Iovine recruited many of the recording artists he worked with, like Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Pretenders and Stevie Nicks, along with Eurythmics, John Mellencamp, Sting, Run-D.M.C., Madonna, Bryan Adams, Alison Moyet and more – 15 songs in all.

In the wake of Band Aid, Live Aid, Farm Aid and “We Are The World,” Jimmy Iovine wanted to put together a Christmas album as a memorial to his dad, who passed away in 1985. 

The idea for A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS to benefit Special Olympics was idea of Jimmy Iovine’s wife, Vicki (herself a volunteer for Special Olympics), and that’s where the “special” in A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS is inspired from.  Mr. and Mrs. Iovine got some help organizing the album from extended Kennedy family member Bobby Shriver, and the founders of A&M Records, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss.

Since the original 1987 A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS album, there have been nine other albums released in the series, through 2013.  And since 1987, the series has raised over $100 million dollars for Special Olympics.  Since 1991, A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS ranks as the 19th best-selling holiday album here in America, and has sold over four million copies since its release.

A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS Producer Jimmy Iovine (front center), surrounded (in no particular order) by U2, Annie Lennox, Sting, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp and Run-D.M.C.

The cover art for the albums was designed by pop and graffiti artist, Keith Haring, and the untitled image of a mother and child was chosen by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1987 as the cover of the first A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS album.  Keith Haring sadly passed away in early 1990, but that image has become synonymous with the album series, and also with the mission of the Special Olympics.

This wonderful version of “Winter Wonderland” by Eurythmics has been a longtime holiday favorite of mine, and it has made it onto most (if not all) of the playlists for my Annual Holiday Show.  Many versions of “Winter Wonderland” have been recorded since it was written in 1934, from Bing Crosby to Elvis Presley to Ozzy Osbourne, but this version truly stands out among the best.

To learn more about Special Olympics and the mission of A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS, go to averyspecialchristmas.org.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xVLeW9UmjE