More Advent songs

Jingle Bells

Here are more Advent songs, largely non-religious:

Jingle Bells – Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters: I’ll admit to be a sucker for that whole Bing album

Jingle Bells – the Fab Four. No, it isn’t the Beatles.

River – Joni Mitchell. Brian Ibbott was musing about whether this is a Christmas song on the Coverville podcast. If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then this, using Jingle Bells as the backbone, certainly qualifies.

Christmas Is a Comin’ – Leadbelly. I have this on an LP.

Mame: We Need A Little Christmas – Angela Lansbury. I think we DO need it.


Great producer but a not-so-great human being.


Here are three great songs from that Phil Spector holiday album.
Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane) – Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans
Frosty the Snowman – The Ronettes
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Darlene Love

The Holly And The Ivy   – Nowell We Sing ClearBack in the late 1970s or early 1980s, I went to the group’s annual shows near Albany. I have two of their LPs.

White Christmas – the Drifters. I love this as much for the cool animation as for the recording.

Linus and Lucy  –  Vince Guaraldi. Not only do I listen to that Charlie Brown album, but I also got turned on to an album of Guaraldi’s other music. I enjoyed an incredibly detailed book about Vince’s life.

Riu Chiu -The Monkees. From episode 47 of the series.

What Christmas Means To Me   – Stevie Wonder. There were several Christmas albums by Motown artists, including The Temptations and the Jackson Five.  The artists were also included on several different compilation albums, with the same tracks sometimes showing up on various iterations. Those artists included Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and Kim Weston.

The Bells of Christmas -Julie Andrews (at 17:05). I first heard this on a record sold by the Firestone tire company. The song appears on multiple albums, with some variations in the orchestration, but the first one I heard is my favorite.

Before I forget, Arthur links to Christmas ads

Kelly does his  Daily Dose of Christmas

Coverville 1469: A (Not) Christmas Cover Episode

Movies I’ve seen more than once in theaters

Le Roi de cœur

There are only a handful of movies I’ve seen more than once in theaters.  These are chronologically by the second time I saw the film.

Midnight Cowboy (1969).  Why? Because I had different combinations of friends who wanted to see it. I believe I watched it four times in a little over a year. My favorite part has to be the possibly improvised “I’m walking here!” which I have used on occasion.

Everybody’s Talkin’ – Harry Nillson

Woodstock (1970). A group of my friends saw it, and then, because they didn’t chase you out of the theater in those days, we watched it again. I recall the light projecting to the screen when Sly and The Family Stone performed was purple.

Soul Sacrifice– Santana

Help! (1965) I saw this when it first came out. In college, I saw all four Beatles movies – A Hard Day’s Night, Help, Yellow Submarine,  and Let It Be – on the same day.

Ticket To Ride – The Beatles

Le Roi de cœur (King of Hearts – 1966) played approximately annually at a movie theater in New Paltz. “During World War I, a British private [Alan Bates], sent ahead to a French town to scout for enemy presence, is mistaken for a King by the colorful patients of an insane asylum.” I saw it at least thrice, only partly because of Geneviève Bujold.

The theatrical trailer

“Damn dirty apes!”

Planet Of The Apes (1968) – Once again, I was watching all of the movies of a franchise, in this case, all five of the PotA that came out from 1968-1973, after having seen the original when it first came out. At a drive-in in 1974; I fell asleep during the fifth one.

Clip

Annie Hall (1977) – There are a couple of things about the character of Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) which is true of me. One is that I hate going to a movie late because I fear missing something. (Additionally, my night vision is terrible in finding a seat after the lights go out.)

It’s also true that I have internal conversations with myself and wish I could pull Marshall McLuhan out from the crowd to dispel some fallacy.

Seems Like Old Times – Diane Keaton

50th anniversary of CBS TV in 1978

I used to watch on WNBF-TV, Channel 12, Binghamton, NY

cbs 1978 starsOn Facebook, Quora, and undoubtedly other sites, there’s What’s a test to see if you are old? The example involved this photo from the 50th anniversary of CBS TV in 1978. I remember it well. Because Binghamton, NY, only had one VHF station back when that actually mattered, I tended to watch WNBF Channel 12. The reception was generally better on channels 2 to 13 than on the UHF stations 14 to 83.

The Old Wolf shared a list of the participants. But someone complained that “the list should show the CBS SHOWS for which they were attending the CBS 50th anniversary show.” For instance, NOT Sandy Duncan in ABC’s Roots or Cicely Tyson in the 2011 movie The Help.

Old Wolf replied: “Like I said, the shows that I mentioned are the ones that were the most familiar to me and not necessarily the ones that they were best known for. Want a different list? Create one on your own blog.”

A challenge

So, here’s the list with the performer, the shows, whether I likely recognized them in 1978, and whether I recognize them now. (I had to biggify the pic, of course.)

1 Lassie- Lassie, Y,Y
2 Jean Stapleton -All in the Family, Y, Y
3 Walter Cronkite – CBS Evening News, Y, Y
4 Alfred Hitchcock – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Y, Y
5 Mary Tyler Moore – The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Y, Y
6 Ellen Corby – The Waltons Y, N
7 Gene Rayburn – Match Game, Y, Y
8 Vivian Vance – I Love Lucy, Y, Y
9 Milburn Stone- Gunsmoke, Y, N – I thought he looked like Barry Goldwater
10 Ann Sothern – The Ann Sothern Show, Y, N
11 Barbara Bain – Mission: Impossible, Y, Y
12 Nancy Walker – Rhoda, Y, Y
13 George Burns – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Y, Y
14 Cicely Tyson – East Side, West Side, Y, Y
15 Arthur Godfrey – Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, Y, Y

Born Richard Skelton

16 Red Skelton – The Red Skelton Hour, Y, Y
17 Gale Storm – My Little Margie, The Gale Storm Show (Oh! Susanna), Y, N
18 Danny Kaye – The Danny Kaye Show, Y, Y
19 Sandy Duncan – Funny Face/The Sandy Duncan Show, Y, N
20 Telly Savalas – Kojak, Y, Y
21 Dale Evans – The Roy Rogers Show, Y, Y; incidentally, this was an NBC primetime show (1951–1957), but rerun on CBS Saturday mornings from 1961 to 1964
22 Roy Rogers – The Roy Rogers Show, Y, Y
23 Ken Murray – The Ken Murray Show (1950-53), N, N
24 June Lockhart – Lassie, Lost in Space, Petticoat Junction, Y, Y
25 Arthur Murray – The Arthur Murray Party, Y, N
26 Kathryn Murray – The Arthur Murray Party, N, N
27 Eric Scott – The Waltons, N, N
28 Cami Cotler – The Waltons, N, N; I could identify them in 1978 as “those kids from the Waltons,” but not by name
29 Bonnie Franklin – One Day at a Time, Y, Y
30 William Conrad- Cannon, Y, Y
31 Eva Gabor – Green Acres, Y, Y
32 Allen Funt – Candid Camera, Y, Y
33 Tim Conway – The Tim Conway Comedy Hour, The Carol Burnett Show, Y, Y
34 Danny Thomas – The Danny Thomas Show, Y, Y
35 Bob Keeshan – Captain Kangaroo, Y, Y; his copy of the picture was up for auction in 2013
36 Dennis Weaver – Gunsmoke, Y, Y
37 Ray Walston – My Favorite Martian, Y, Y
38 Sally Struthers – All in the Family, Y, Y
39 Garry Moore – I’ve Got A Secret, The Garry Moore Show, Y, Y
40 Linda Lavin – Alice, Y, Y
41 Douglas Edwards – Douglas Edwards with the News, N, N

Guinness World Record for “Longest TV career by an entertainer (female)

42 Betty White – The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Y, Y
43 Bob Schieffer- CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, Y, Y
44 Ned Beatty – Szysznyk (a 15-episode show from 1977 I had never heard of), Y, Y
45 Charles Kuralt- CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, Y, Y
46 Arlene Francis- What’s My Line, Y, Y
47 Jamie Farr – MAS*H, Y, Y
48 Adrienne Barbeau – Maude, Y, Y
49 Vicki Lawrence – The Carol Burnett Show, Y, Y
50 Mary McDonough – The Waltons, N, N
51 Don Knotts – The Andy Griffith Show, Y, Y
52 Lucille Ball – I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Y, Y
53 Ed Asner – The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Lou Grant, Y, Y
54 Jackie Cooper – Hennessey, Y, Y
55 Esther Rolle – Maude;, Good Times, Y, Y
56 Joan Hackett – The Defenders, N, N
57 Eric Sevareid – CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, Y, Y
58 Mike Wallace – 60 Minutes, Y, Y
59 Sherman Hemsley – The Jeffersons, Y, Y
60 Jack Whitaker – The NFL on CBS, Y, Y
61 Isabel Sanford – The Jeffersons, Y, Y
62 Judy Norton Taylor – The Waltons, N, N

Models for Scooby-Doo?

63 Bob Denver – The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis; Gilligan’s Island, Y, Y
64 Caroll O’Connor – All in the Family, Y, Y
65 Dwayne Hickman- The Bob Cummings Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Y, Y
66 Richard C. Hottelet – See It Now, Y, N
67 Will Geer – The Waltons, Y, Y
68 Lesley Stahl – CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, Y, Y
69 Art Carney – The Honeymooners, Y, Y
70 Tony Randall – The Tony Randall Show (which started on ABC but moved to CBS), Y, Y
71 Bob Newhart – The Bob Newhart Show, Y, Y
72 Dick Smothers – The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Y, Y
73 Hughes Rudd – The CBS Morning News, Y, N
74 Ted Knight – The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Y, Y
75 Georgia Engel The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Y, Y
76 Jon Walmsley – The Waltons, N, N (I thought it was Ron Howard from The And Griffith Show!)
77 Charles Collingwood CBS Reports, Y, N
78 Audrey Meadows – The Honeymooners, Y, Y
79 Valerie Harper – The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Rhoda, Y, Y
80 Julie Kavner – Rhoda, Y, Y
81 David Harper – The Waltons, N, N
82 Bill Macy – Maude, Y, Y
83 Ken Berry – Mayberry RFD, Y, Y
84 Art Linkletter – Art Linkletter’s House Party, Y, Y
85 Glen Campbell – The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, Y, Y
86 Buddy Ebsen – The Beverly Hillbillies; Barnaby Jones, Y, Y
87 Michael Learned – The Waltons, Y, N
88 John Forsythe – Bachelor Father (on CBS, NBC, then ABC), Y, Y
89 Steve Allen – The Steve Allen Show (1950-55), I’ve Got A Secret, Y, Y
90 Carol Burnett – The Carol Burnett Show, Y, Y

Sha-ZAM!

91 Jim Nabors – The Andy Griffith Show; Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Y, Y
92 Beatrice Arthur – Maude, Y, Y
93 Loretta Swit – MAS*H, Y, Y
94 Ed Bradley – 60 Minutes, Y, Y
95 Andy Griffith – The Andy Griffith Show, Y, Y
96 Lee Merriwether- Barnaby Jones, Y, Y
97 Demond Wilson – Baby, I’m Back (a 1978 show I had never heard of), Y, Y
98 Lynda Carter – Wonder Women (started on ABC, then CBS), Y, Y
99 James Arness – Gunsmoke, Y, Y
100 Dick Van Dyke- The Dick Van Dyke Show, Y, Y
101 Jack Lord – Hawaii Five-O, Y, Y
102 Ralph Waite – The Waltons, Y, Y
103 Bernard Kalb – CBS Reports, Y, N
104 Martin Landau – Mission: Impossible, Y, Y
105 Rob Reiner – All In The Family, Y, Y
106 Lynnie Greene – On Our Own (a 1977-78 sitcom I don’t remember), N, N
107 John Amos – Good Times, Y, Y
108 Bob Barker – The Price Is Right, Y, Y
109 Bert Convy – Tattletales, Y, Y
110 Dan Rather – 60 Minutes, Y, Y
111 Richard Crenna – The Real McCoys, Y, Y
112 Mike Connors – Mannix, Y, Y
113 David Groh – Rhoda, Y, Y

key CBS list

Interesting list of folks NOT here: Jackie Gleason, Alan Alda (MASH), Ron Howard (The Andy Griffith Show), Eddie Albert (Green Acres), and especially Harry Morgan (Pete and Gladys, MASH).

Sunday Stealing: it’s almost Christmas

Billboard

waiting.christmasThe topic for Sunday Stealing is the December 25 holiday, probably because it’s almost Christmas. I note there are 12 questions, one for the drummers, one for the pipers…

1. What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
It might have been a subscription to Billboard magazine that my then-girlfriend, now late friend, bought for me in the 1980s. It was rather pricey, and it was not really of great interest to her, but she loved me. When I was in high school, I was a  library page. I read the magazine before putting it away in the basement.

Or maybe it was the first Hess truck that my wife bought for me in the early 2000s and every year since. I am almost encircled by them right now.

 

2. What is the worst Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

At work, we had a gift exchange. One bozo filled up a container with random screws and nails.

 

3. Do you have a favorite Christmas song?

I have LOTS of favorite Christmas songs. Check my upcoming posts and yesterday’s. I’ll pick What Christmas Means To Me by Stevie Wonder or Coventry Carol by Alison Moyet. But I have many holiday albums, religious and secular.

 

4. Does your family have any favorite holiday traditions?

It has morphed over time. We used to go to my in-laws. It seems recently, and certainly since COVID, it’s been rather haphazard. This is also true, BTW, of Thanksgiving.

 

5. What is your favorite Christmas snack?

Eggnog and amaretto.

 

6. Did you believe in Santa growing up?

I believe in Santa now, more than ever.

 

7. How early do you start decorating?

Once again, it is haphazard. It can be from early December to a day or two before Christmas Eve.

 

8. Are you an early or last-minute shopper?

In years past, I was ahead of the curve. There was a medieval faire in October, and I always bought something for my wife, but it’s defunct. So, this year, WAY behind.

 

9. Would you rather give or receive gifts?
With that duality, then receive because I tend to agonize over the correct gift to give. That said, this is a lovely story of giving. There was also a local item about a guy paying for the $2,000 for the Toys for Tots that a local charity had been collecting.
Cinema
10. What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

I’m not sure I have one. It’s A Wonderful Life is a lot better than I thought it would be. Scrooged was interesting in parts. I’ve recorded Elf because I’ve never seen it. Rotten Tomatoes has made a list of the best movies, and they have The Holdovers on it. I’ll say that. Of the old-time ones, possibly Miracle on 34th Street, because I’m a sucker for a courtroom drama.

 

11. What is one of your Christmas memories?

I wrote about a few of them here. 1966: Christmas was on a Sunday. I delivered the paper six evenings a week, back in the olden days when there WERE afternoon papers, and then on Sunday morning, back in Binghamton, NY. My father, who NEVER helped me with my route because it was MY job, not his – not that I ever asked him – got up (or maybe stayed up) to help me deliver that thick newspaper to my customers on Clinton Street, Front Street, and McDonald Avenue. That meant a lot to me, but I doubt I ever said so.

12. Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?
Sometimes.

A Very Special Christmas

Special Olympics

Back when I was buying vinyl, and later with CDs, I was a sucker for music associated with a good cause: No Nukes, a Cambodian refugee cause, USA for Africa, and so many more. And not just the We Are The World single but the whole album.

So, I have several CDs in the A Very Special Christmas series, in fact, the first seven (The live album is the fourth, and the acoustic album is the sixth.). The funds go to the Special Olympics, as noted here. If you have Spotify, which I do, you can hear the whole set of albums. If not, you get the 30-second tease. For those of you in the latter category, my list of some of the songs I like.

The original and still the best (1987)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – the Pointer Sisters. They seem to be having such fun.

Winter Wonderland – Eurythmics. Annie Lennox’s great voice shines through.

Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston

Merry Christmas, Baby -Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Prime Boss

Gabriel’s Message -Sting. This is in our church hymnal.

Christmas in Hollis – Run-D.M.C. I’ll admit that it took me a moment to embrace it, but now I like it a lot. The last time I took the Long Island Railroad, I noticed the Hollis, Queens stop.

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2 -It’s not Darlene Love, as heard on A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, but what is?

Santa Baby -Madonna. I’ve heard lots of complaints that it’s not as good as Eartha Kitt, but I heard this first, so I have an odd affection for it.

The Coventry Carol – Alison Moyet. My favorite song in the entire series.

Volume 2 (1992)

Christmas All Over Again – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This song always makes my Christmas playlist on the blog.

Merry Christmas, Baby – Charles Brown, Bonnie Raitt. Bonnie had both Charles Brown and Ruth Brown on her subsequent tour.

What Child Is This – Vanessa Williams. That Carol of the Bells intro oddly works here.

Volume 3 (1997)

Children Go Where I Send Theee – Natalie Merchant. I loved this song growing up, and this take is fun.

We Three Kings – Patti Smith. This, by comparison, is particularly dark, which I also enjoy.

The Live album (1999)? There are too many covers of the previous iterations. Volume 5 (2001)? Some OK pieces.

Acoustic (2003)

This is primarily a country/bluegrass album.

Even Santa Claus Gets The Blues -Marty Stuart. It has a great guitar intro.

Christmas Is Near – Ralph Stanley. I love the harmony.

The subsequent album, the 7th volume (2009), is fine, though it covers many of the same songs that I heard before, and the earlier ones are usually better.

After that, 25 Years Bringing Joy to the World and 25 Years of Bringing Peace on Earth (both 2012) I haven’t heard yet. The latter features “Today’s Top Christian Artists.”


Finally, the ICON album (2013) is an odd mix of songs previously on albums from the series (Sting, Aretha, Bon Jovi, Underwood, Petty, Crow), older songs (Lennon, Presley, Wham!), and new songs by Rod Stewart and Josh Groban. You can still purchase these if you’re so inclined.

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