George Michael loved Christmas. For years, he would have a big, boozy dinner party with about 25 of his closest friends on Christmas Eve. Some years, they’d even go out carolling after dinner. Imagine: George Michael showing up at your front door at 10 o’clock on Christmas Eve singing Silent Night. It should be no surprise that a guy who loved celebrating the season so much would write a future classic. This is the story of #LastChristmas. George & Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley were watching...
Dec 07, 2020•5 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Was Dominick connected to the mob? It’s time to explore the story behind one of the most polarizing Christmas songs of all time: Dominick the Donkey. Written by Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg & Wandra Merrell, Dominck was recorded by Lou Monte. Monte grew up in New Jersey and started singing & playing guitar in clubs when he was 14. He paused his career in the early 40’s to enlist in the Army, but upon his return, business began to pick up. He got his own radio show in Newark in 1948 and start...
Dec 04, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 10
You’d be hard pressed to find a Christmas song that’s been written about as much as this one, yet at the same time, little is actually known about it’s origins or how the artist even feels about it. We’re talking about Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime. Paul was the third Beatle to record a Holiday song. John Lennon was first with Happy X-Mas, George Harrison was second with his 1974 original Ding Dong Ding Dong. Recorded in August 1979 for his solo album McCartney II, it became Paul’s fi...
Dec 03, 2020•4 min•Season 1Ep. 9
The lyrics to one of the most popular Christmas hits of all came as bittersweet recollections from a lyricist who had just lost his brother. This is the story of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is one of the early original Christmas hits of the 20th Century. Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, the first recording was believed to have been made in October 1934 by a banjoist named Harry Reser. Eddie Cantor was a popular performer in Vaudeville shows at the ag...
Dec 02, 2020•4 min•Season 1Ep. 8
What do you do when driving to work? If you’re Liz Mitchell, the lead singer of Boney M, you sing your next big hit for the first time. This is the story behind…Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord! For this episode, Drew Savage sat down with Boney M’s original lead singer, Liz Mitchell! Liz Mitchell walks us through the history of the song, and some fun facts behind the hit. Mary’s Boy Child Oh My Lord this was about as instant a hit as you could get. Mary’s Boy Child was recorded originally in 1956 by ...
Dec 01, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 7
What began as a Christmas present to a high school crush in 1944 turned into a #1 Christmas hit more than 25 years later. Here are things you didn't know about Merry Christmas Darling, by The Carpenters. Merry Christmas, Darling was recorded in 1970 by The Carpenters. It went to #1 on Billboard’s Christmas chart in 1970, 1971 and 1973. It started off as a high school crush. The original lyrics were written in 1944 by an 18-year-old named Frank Pooler about a girl he had a crush on at the time. F...
Nov 30, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 5
It’s considered the first rock & roll Christmas song, but exactly who is responsible for that is a question that still doesn’t have a definitive answer! Here are things you didn't know about Jingle Bell Rock. By 1957, the rock & roll sound was about to hit Christmas music…even if no one actually intended for that to happen. Jingle Bell Rock was first recorded by country singer Bobby Helms. He is not recognized as the song’s author, but he and guitarist Hank “Sugarfoot” Garland would both...
Nov 30, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Rolling Stone calls it the greatest rock and roll Christmas song ever but it went largely unnoticed for a decade after coinciding with a tragedy. This is the story behind…Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Presented by Pizza Pizza! It was recorded in 1963 for the album A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector. The album gave Phil’s signature “wall of sound” treatment to well-known Christmas songs like Frosty the Snowman, Winter Wonderland and White Christmas. The one original song on the album...
Nov 30, 2020•4 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Facing an illness that would ultimately take his life, lyricist Richard Smith wrote what he believed was his best work. Here are things you didn't know about the Christmas hit Winter Wonderland. Winter Wonderland is rare among Christmas songs in that it’s one of the most famous, but there’s no real consensus on who’s version is the definitive version. Perry Como made it a top 10 hit. Ella Fitzgerald re-imagined it with a jazz flavour and the Eurythmics gave it an 80’s new wave vibe. But which is...
Nov 30, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Let’s get into the story behind Santa Baby! Santa Baby was first recorded by Eartha Kitt and released in 1953. It was written for a musical comedy film called New Faces. In August of that year, lyricist Joan Javits and composer Phil Springer went for a meeting at New York’s famous Brill Building and were asked if they could write a Christmas song for Kitt to be included in the movie. Javits suggested “Santa Baby” for a title and then Springer went to work on the melody. The song’s arrival was an...
Nov 30, 2020•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1
The signature part of a classic Elvis song was just supposed to be a joke. It’s time to go Behind the Christmas Hits: Blue Christmas. Blue Christmas is NOT an Elvis original. The lyrics were written by Jay Johnson, who was working on a Christmas music radio show in the late 1940’s. Billy Hayes wrote the melody and it was first recorded by country singer, TV host and actor Doye O’Dell in 1948. Several other versions were recorded over the next few years, including one by Ernest Tubb that went to ...
Nov 30, 2020•5 min•Season 1Ep. 2
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Nov 26, 2020•1 min
