Noir Dame Blog

Retro-inspired culture and media – audio drama, classic TV and film

Christmas music. Some people hate it, most of us love it, but we get tired of hearing the same fifteen songs being recorded and rerecorded by different artists and overplayed on the radio. So I went on a hunt. Thanks to the generosity of folks who have placed rare gems on the web, I’ve collected a stack of fun videos that are not the same fifteen songs about Christmas, New Year’s, and enjoying the winter holidays… not the ones typically played in the US (the UK and Ireland seem to rotate more of their music, so some of the tracks may be more familiar to anyone reading in those countries!) They’ve been assembled into playlists, so you can crank up the volume on your computer speakers, or play it on your phone. All in all, it’s well over two hours of music. Consider it just one of our presents back to you!

There are fifteen interesting tracks from the 1940s you may not know as well here, bookended by the Andrews Sisters, who sing both “Christmas Island” and the “Merry Christmas Polka”.

And here’s a list of lesser-known 1950s Christmas and other holiday tunes, such as Stan Freberg’s “Green Christmas,” Gracie Fields’ “Little Donkey,” Joni James’ “Nina Non,” Cathy and Elliot Lewis (of OTR / radio drama fame) wishing us “Happy Holidays”, and Louis Armstrong’s “Cool Yule”.

The tracks spanning the 1960s, and into 1970 proper, are a wide range of musical styles, and show a little of what was going on in the world then. Some tracks include The Marcels’ “Merry Twistmas,” Paul and Paula’s “Holiday Hootenanny”, Bing Crosby’s fun “Christmas Dinner Country Style”, Buck Owens’ “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy,” and yes, the Royal Guardsmen’s “Snoopy’s Christmas”. This last was a sequel to “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron,” and reflects the real-life Christmas armistice of World War I.

Then this grouping, of the 1970s and 1980s, which contains as just a smattering, Jethro Tull’s “Ring Out Solstice Bells,” David Essex’s “A Winter’s Tale”, Da Yooper’s “Rusty Chevrolet,” Jona Lewie’s “Stop the Cavalry”, Boney M’s “Zion’s Daughter”, Chris de Burgh’s “A Spaceman Came Travelling,” Merle Haggard’s “Santa Claus and Popcorn,” Sting’s “Gabriel’s Message,” “What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas”, and “Santa Claus Must Be Polish” by Bobby Vee. It also has one cheat: it ends with “Christmas Wrapping,” by the Waitresses. While it’s been covered by the Spice Girls and by the Donnas, it’s still an offbeat classic, and while it hits heavy rotation in some markets, others don’t play it so often. This is an interesting article that goes into the “how” of “Christmas Wrapping” – hosted on the songwriter’s website.

Just finished listening to KUNM’s “Happy ChallaDAY,” a fun parody of the classic film, “White Christmas”.

If you remember, in the original film, Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney join Bing Crosby and the ever-delightful Danny Kaye, trying to save the Vermont inn run by Crosby and Kaye’s old major general.

Well, seeing as sunset brings the beginning of Hannukah, the eight-day Jewish holiday, KUNM offered an original musical audio drama, “Happy ChallaDAY!” If the pun isn’t clear, challa or challah is a delicious egg bread that is braided and served on the Jewish Sabbath and on special holidays.

Creator Charles Moster, who has produced three other audio drama musicals, was tickled by the fact that Irving Berlin, who was Jewish, had written “White Christmas,” and other standards commemorating Christian holidays (such as “Easter Parade”).

Some casual listeners are surprised to find out that Irving Berlin was Jewish, but then so was Jack Benny, whose Christmas radio specials were beloved by millions. And there was something else about Irving Berlin – beyond being a superlative songwriter, who could easily empathize with all walks of life through song…

When the song was first written for the film “Holiday Inn,” Berlin had been in an interfaith marriage for over fifteen years, marrying writer Ellin MacKay in 1926. MacKay was more than a decade younger and Roman Catholic. They were widely ostracized by society, as well as by kin – MacKay was disinherited by her father. As far as I understand, they still practiced their individual faiths … and they stayed happily married for another 62 years, until her death in 1988.

So, even if you don’t celebrate Hannukah, I suggest you take a leaf from Berlin’s book, and download the podcast of “Happy ChallaDAY” from the KUNM website. With some excellent singing and songs, and a story that parodies the 1954 film (the General here is named Waverlystein, and he’s opened a B&B on the Red Sea) it’s a light, fun, way to pass a chilly evening.

Out in the small California city of Lancaster, Honda made a road groovy – literally. If you drive over the tracks at 55 MPH, in a Honda, you’ll hear the William Tell Overture (best known to us as the “Lone Ranger Theme”).

It does tend to be off-key if you’re not running a Honda or going at a constant speed (this is the time for cruise control). Unfortunately, after complaints from residents, the road is being repaved, despite Honda’s attempt to keep it far away from bothering people.

In Southern California, in many spots, I learned from personal experience, if you want to live near the beach, it means also living near train tracks. It’s jarring to hear trains pass through – ours passed through at 1 AM – but then, you simply stop hearing it. Likewise, the townspeople involved are missing out on a potential silver lining – since the unique track, like the singing beach of Manchester-by-the-sea, Massachusetts, would no doubt invite new tourist dollars into the town. And after a few more weeks, perhaps they’d get used to it.

What’s thought to be the oldest computer generated music is now available for the public to hear, on the BBC news site.

Music played by a Ferranti Mark 1 computer (a version of the original “Baby” machine) was recorded by the BBC in the fall of 1951, while a team from the program Children’s Hour visited the University of Manchester.

The Ferranti Mark 1 was the first commercially available computer, and was programmed to play Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood,” as well as “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “God Save the Queen” (which we in the US more normally recognize as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”.)

The incomparable dancer and actress Cyd Charisse has passed away from a heart attack. Best known for her role as Singing in the Rain’s siren in a green dress, Charisse was key to the success of other great movie musicals, such as Brigadoon and The Band Wagon, where she danced with the hard-to-please Gene Kelly and gentleman hoofer Fred Astaire.

Let’s hope TCM runs some of her harder-to-find films, such as the film noir Tension, one of her rare dramatic turns. In her first star billing, Charisse got to play the girl next door, opposite Richard Basehart and bleached-blonde noir dame Audrey Totter. It’s a lesser known noir, but Charisse is very likable – if very different from the sleek vixens and goddesses most viewers were accustomed to in her dancing films.

The Washington Post has a more detailed biography.