Old Enough to Forget

Before Frank Mills punished the world with "Music Box Dancer" in 1979, Hagood Hardy had an unusual cross-over with "The Homecoming" back in 1975. Okay, to the purists out there yes "Music box Dancer" was actually recorded in 1974, but then "The Homecoming" got it's start in a commercial for Salada tea in 1972. What this has to do with anything is beyond me, but there you go. By 1978 Mr. Hardy was a known commodity with his brand of piano tinkling and it made sense that he put out a Christmas album at some point ... and then it happened.  A Very Special Christmas  was licensed to K-tel from Attic Records. Who knows how this came about, but there was a time the little label from Winnipeg wasn't that little. The album features sixteen tracks that cover all of the required bases. It should be noted that this album predates the A Very Special Christmas anthologies of Christmas music by about a decade. Those were good, but each album was a lit...

Kids today have no idea that once upon a time, not that long ago, cable television was a luxury, and it wasn't until the mid '70s most of us had a colour TV. The channels that came in with the rabbit ears were the ones we watched. There was Gunsmoke, The Beachcomers, and on Saturday* it was The Tommy Hunter Show  that I watched with my parents, and despite not being a country fan I sure did like the guitar players. Wilf Carter seemed to be a staple, but chances are I only saw him a handful of times. I also remember a big deal being made out of fiddle player Al Cherney whenever he was on ... but I don't think he has a Christmas album. Wilf Carter was one of the first Canadian country stars in the classic cowboy tradition. Apparently in the States he was known as Montana Slim something I was this many years old when I found out. I was out to lunch the other day with my mum and mentioned I'd found Wilf Carter's Christmas album, and she told me how he was her dad's...

As a kid the coolest name to say outloud that wouldn't get you into trouble was Engelbert Humperdink. I could not figure out how adults were able to take this British helmet haired crooner seriously. I mean as soon as I heard, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Engelbert Humperdinck." I'd just lose it. Hump a dink, ha ha ha. In my twenties, my roommate had an Engelbert Humperdinck album, and every once in a while he'd appear in the living room in a black velvet smoking jacket and proclaim it was time for some Humperdinck. "Release Me"was fine, "Quando Quando Quando" was good, but we'd loose our collective shit and belt out "Lonely is a Man without Love" and then prance around. I never said I was mature, and for whatever reason I had developed a begrudging respect for Mister Hump a dink as a fine vocalist. I'll also be the first to admit that there's a generic quality to his vocals that make him hard to distinguish from many of his con...

I actually really like these odd little double A side collections. Take two somewhat related artists and cull a dozen songs from across their discography and try and make a buck at Christmas. There is no information printed on the spine, and no liner notes. To be fair, my used copy could have had some once upon a time ... but I doubt it. The double act Columbia Records decided to put together was Johnny Mathis and The Ray Conniff Singers. Whoever picked the songs for the Johnny Mathis side decided to stay with the sacred. From what I can figure five of the six songs here come from his 1958 Christmas album, with "Ava Maria" likely coming from Good Night, Dear Lord , also released in '58. The sequencing follows a loose chronological telling of the Christmas story. The album kicks off with "O Holy Night" and when it comes to the French Kiss note he does it with a full voice, no falsetto or warbly half measures. It's pretty impressive, and his voice seems to be ...

Annunzio Paolo Mantovani died in March of 1980 at the age of 74. Before The Beatles dethroned him, Mantovani was Britian's most successful act. He was the king of lush orchestra arrangements, or more to the point, the syrupy strings that were all the rage once upon a time. It's not like people didn't eat it up. Reading up on Mantovani, because that's what I do ... and what better place to start than to skim over a wiki entry, he was a pretty big deal. According to the book British Hit Singles & Albums,  he was the first to sell over a million stereo albums, and it would seem he cranks out records like a sausage maker, in 1959 Mantovani had six albums in the US Top 30 at the same time. Goodness. Mantovani released a couple of Christmas albums back in the '50s, but this collection appears to be new recordings by The Mantovani Orchestra, conducted by long time arranger Roland Shaw. So even if Mantovani was no longer around, his arranger and orchestra were so it sti...

I was a baby when this came out. So I can't say I was a fan when it was first released. Like a lot of people, I came late to the party, really late. Sure, I knew about him from The Godfather , but that hardly counts. It was the maligned Godfather Part III  and Johnny Fantane's character when he sang, "To Each His Own" that sealed it for me as an Al Martino fan. That was awesome. "Promise Me You'll Remember (Love Theme from The Godfather Part III)" was supposed to be the big crooner moment with Harry Connick Jr. but a quick A and B between Al and Harry shows the absolute gulf between them as vocalists. I like Harry, Al was simply on another level. "To Each His Own" was supposed to be played at our wedding, except I forgot the cassette at home that had some of the songs we wanted to play. Which sucked because we wanted to exit the reception to Michael Nesmith singing "Eldorado to the Moon" and when he got to the part where he sang, ...

Man, the '60s were cool. I mean it seemed like you could package an album for just about anyone or anything. Case in point, take this 1969 release, Season's Greetings & Joyeux Noel To Canada From Barbra Streisand . At first blush this looks like a Christmas album by Barbra Streisand ... until you turn it over and see the ... and Friends. Those friends were Doris Day, Jim Nabors and Andre Kostelanetz. I doubt they met up to discuss the album. What made this so interesting, was that it was a Columbia Records special products release produced exclusively for Canada Dry. Yeah, Canada Dry . I wonder how you got the album? Did you have to send in bottle caps? Before Celine Dion, it was Barbra Streisand who had the pipes. While I was never really a fan, I will admit that as a little kid I did like some of her songs from the movies. It's interesting that of all the holiday standards I never even knew Babs recorded Christmas songs. Well of course she did. The songs included on t...

Here we have a Nana Mouskouri album ... finally. I mean this is a sort of big deal. She was always that singer who wore the big black glasses. I had no idea what she sounded like, but it's funny that we all knew who she was. I mentioned in another post I thought that she and Roger Whittaker were two sides of the same coin. I managed to find Roger Whittaker's Christmas album, and recently I was rummaging in the dollar bin for Christmas records and scored a really nice copy of Nana Mouskouri's 1972 album "Christmas With Nana Mouskouri."  Musically the songs hold up really well. I'm never quite sure what to expect with some of the stuff from the early '70s. The arrangements lean to the traditional, although there are a number of songs where there's a folky flavour. This was before adult contemporary was a thing, but I suppose it was always a thing just not a genre. So many things get shoehorned into a box after the fact, and I'm trying to see where th...

I found this one among my dad's old records. It always surprised me at how old my father's musical tastes were. I could never reconcile his taste in record to how old he actually was. Still, I suppose that was more to do with his strict upbringing and the near intolerance of all things secular that stemmed from his parents. Paul Mickelson (not to be confused with Phil) got his start in the '50s playing organ for Billy Graham crusades, and would later be an executive at Word records and would later start his own label, Supreme Records and a number of smaller subsidiary imprints. Christmas Concert at the Console was on Console Records, but there's no year on the jacket or record, and the only reference I can find states it was released in the '60s.  The album itself was recorded at the Console of the N.B.C. Pipe Organ in Hollywood. I actually love the cover photo, and wish there was a little more detail on the Console itself. I've always been fascinated by organs...

The '60s, baby they were the best of times, they were the worst of times. On today's instalment of what the fudge were they thinking , we have the Tijuana Voices Sing Merry Christmas an album that's deliberately packaged to make you think this is The Tijuana Brass, or a cheaper knock off of Julius Wechter and The Baja Marimba Band. The difference was that Julius was on A&M the home of the Tijuana Brass and Mr. Alpert was the A in A&M. Whereas the Tijuana Voices were on Pickwick/33 a budget label, known for repacking stuff at a discount. Yeah we have the pseudo Mexican moustaches and sombreros that screams '60s kitsch. You could be forgiven for thinking this was Herb Alpert, at least that's what I'm telling myself, because I feel like I got suckered. Except that it's exactly what I had hoped it would be, so I guess it all worked out in the end. For all that it was a dollar well spent. Like I said, this delivered exactly what I was expecting to hear. T...

I hated this song when I first heard it. It was a clunky, tone deaf bit of musical hubris that seemed entirely self serving. That and it featured a gaggle of singers I ... could ... not ... stand. Over the years the song has managed to worm it's way into my subconscious, and I will begrudgingly admit that there are some pretty catchy bits and I actually enjoy the song now. To the point where I look forward to hearing it over the holidays. It's still completely tone deaf, but now it just feels like something that was okay in the olden days, and a tad out of step today but that's okay. It's hard to imagine that it's been forty years. Good grief. Of course, to celebrate the occasion there's a 40th Anniversary remix that has managed to recreate all of the vitriol I felt when I first heard it back in '84. Now, it's not just a case of me being a borderline boomer, it really is a stinking piece of musical crap. Even my daughter who loves all things Christmas ha...

Over the years, I've gathered a wide variety of Christmas music—fun, kitschy, terrible, poignant, and glorious—to celebrate the holiday season. It all starts building up to Christmas Day, continues through New Year's celebrations, and finally winds down at Epiphany. After that, everything is packed away until the first Sunday of Advent—though we often start listening before the end of November. We love Christmas music, heck over the last couple of years I've dedicated December to writing about Christmas music, particularly old albums I'd pick up in the discount bins. This year was a little skinny, but like I said I have a lot of Christmas music, and I just figured I'd pull out one of my favourite CDs. David Edwards is an artist I first discovered back in 1981 when he released his self titled album. That album lived on my turntable for months. His cover of the old Paul Revere classic "Kicks" to me is the definitive version. It was so good but it wasn't ...

Here we go, another lush strings arrangement of some of the best holiday classics (best is subjective). I know I really shouldn't like this stuff as much as I do. This stuff manages to sit nestled in my sweet spot for all things nostalgic. I'm always reminded of the holiday variety specials I saw when I was a kid. This to me is the sound of Christmas. It makes me think of my mum, who loves strings. This collection touches all the sweet spots (that's twice, now I'm going to work in the hat trick before I'm done) okay, maybe not all, but it goes for the big ones. The album kicks off with "White Christmas" and includes "My Favorite Things" and "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Little Drummer Boy" which are pretty solid. Actually as I listen more closely the album really does have quite a few sort of new to me moments, which was unexpected and a nice treat. Probably the oddest moment that caught me off guard and gave me a good giggl...

I found this one, and snapped it up. Sadly it looked to be in better condition than it actually was ... but I can stream it if I want to hear it without the Rice Krispie Players adding their own textures to the songs. It didn't matter, at least for the first few times that I played it in the basement. Don Ho, you know Mister Tiny Bubbles himself, was someone I knew of, more than I knew of. I always figured he was a one note joke and I didn't get the punchline. I had no idea what to expect, somehow in my mind I figured he'd be milking his 1967 hit, and signature song. "Tiny Snowballs" and the like. "Tiny Bubbles" from what I've read was originally penned for Lawrence Welk as a tie in to his champagne music. Mr. Welk passed, and Don Ho received it and scored a touchdown with it. Released in 1967 Do Ho nailed it with his easy listening collection of Christmas standards, "Silver Bells", "The Christmas Song", and a wonderfully slowed ...

Here we are at the end of Christmas celebrating Epiphany. In addition to the traditional gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh I offer to you John Fahey's 1974 re-issue of his 1968 album The New Possibility . An album that was an unexpected surprise and will no doubt become a record I return to over and over. I had no idea who John Fahey was when I picked up the album, all I knew was it had an interesting cover, that could have been released any time over the last fifty years. It was the definition of simplicity, and it was on Takoma records, a label I knew from Truth Decay by T Bone Burnett way back in 1980. I figured it was likely some acoustic flavoured collection of Christmas carols and that would be just a-okay by me. One of my all time favourite Christmas albums is A Christmas Collection by Neil Hogan that came out in 1989, and featured finger style steel string renditions of popular favourites. The album opens with "Joy to the World" and sure enough it was exactl...

Roger Whittaker and Nana Mouskouri always seemed to me to be two sides of the same coin, except one played a 12 string guitar and was a hell of a whistler. It's funny how you grow up with certain artists but have no idea who they are. Roger Whittaker was simply someone I knew about, but knew nothing about. So when I found his Christmas album I didn't hesitate I just picked it up and added it to my pile. I'm still listening to Christmas music, but in the run up to Epiphany I'm getting to the bottom of this year's pile, and I have to admit with all that's been going on I've spent less time in the basement ignoring my chores and listening to records. Still I did squirrel aside some time to try and take this one in. Eschewing the trend of merely recycling "Jingle Bells" and the other Christmas staples, Roger collects some of the lesser known Christmas songs, as well as a number of originals. As to the whistling, I have to admit old Roger didn't puc...

Here we are in the post Christmas dead space between the turkey and New Year's Eve. It one of my favourite times of the year. We still have the tree up and Christmas music still plays while we lounge around the house. The Christmas Touch is another one of those "who is this guy?" Christmas albums. I got it because the 12 year old goof in me giggled at the album title. I could imagine it being sung to the tune of "The Bad Touch" by The Bloodhound Gang. I'm not proud of myself for this, but it is, what it is. I've accepted the things I can't really change about my sense of humour. I'd not heard of Johnny Tillotson before, but I scanned through some of my '60s collections, and sure enough in the early '60s he'd struck gold with songs like "Poetry in Motion" and "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'" with the latter being covered by the likes of Bobby Darin, Elvis, and even Slim Whitman. The album is a collection of mid ...

I figured, you can't really go wrong with Mr. Showmanship. I was still rooting around for records before Christmas, and honestly I ended up with more records than I had time to sit and digest. Oh, playing them was another matter, but sitting and taking it in and then trying to compose a pithy regurgitation of my auditory experience just took time I didn't have this season. Regardless when I found 'Twas The Night Before Christmas I was pretty excited, mainly because I'd be able to play it in the basement when mum was over, and not have her complain about the noise. After all, her favourite song ever, is Frank Chacksfield's "Ebb Tide" so her tastes run to the schmaltzy ... but in a good way. For me it just hearkens back to another time and it always feels nostalgic. I won't fall into the trap of equating them with the good old days, or a simpler time ... not being there I can't make such a sweeping generalization and not come across as a naive simpl...

Over the last few year's this has become part of our Christmas Eve, although usually in a truncated fashion. We'd all gather together in the family room with the lights out, the room a muted kaleidoscope of muted colours from the Christmas tree in the corner. We start with the CBC recording of Al Maitland narrating Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd and then we'd play A Child's Christmas in Wales , by Dylan Thomas. Now I didn't have the recording, and we'd find selections on YouTube, but seldom the entire version. This one was important to my wife, and was more a nod to my her childhood memories. Last year I found this vinyl copy, and we forgot to go to the basement and listen to it as we got lost in the hustle of trying to ensure everything was in order for Christmas morning. This year I'm cheating, I am sitting here a couple of days in advance hoping to take this in and see what the fuss is all about. I have it ready for Christmas Eve. This recording was...