The Best Christmas Songs of All-Time: December 24

Musical tastes are as diverse as the number of people in the world.  I have listened to thousands of Christmas songs, not only over the years but in preparation for this Inside the Rock Era special.  I do hope that I've touched upon songs that you find enjoyable.  Only one more day to go, 12 more songs, so let's get right to them!

"Opera of the Bells"

by Destiny's Child

"Carol of the Bells" was the original Ukrainian composition.  An alternate English version features more Nativity-based lyrics.  Destiny's Child renamed it "Opera of the Bells" for inclusion on their album 8 Days of Christmas.  

"Away in a Manger"

by John Denver

Denver's Christmas album, A Rocky Mountain Christmas, contains many great Christmas songs on the same album.  Few artists have been able to include so many great recordings on one Christmas album.  Denver adds his touch to this spiritual favorite.

 

"Handel's Messiah"
by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

No list of the Top Christmas Songs would be complete without this song, an oratorio written by George Frideric Handel in 1741.  It includes a scriptural text written by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.  It was first performed in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742 and has since become one of the best-known and most performed choral works in Western music.

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
by Brenda Lee

I'm sure you and yours will do some rocking around the Christmas tree while this song is played in the background.  It was written by Johnny Marks, who has three of his compositions in The Top 150*.  When Brenda first introduced this in 1958, it didn't do much but finally in 1960, after she had enjoyed success with "I'm Sorry" and "Sweet Nothin's", the song took off and hasn't looked back.  It has now gone over eight million in sales.

"The Christmas Song"

by Nat King Cole

Cole originally recorded this song in 1946, then re-recorded it later in the year with a small string section.  It became a massive hit.  He then recorded a third version in 1953 and this one, on March 30, 1961 at Capitol Studios in New York City.  It is this fourth recording that is the most famous.  The instrumentation is nearly identical to that of the 1953 recording, but the vocals are much deeper.  It has remained not only the definitive version of the song, but one of The Top 10 Christmas Songs of All-Time ever since.

"White Christmas"

by Bing Crosby

This all-time favorite written by Irving Berlin reached #1 in 1942, 1945 and 1946 although the version you are used to hearing isn't the original.  There was so much demand for the song at the record plant that the original master was actually destroyed from overuse!  So Bing and group went into the studio and re-recorded it in 1947, essentially remaking the song perfectly.  This song is the biggest-selling single of all-time.

This Date in Rock Music History: December 24

1955:  The Lennon Sisters were the new featured vocalists on The Lawrence Welk Show on ABC-TV.

1964:  The Beatles began a second series of Christmas concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon on London, with help from the Yardbirds, Freddie and the Dreamers and others.
1966:  Tommy James & the Shondells recorded "I Think We're Alone Now".
1966:  "(I Know) I'm Losing You by the Temptations was the new #1 on the R&B chart, taking over from "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Supremes.
1966:  The New Vaudeville Band made it four weeks in the #1 spot on the Easy Listening chart with "Winchester Cathedral".

       "The Work Song", part of yet another hot album from the Brass...

1966:  Not quite like The Planet of the Apes, but the Monkees had taken over the world and their debut album spent a seventh week at #1.  The Soundtrack to "Doctor Zhivago" was second while the new album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass--S.R.O. moved from 12 to 3 in its third week.  Simon & Garfunkel were just beginning to become a major force and this is the album that made people sit up and take notice--Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme at #4.  The rest of the Top 10:  The Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" was still up high after 93 weeks, Je m'appelle Barbra was Barbra Streisand's newest smash, Going Places by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was at 7 after 63 weeks, The Supremes A' Go-Go came in at position #8, the debut from the Mamas and the Papas and a third entry in the Top 10 for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass--What Now My Love.
1966:  "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen came roaring into the Top 10 on this date, flying from 30 to 7 after just two weeks of release.
1968:  The Golliwogs changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.  (Note:  several websites report that the Blue Velvets changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival, and that the date of the change was January 1, 1968.  Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records in December, 1968.  He offered the group an opportunity to record an album on Fantasy if they changed their name.  At the time, the group's name was the Golliwogs--not the Blue Velvets.)
1967:  Jeremy Clyde of Chad & Jeremy appeared on the popular CBS show My Three Sons.

1967:  The Bee Gees performed a Christmas special from Liverpool Cathedral in England (which was taped on December 10th), broadcast live on U.K. television.
1968:  Led Zeppelin departed for their first tour of the United States, with their first show lined up in Denver, Colorado on December 26.
1972:  A loud concert or a riot--neighbors in Miami, Florida decided a riot was better.  That was the cause of their actions when they complained about loud noise at a concert by Manfred Mann and His Earth Band at the University of Miami.  Police stopped the concert, sparking a riot that lasted two hours.
1973:  Tom Johnston, guitarist of the Doobie Brothers, was arrested for possession of marijuana in Visalia, California.

1973:  DeBarge remained at the top of the R&B chart for the third week with "Time Will Reveal".
1974:  Consider yourself lucky to be in Los Angeles on this date.  You got to hear the quartet of Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Carly Simon going door to door around the city singing Christmas carols.







                              The title track from 'Aja'....

1977:  Simple Dreams was the biggest album of Linda Ronstadt's career and it spent a fourth week at #1.  Rumours continued to make a case for returning to the top for Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart was in third with Foot Loose & Fancy Free, Earth, Wind & Fire had #4 with All 'N All and ELO's latest Out of the Blue was #5.  The rest of the Top 10: Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life, Commodores Live!, Aja from Steely Dan at #8, Kiss entered the Top 10 with Alive II and Santana held on to 10 with Moonflower.
1977:  The Bee Gees had jumpstarted their career and "How Deep Is Your Love" held down the #1 spot on the Adult chart for a fifth straight week.

1977:  The Bee Gees captured the #1 spot with "How Deep Is Your Love", ending a Rock Era reign of 10 weeks for Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life".  Linda Ronstadt was one of a select few artists to place two songs in the Top 5 simultaneously with "Blue Bayou" at 3 and "It's So Easy" at 5.  In between, L.T.D. with "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back In Love Again" while newcomer Player was at #6 with "Baby Come Back".  The rest of the Top 10:  Crystal Gayle with her crossover "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", Dolly Parton enjoyed a hit with "Here You Come Again", ex-Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch landed his only Top 10 hit with "Sentimental Lady" and Paul Simon reached #10 with "Slip Slidin' Away".
1978:  Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Falkskog, members of ABBA, announced they had separated and were filing for divorce.
1983:  The Police appeared at the Brighton Centre in England.
1983:  Barry Manilow achieved his 13th #1 song on the Adult Contemporary chart out of 27 releases with "Read 'Em And Weep".

1983:  The powerful song "Yah Mo Be There" by James Ingram and Michael McDonald moved from 73 to 50.









                                Double Duran was back...

1983:  Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson's duet "Say Say Say" continued to set the pace at #1 for a third week.  Hall & Oates took the runner-up spot with "Say It Isn't So".  Duran Duran had one of their biggest with "Union Of The Snake", Yes was up to #4 with "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" and the former #1 Lionel Richie song "All Night Long" dropped to #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl", Pat Benatar had song #7--"Love Is A Battlefield", Olivia Newton-John and "Twist Of Fate", the Rolling Stones edged in with "Undercover Of The Night" and newcomer Matthew Wilder was up from 18 to 10 with "Break My Stride".
1983:  Although it had been 15 weeks since it was a #1 album, the amazing Thriller returned to the top spot on the Album chart on this date after 53 weeks of release.  It was this last run that enabled it to become the longest-running #1 album of all-time; as of now, it ranked #3 for the Rock Era with 21 weeks at #1, behind Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (31 weeks) and the Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" (24 weeks).  Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie relinquished its spot, What's New from Linda Ronstadt moved up to 3 and former #1 Synchronicity by the Police was fourth.  The rest of the Top 10:  Undercover from the Rolling Stones, Quiet Riot was at #6 with Metal Health, Yes rose from 13-7 with their comeback album 90125, Billy Joel edged up with his new album An Innocent Man, Culture Club dropped with Colour By Numbers and Hall & Oates held on to #10--Rock 'N Soul, Part 1.
1988:  Nirvana began recording their first album Bleach with $600 borrowed from a friend.
1988:  Phil Collins had begun crossing over to the AC chart and "on this date, Two Hearts" reached the #1 position.

1988:  U2 moved from 74 to 51 with "Angel of Harlem".











1988:  Poison collected their only #1 with "Every Rose Has It's Thorn".  Bobby Brown was second with "My Prerogative", Chicago fell from it's perch at #1 with "Look Away" and Anita Baker had #4 with "Giving You The Best That I Got".  The rest of the Top 10:  Boy Meets Girl with "Waiting For A Star To Fall", Phil Collins was up from 12 to 6 with "Two Hearts", Guns N' Roses found themselves at #7 with "Welcome To The Jungle", the Bangles were back in the Top 10 with "In Your Room", Eddie Money's "Walk On Water" glided in at #9 and Taylor Dayne remained hot, moving from 15-10 with "Don't Rush Me".



   
   Roy Orbison's "Rattled" on the amazing Traveling Wilburys album...

1988:  Another album from Anita Baker reached #1 as Giving You the Best That I Got took over from U2's Rattle and Hum.  The Soundtrack to "Cocktail" was third with Guns N' Roses not content to fade away after 70 weeks with Appetite for Destruction.  The rest of the Top 10:  New Jersey from Bon Jovi, Bobby Brown believed he was above us all and could be cruel while he told others to Don't Be Cruel with his album at #6, Hysteria was still at #7 after 71 weeks for Def Leppard, the Traveling Wilburys and Volume One, Kenny G was attracting fans with Silhouette and Poison couldn't budge from #10 with Open Up and Say...Ahh!
1994:  TLC continued to own the top R&B song with "Creep", holding off challengers for a third week.
1994:  Madonna raced from 45 to 18 on this date with her newest--"Take A Bow".

1994:  Here's a hot album for you--Vitalogy by Pearl Jam moved from #173 to #1 on this date, displacing Miracles - The Holiday Album from Kenny G.  The Beatles debuted at #3 with Live at the BBC, Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas was #4 and Boyz II Men slipped with II.  The rest of the Top 10:  Hell Freezes Over from the Eagles, Dookie by Green Day was #7 after 44 weeks, Nirvana's album MTV Unplugged in New York was next, "The Lion King" Soundtrack came in at #9 and Smash from Offspring captured the #10 position.
1996:  Tony Bennett was released from a hospital in Washington D.C. after an emergency hernia operation.  He suffered the hernia while preparing to perform at the White House.
1999:  Zeke Carey of the Flamingos ("I Only Have Eyes for You") died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C. at age 66.

2000:  Nick Massi, bassist of the Four Seasons, died of cancer in Newark, New Jersey at the age of 65 in West Orange, New Jersey.

2003:  Simon & Garfunkel donated $1 million to the Children's Health Fund, a charity started by Paul Simon in 1997.
2003:  The great album The Diary of Alicia Keys returned to #1.


Born This Day:
1920:  Dave Bartholomew, co-writer and producer of "Ain't It A Shame" and "Blue Monday", was born in Edgard, Louisiana.
1924:  Lee Dorsey ("Ya Ya" from 1961) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana; died December 2, 1986.  (Note:  some websites report Dorsey was born in Portland, Oregon--he was born in New Orleans and moved with his family to Portland when he was ten, according to the books '683 Things About New Orleans' by Monica M. Dalide and 'Rhythm and Blues, Rap, and Hip-Hop' by Frank Hoffmann.  Some websites list his birth year as 1924, but he was born in 1926, according to 'The Chicago Tribune' and the book 'Musical Gumbo:  The Music of New Orleans' by Grace Lichtenstein)
1944:  Mike Curb, MGM executive, recording artist ("Burning Bridges") and lieutenant governor of California, was born in Savannah, Georgia.
1945:  Lemmy (real name Ian Fraser Kilmister), bassist, vocalist, songwriter and founder of Motorhead, was born in Burslem, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

1946:  Jan Akkerman, elite guitarist with Focus and a solo artist, was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
1957:  Ian Burden, keyboardist of the Human League, was born in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. 
1963:  Mary Ramsey, lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs after Natalie Merchant began a solo career, was born in Washington, D.C.
1968:  Doyle Bramhall II, guitarist and songwriter who worked with Freddie King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others, was born in Dallas, Texas; died November 12, 2011 in Alpine, Texas of heart failure.

1971:  Ricky Martin was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Best Christmas Songs of All-Time: December 23

We've sifted through all of the Christmas songs and are featuring what we believe to be the cream of the Christmas crop.  We began on December 1 and by Christmas Day will have presented The Top 150 Christmas Songs of All-Time*.

"Have a Holly Jolly Christmas"

by Burl Ives

Ives recorded this in July of 1964 for the animated feature "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which he also narrated.  It reached #13 and is one of the most cheerful, infectious Christmas songs of them all.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside"

by Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme

Frank Loesser wrote this song in 1944 and premiered it with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their Navarro Hotel housewarming.    Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme recorded what is regarded as one of the best versions of the song and included it on the album That Holiday Feeling.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You"

by Mariah Carey

. The song was written by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff. It reached #2 in Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.K. and charted in six other countries. Since then, it has reappeared on the charts in four different years and has quickly become a Christmas standard, selling over four million copies.

My Grown-Up Christmas List"

by Amy Grant

The song was written by Linda Thompson-Jenner and David Foster, originally recorded by Foster with Natalie Cole in 1990.  It was this version, included on Amy Grant's second Christmas album Home for Christmas, featuring altered lyrics and an additional verse that Grant wrote, that caught on.

Amy gives us a message away from materialism and added maturity to Christmas with a Christmas List That Matters.

"Jingle Bells"

by Diana Krall

This song was first copyrighted under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh".  Included on Krall's album Christmas Songs and gifted with her signature voice and style, the version has become one of the most-played Christmas songs in recent years.

 

"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"

by the Royal Symphony Orchestra

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote a two-act ballet called The Nutcracker. Originally, the ballet was not a success, but the suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. Of course now, The Nutcracker is extremely popular and is performed by ballet companies all over the world. This is one of the best versions of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" performed by the Royal Symphony Orchestra.