xmas song of the day – “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” | JOHN & YOKO / THE PLASTIC ONO BAND | 1971 / 1980.

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.

It’s December 8th, 2016 here in Central Maine, and the 36th anniversary of the tragic death of John Lennon.  So, I couldn’t think of any better choice for the song for Day 14 of the 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS than “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).”

With incredible vocal help from the Harlem Community Choir, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was released as a single in December 1971 here in the U.S., and for the following Xmas in the U.K. (for some reason the release was delayed).  It was not just a beautiful holiday song, it was also a song protesting the Vietnam War. 

In the two years before the single was released, John and Yoko launched a “WAR IS OVER” campaign worldwide, and they even rented billboard space in a dozen big cities around the globe with similar posters.

Earlier in 1971, with people reacting more to John’s amazing single, “Imagine,” than his other solo work to that point, he realized, “Now I understand what you have to do:  Put your political message across with a little honey.”  He put together a holiday song without being overly sentimental like more traditional songs about the season, but also with a message of hope for peace.

When it was released here in the U.S. in 1971, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was not the success John and Yoko hoped it would be.  Since it was released late, there wasn’t much airplay for the holiday season, and it wasn’t well promoted by Apple Records.  When it was released in the U.K. the following Xmas, it reached No. 4 on the U.K. singles chart.  Between December 1972 and early 1973, “Happy Xmas” would also reach the Top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland, Ireland, Norway and Singapore.

On December 8, 1980, the day John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York City apartment, “(Just Like) Starting Over,” his first single in five years, and his biggest hit in six years, was inching its way up the Top 10 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100, ranking at No. 6 that week.  Three weeks later (and two days after Xmas 1980), “Starting Over” spent its first of five weeks at No. 1.  It was an amazing tribute to John.

Over in the U.K., the tribute to John was felt everywhere on the singles chart.  On December 20, 1980, “Starting Over” spent a week at No. 1.  On January 10, 1981, “Imagine” (which had previously charted at No. 6 in a 1975 release), spent four weeks at No. 1.  “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” also returned to the chart, and was positioned behind “Imagine” at No. 2, a new peak position for that song.

Following the 4-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart for “Imagine,” “Starting Over” follow-up single, “Woman,” spent two weeks at No. 1.  In March 1981, Roxy Music’s cover of John’s 1971 song, “Jealous Guy,” spent two weeks at No. 1.

“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” would re-chart on the U.K. singles chart in 1981, 1982, 1988, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2012.  The appeal of “Happy Xmas” has been everlasting, and it’s been covered dozens of times over the years, including covers by The Alarm, Sarah McLachlan, Cocteau Twins, Cranes, Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Diana Ross, The Moody Blues, Darlene Love, Carly Simon and even English Classical Crossover artist Sarah Brightman.

John would have been 76 this year.  I don’t know how he would have responded to  recent political events here in the U.S., but it’s a strong bet he’d still want you to have a Happy Xmas without any fear, and to give peace a chance.  Sounds like great advice to me.

Miss you, John, wherever you are…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMH_wMvMy_8

song of the day – “As The End Draws Near” | MANUFACTURE feat. SARAH McLACHLAN | 1987.

I first learned about Sarah McLachlan around 1991 or 1992, and I’m betting it was during my time at the University of Maine at Farmington, DJing at the mighty WUMF (replete with 13 watts of alternative power).  Sarah had released what turned out to be her second album, SOLACE, featuring such great songs like “Into The Fire,” “Drawn To The Rhythm” and “The Path Of Thorns (Terms).”

Fast forward 2 years later, and my first year in Portland, Maine.  It was 1994, when rents were more than reasonable, I was meeting new friends – lifelong friends – and Portland wasn’t anywhere close to imploding, which is what is going to happen if they keep pretending they are a bigger city than they really are and if they keep building apartments and condos upon apartments and condos, where apartments and condos shouldn’t be.  But that’s another argument for another time.

1994 was the year I fell in love with Sarah McLachlan and her music.  FUMBLING TOWARDS ECSTASY had been released in late 1993, and much like myself, it was a late bloomer.  By the time Sarah made it to Portland’s recently reopened State Theater (I had somehow managed to score a couple of great seats near the stage; a time when most ticket prices were also more than reasonable), FUMBLING was finding its feet, and that show is still one of THE best concerts I’ve ever seen.

Between that concert in 1994 and when I started STUCK IN THE 80s on WMPG-FM and WMPG.org in 1996, I managed to learn that Sarah actually released her first album, TOUCH, in late 1988.  The Nova Scotia native was 20 years old.  Prior to the album’s release, a relatively new Canadian record label, Nettwerk, approached Sarah about a record contract.  She was only 17. 

In between Nettwerk’s interest in Sarah McLachlan and the release of TOUCH, I also learned the (then) 19-year-old appeared on an album by a Nettwerk band, Manufacture (out of Boston).  Their 1987 debut album was TERRORVISION, and the song was “As The End Draws Near,” co-written by Sarah McLachlan.

An extended remix of “As The End Draws Near” appeared on Sarah’s 1996 compilation, RARITIES, B-SIDES AND OTHER STUFF.  It was this cool, New Wave-ish dance song that may have been a precursor to other songs she collaborated on, like Delirium’s “Silence,” which Sarah also co-wrote and which was originally released in 1997, but got so much airplay over a long period of time, it stuck around for 3 years and became a global hit.  A 2005 remix actually hit No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart.

“As The End Draws Near” didn’t really make any chart waves anywhere, but with Sarah’s popularity in the 90s, especially in her Canadian homeland, it helped RARITIES reach No. 10 on the Canadian album chart and it went triple-platinum there.

In 2014, Sarah released her eighth studio album, SHINE ON, and even came back to Maine for the first time in awhile, though I wasn’t able to go.  I’ve loved Sarah and her music for a long time.  She’s an incredibly gifted musician, singer and songwriter, and as much as I’d love to see her do an all-piano album and tour, I think it’s cool when she branches out and contributes on songs a bit outside of the “pop music” realm, like “Silence” and “As The End Draws Near.”  Maybe a future album, in honor of her 30 years in music, might be fumbling towards piano and dance – together.  I’d like that…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-P5Q65rCUc