Tuesday, December 9, 2014

My Top 40 Christmas Tunes- 30-21...

With the Christmas season underway, I thought I'd bring pack a series of Facebook updates I did last year- Enjoy - Please forgive some of the YouTube links which may have gone bad in the past year...

 Two of my favorite things are Music Countdowns and Christmas!

 This entryups the ante as we get deeper into tho countdown...

 30. Christmas Time, Bryan Adams 
As we enter the top 30, we start off with the first appearance of the "Anthem / Power Chorus" type Christmas song that became prevalent as 80's stars did "original" Christmas Carols. This my favorite song by the Canadian John Cougar- For some reason he just never appealed to me. Good Christmas song though!
 Another faux video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHMyZXV5ajk

 29. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late), The Chipmunks
Tell me who has resisted singing along this with this song on the car radio in a nasally induced falsetto, and I will show you someone who just doesn't get Christmas. This is actually the last Christmas song to reach number 1 on the US Billboard charts!



 28. Silent Night, Boyz II Men
Long before Pitch Perfect and way before Glee...
And before 'N sync, Back Street Boys, and 98 Degrees...
This Philly boy band with harmonies that sounded just right...
Did a perfect acappela version of Silent Night!
Video - With the Fresh Prince: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDigf1XM9DQ

27. I Want You For Christmas, Cheap Trick
A Recipe for disaster:
Take a classic song, and remake it with Christmas lyrics!
Unless... it is your song you are remaking.
Unless... it is your biggest hit.
Unless... You are Cheap Trick!!!
From 2012...
26. Sleigh Ride, Debbie Gibson
I really can't explain this one. When I put this together last year I must have been in a retro 80s mood. This makes no sense. If I did this again, I'd swap it out for another song, say Donny Hathaway's This Christmas... Oh well- good tune, OK version. Tomorrow, the big names start coming out.
 Tribute video from a stalker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjagSVRTyPs

 25. Little Saint Nick, The Beach Boys
In an era when pop/rock bands only covered existing Christmas Carols, if they even did Christmas songs at all... America's all time best selling band wrote their own tune, only to have it debut 2 weeks after President Kennedy was killed. Despite the subdued Christmas launch in 1963, this song went on to be a gold/platinum record- and led the way for other rock artists to record original Christmas tunes.

Really interesting live version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-vAZabkn3U

 24. Little Drummer Boy (Peace On Earth), Bing Crosby & David Bowie
I can only imagine how surreal it was when watching this on TV in 1977 (I was out of the country at the time)... David showed up as a favor to his mom, and Bing had David on as a favor to his kids. Just like David, I dislike the song... but his original composition, Peace on Earth makes this the classic it has become. 


23. Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Chicago
Guilty pleasure this time out. My favorite band came out of a decade long slump (before going into a 15 year slump that they are still in) with this song. They take a Christmas standard, add their own new chorus and bridge. Not to mention inserting their trademark horn section.

22. Run, Run, Rudolph, Dave Edmunds
Arguably the first Rock Christmas song written in 1958, I did not go with the original Chuck Berry recording, and instead with the almost verbatim Dave Edmunds cover- A direct Homage to the original, but recorded with modern sensibilities. Trivia: Official song name is "Run Rudolph Run"

21. Jingle Bells, The Singing Dogs
Halfway to the Top! This version first charted in 1955 (Thereby qualifying as Rock era), and came back again and charted in 1971. When first recorded in 1949, this producer led ensemble was groundbreaking. The producer assembled the singers, recorded them individually on tape, sped up / reduced speed to get just the right pitch, and then merged the singers onto one track. This Danish group was revolutionary for its time, and the Producer led - cute young singers manipulated by technology, is still a model used today. Some may think of this as a novelty record, however this was my favorite Christmas tune until age 12.
Audio track from YouTube (Dr. Demento is a DJ who assemble the record, not the aritist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCBhQCCyhTo

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