25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 17

Between now and next Tuesday, you will see and hear many stories about the meaning of the Christmas Holyday (see what I did there?). And there could very well be an increase in stories, like this 1985 piece from Milt Timmons or, more gently, this holidays.net piece, about the the holiday having much older roots. There will also be the annual claims of a "War on Christmas." I myself have written about all the hub-bub that is kicked up every December (The Reason for the Season?).

But despite the strife highlighted in the media, there is something common among the traditions that find a home in the last month of the year: The lighting of candles to dispel darkness. Granted, that is the general purpose of a candle. But it takes on a greater significance at this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. With the Winter Solstice occurring later this week, the image of a single candle also reminds us that we are moving halfway out of the darkness, the light is returning -- that light being either the Sun God or the Son of God, depending on your particular observance.

Whatever you celebrate during this season I call Chrismahanukwanzakyule, I hope you enjoy the beautiful and poignant "One Small Candle" by Jessica Radcliffe, Lisa Ekström and Martin Simpson. It can be found on the 2001 album, Beautiful Darkness, which is a moving musical meditation on the Solstice.

brainwise · One Small Candle

Be certain to check out the other entries in my 25 Days of Holiday Music series!

Update 12/12/2023: Re-embedded the Soundcloud player (previous code wasn't working) and removed the outdated Klout link. 

25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 16

Image from Post-Gazette

I have been trying to write these posts at least one day in advance and queue them up for publishing. And, for the most part, I have succeeded in posting a song one day in advance. But I was out all of Saturday and I did not have a chance to prepare today's song, even though I had a song in mind for today. In light of the events that made the news this week, I'm glad I have the chance to change my plans for today's offering, and instead post "Peace, Peace" by Rick and Sylvia Powell. I remember singing it with my hometown choir so many years ago (another lifetime to be sure). Like many other vocal groups, we paired it with the audience/congregation singing "Silent Night." And because "Peace, Peace" is so wonderfully complimented by "Silent Night," I can hardly begrudge anyone's choice to perform these songs together. I would, however, dearly love to have a recording of just "Peace, Peace," as when it is sung alone I find it to be an excellent -- and non-denominational -- ode to peace, love, and joy:

Peace, peace, peace on Earth

And good will to all.

This is a time for joy, This is a time for love.

Now let us all sing together

of peace, peace, peace on earth.

Having said that, I hope you enjoy this performance by Milwaukee's Vocal Arts Academy (recorded during their "Lights of December" concert in 2010):

Crowd-funding options to help the victims' families in Newtown, CT:

• CrowdRise: Sandy Hook Elementary School Victims Relief Fund [archive]
• HopeMob: Let's Stand with the Students & Families of Sandy Hook Elementary School & Newtown, CT [archive]

Remember, if you like my music posts, and feel so inclined, please +K my influence in Music on @klout. And, please, do check out the other entries in my 25 Days of Holiday Music series!

25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 15

The song for Day 15 is brand new to the holiday scene as it was just released this very week. It's from Philadelphia's home grown psych rockers, Southwork, and it's called "Gift of Love." The WXPN post that hipped me to this tune calls it a “secular winter holiday love song.” And it is great fun. You should definitely put this in your rotation if you need a soundtrack to help you get your holiday To-Do's done. In fact, you can download "Gift of Love" for free!

Remember, if you like my music posts, and feel so inclined, please +K my influence in Music on @klout. And, please, do check out the other entries in my 25 Days of Holiday Music series!

25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 14

Are you tired of Santa songs yet? No? That's good, because I have another one today! And we're going back to Rosemary Clooney in the 50s for this one.

Well, sort of.

Today's song, "(Let's Give) A Christmas Present to Santa Claus" was recorded in the early 50s, and it was likely released as a single during that time (or at least played on the radio). It did not, however, appear on an album until 1997's Songs from White Christmas (& Other Yuletide Favorites) which collected 12 Clooney Christmas classics, all recorded between 1951 and 1956 (including a duet with Gene Autry, "The Night Before Christmas Song"). This same collection was later re-released as The Night Before Christmas (2009), but with a different track listing.

Also, if you like my music posts, and feel so inclined, please +K my influence in Music on @klout.

Friday 80s Flashback for December 14, 2012

[Mashed Up] -- Only two songs this week, but they're mashed up together (c'mon, I've been writing daily music posts for 14 days now).

DJ Lobsterdust, not an 80s artist, took two classics of electronic 80s pop and pit them against each other in a sonic cage match. One of the songs, "Personal Jesus," was the first single from Depeche Mode's seventh studio album, Violator (1990). It was originally released in August, 1989, and it reached #13 and #28 on the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 respectively. (And, in case you didn't know, Johnny Cash did a killer cover of this tune for his 2002 album American IV). The song that "Personal Jesus" squares off against is Soft Cell's 1981 cover of "Tainted Love," which was composed by Ed Cobb and originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1965. The 1965 release was a flop, but Soft Cell's version hit #1 in the UK and cracked the top ten in the US. It has sold well over 1 million copies.

Individually, these songs are gems. Together, through the aid of DJ Lobsterdust, they are "Tainted Jesus." (Note: Embedded video updated 12/8/2020).

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Well, that's all until next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the archives. And I am also posting a holiday song per day through December 25 (25 Days of Holiday Music). As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

And if you are on Twitter, and feel so inclined, please +K my influence in Music on @klout.

I'll see you around the interwebz!

25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 13

Yesterday's song was about Santa Claus, so I thought we would follow it up with another on that same topic. But I want to go in a different direction. The title of today's song -- which is performed by the great Celtic folk-rock foursome, Emerald Rose -- gives you a hint of that direction: "Santa Claus is Pagan, Too."

Yes, today's song sings the praises of the jolly bearded man we know and love. However, it is not necessarily the goodly Saint Nick, grand patron of consumerism and department stores, who often inhabits the red suit and sleigh. No, this merry tune runs through a variety of pre-Christian traditions and briefly attributes them to certain aspects of Mr. Claus (and one non-Pagan aspect, that of Santa having a Buddha belly). The song doesn't try to force the issue and argue, say, that Santa Claus is really Odin, but it does make a point that "Christmas time is really Yule." But it is all done in good fun, and includes the following, good-natured verse:

Now history says Christ was likely
Not a Capricorn
But if you want to share our Yule
We don’t care when he’s born


So, whatever your beliefs and winter holiday preference, if you love Santa then I'll ween you'll love this song, too. Give it a listen, and I dare say you'll not be able to resist tapping your foot or even singing along!



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25 Day of Holiday Music: Day 12

"Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry..."


Last week, on Day 4, I shared a little about Christmas Eve as it was observed in my childhood home. So, if you read that post, you know that we waited until that evening to put up the tree and that Christmas music would be playing. We did not have much in the way of a Christmas music collection -- I can recall only two albums (yes, they were "LP records") in the house -- but the local radio played an abundance of holiday themed tunes. And, for my money, it wasn't Christmas until I heard the song featured today: Bruce Springsteen's rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

"Santa Clause is Coming to Town" was written by John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie and it is a long-lived classic, but it is only 78 years old. According to Wikipedia, the earliest recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was also sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" has been covered numerous times, and it was the basis for the 1970 Rankin-Bass produced animated TV special of the same name. But just about the most famous version, right up there with the original, of course, is the one by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (which includes that wonderful banter between Springsteen and saxophonist Clarence Clemons who also delivers a killer solo).

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25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 11

Today's holiday song, "I Wish It Was Christmas Today," started as an SNL skit (Saturday Night Live, Season 26, Episode 21; airdate May 19, 2001). In that episode, Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan performed their Christmas tune under the banner of "And Now A Holiday Treat For All." In 2009, during The Strokes' hiatus, frontman Julian Casablancas recorded and released a version the song. Casablancas also appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and performed the song live with The Roots, Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon.

You can see the 2001 SNL skit here, while Julian Casablancas' 2010 performance of the song (taped at the House of Blues in Dallas, TX) is here . And below you will find the single version by Julian Casablancas.

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25 Days of Holiday Music: Day 10

Our 10th holiday song this month was written by the songwriting duo of Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. Don't worry if you haven't heard of them. Today's song is probably the best-known tune in their collective catalogs. That is, unless you count "Who Shot the Hole in My Sombrero?" by Hayes. (Yes, he wrote a sombrero song. But, no, I'm kidding about it being well-known or even popular).

Christmas is sold as a time when friends, family, and loved ones gather en-masse. But for many people, Christmas is a lonely time, and perhaps no holiday song tells the tale of unrequited love better than Hayes and Johnson's "Blue Christmas." It was first recorded by country artist Doye O'Dell in 1948. Within a few years, the song became a fixture in holiday music rotations with recordings by several artists.

In 1957, however, "Blue Christmas" gained crossover appeal. That is when Elvis Presley recorded a version for Elvis' Christmas Album. Musically, Elvis' cover of "Blue Christmas" is interesting because it is a "blue" song -- or, rather, it makes use of "blue notes," particularly in the backing vocalists' part. "Blue Christmas" was not a single when first released on Elvis' Christmas Album. But the 1957 version was released as a single in 1964 and peaked at #11 in the UK. It did not chart in the US. But don't you worry about Elvis: Elvis' Christmas Album (1957) is one of the best-selling Christmas/holiday albums of all time in the United States (as least as of 2016).

And just because I can, here is Elvis with a live performance of "Blue Christmas" from his 1968 Comeback Special. 

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Updates 12/10/2020: New Elvis video embedded; previous one was removed from YouTube. Also updated the hyperlink for best-selling holiday albums: Elvis' Christmas Album is still among the best-selling holiday albums, but it is no longer #1 as it was in the 2008 listing I previously linked (but which has disappeared from the web). 

Updates 12/12/2022: New video for the single version of "Blue Christmas" because the previous video "contains content from SME, who has blocked it ... on copyright grounds."

Steelers Email to My Father

[Here is a copy of an email I sent to my father after the Steelers lost today.]


This image courtesy of Behind the Steel Curtain pretty much says all that needs to be said about today's game against the (previously) 4-8 Chargers:

This scoreboard image makes it seem like the game was close. It was not. Tomlin was outcoached by a coach who was supposedly fired going into this game (but who has dodged that bullet yet again). 

 But there were two bright spots: The Rat-Birds and the Bungles fell! 

 

 And then there was a HOLY COW! WHAT THE WHAT?? moment ... 

And, perhaps, a glimmer of hope for the playoffs? (Well, not if they're not ready for a deep run). 

 It's a good thing my Monday Morning Mood isn't affected by football.