Back in the early aughts, there was an entire movement of terrible movie parodies in the theaters. Every few weeks, there seemed to be a new “_____ Movie” released, and the results were always poor. One of the many problems these movies had was their choice of targets. Since they came out so frequently, whatever … Continue reading Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Whenever I hear a cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” that features the original lyrics from the 1944 Judy Garland film, “Meet Me in St. Louis,” they seem wrong. While so many Christmas songs have an element of forced saccharine happiness, the dourness of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane’s original version is almost … Continue reading Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Here’s a scenario: Imagine you’re a young singer with a talent for gospel. You hit it big a few years ago by combining your love of gospel and country and giving it a blues-influenced twist. Since then, your fame has become what will later devolve into a rockstar cliche: men want to be you, women … Continue reading Santa Claus is Back in Town

In 1943, Veronica Bennett was born into an already-oversized family. Growing up in Spanish Harlem, she and her sister, Estelle, would join their cousin, Nedra, and make themselves heard in their large family the best way they could: singing. When their talent took them from family gatherings at their grandmother’s house to the popular Peppermint … Continue reading Frosty the Snowman

In the world of holiday music, you have the heavy hitters - Sinatra, Cole, Fitzgerald, Crosby - but then you also find these little gems that seem to fall out of the sky like snowflakes and evaporate just as quickly. They’re tucked away, buried underneath the seemingly endless muck of obscure holiday music.  One of … Continue reading ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?

There aren’t many department store coloring books that go on to become part of Christmas lore. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is part of this exclusive club, starting out as a cheap way for Montgomery Ward to give away coloring books during the Depression. Robert L. May, a copywriter in Chicago, was tasked with the job … Continue reading Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

What do you get when you take the tune of a Czech carol that no one has ever been able to accurately identify, write lyrics that vaguely resemble a 12th century French tale, and arrange it strictly for voices - save for a keyboard part listed as “for rehearsal only”? “Carol of the Drum” by … Continue reading The Little Drummer Boy

In 1934, Tin Pan Alley composer Haven Gillespie jotted down a few simple verses and brought them to his frequent collaborator, John Frederick Coots. Gillespie and Coots had been successful songwriters for years, Coots having written several Broadway musicals and reviews. Coots read over the lyrics and, in the span of ten minutes, tapped out … Continue reading Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town

If there’s one song that accurately depicts the short time between Thanksgiving and December 1st, it’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” With a title like that, songwriter Meredith Willson set expectations exactly where he wanted them. Using familiar sights like candy canes, holly, and a variety of toys, Willson paints both downtown … Continue reading It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The Guinness Book of World Records says that Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is the biggest selling single of all time, so it seems like a good place to start. First released in 1942, “White Christmas” is an example of the small melancholy-but-not-depressing genre of holiday music. The circumstances around the actual creation of the song … Continue reading White Christmas