Audio – Page 72 – USA Radio Museum

A HOLIDAY TUNES COUNTDOWN! 03 CHRISTMAS DAYS

—MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING—

“Merry Christmas Darling” is a Christmas song by the Carpenters (music by Richard Carpenter, lyrics by Frank Pooler), and originally recorded in 1970. It was first available on a 7-inch single that year (A&M Records 1236), and was later re-issued in 1974 (A&M 1648) and again in 1977 (A&M 1991). The single went to number one on Billboard’s Christmas singles chart in 1970 (and did so again in 1971 and 1973) and peaked at number 41 in Cashbox. In 1978, the Carpenters issued their Christmas Portrait album, which contained a new version of “Merry Christmas Darling”. The original 1970 mix continued to be used for all single releases, however. The major difference between the 1970 and 1978 versions is a newly recorded vocal by Karen Carpenter on the latter, which was done at her request. Richard Carpenter himself calls the original recording one of his sister’s very best.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

THE CARPENTERS * 03 * DECEMBER 23

A ’66 HOLIDAY MEMORY. THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!

THE DEAN MARTIN CHRISTMAS ALBUM * (COMPLETE LP) * 1966

—A DEAN MARTIN CHRISTMAS ALBUM—

Dean Martin Christmas Album is a 1966 studio album by Dean Martin arranged by Ernie Freeman and Bill Justis. This was Martin’s only album of Christmas music released on Reprise Records (his only other Christmas album, A Winter Romance, having been released in 1959 on Capitol Records). Ricci James Martin, Martin’s son, wrote in a biography of his father that The Dean Martin Christmas Album was the only one of his father’s albums that was played in the Martin household, his parents seldom listening to Dean Martin’s music. Billboard magazine reported in its December 3, 1966 issue that The Dean Martin Christmas Album was on top of its “Best Bets for Christmas” chart.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

A HOLIDAY TUNES COUNTDOWN! 04 CHRISTMAS DAYS

—MARSHMALLOW WORLD—

“A Marshmallow World” (sometimes called “It’s a Marshmallow World“) is a popular song that was written in 1949 by Carl Sigman (lyrics) and Peter DeRose (music). The song is about winter and is commonly regarded as a Christmas song, although the lyrics make no mention of the holiday. The song compares a snowfall to marshmallows covering the ground. It also describes the snowfall as whipped cream and the sun as a big red pumpkin head. The singer “waits for it the whole year ’round.” The song was a Christmas Holiday hit for many artists such as Bing Cosby, Vic Damone, Brenda Lee and Dean Martin (which is included in his 1966 album, ‘The Dean Martin Christmas Album‘).

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

DEAN MARTIN * 04 * DECEMBER 22

A ’68 HOLIDAY MEMORY. THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!

HERB ALPERT CHRISTMAS ALBUM (COMPLETE LP) * 1968

—HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS CHRISTMAS ALBUM—

Christmas Album is a late-1968 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. It was the group’s eleventh release. The LP edition of the album was issued twice. The album contains a mixture of popular Christmas-season music, mostly American secular standards. Collaborating with Alpert in the production was his usual cadre of musicians: Nick Ceroli (drums/percussion), Bob Edmondson (trombone), Tonni Kalash (trumpet), Lou Pagani (keyboards), John Pisano (guitars/mandolin) and Pat Senatore (bass). Perennial sideman, Julius Wechter, appears on marimba and percussion. Alpert provides lead vocals on “The Christmas Song” and “The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle,” and there are also appearances by a studio choir and string instruments, arranged by Shorty Rogers.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

A HOLIDAY TUNES COUNTDOWN! 06 CHRISTMAS DAYS

—ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE—

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958; it has since been recorded by numerous other music artists. By the song’s 50th anniversary in 2008, Lee’s original version had sold over 25 million copies with the 4th most digital downloads sold of any Christmas single. Because of her mature-sounding voice, Lee recorded this song when she was only thirteen years old. The recording features Hank Garland and Harold Bradley on guitar, Floyd Cramer on piano, Boots Randolph on sax, Bob Moore on bass, and veteran session player Buddy Harman on drums.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

BRENDA LEE * 05 * DECEMBER 21

A ’58 HOLIDAY MEMORY. THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS JOHNNY MATHIS (COMPLETE LP) * 1958

—MERRY CHRISTMAS JOHNNY MATHIS—

Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and was released by Columbia Records on October 6, 1958. The selections are a mix of traditional Christmas carols (“Silent Night”, “O Holy Night”, “The First Noel”) and holiday hits (“The Christmas Song”, “White Christmas”, “Silver Bells”). The album debuted on Billboard magazine’s list of the 25 Best-Selling Pop LPs in the US in its December 15, 1958, issue and got as high as number three during its initial four-week run.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.

A HOLIDAY TUNES COUNTDOWN! 07 CHRISTMAS DAYS

—MY FAVORITE THINGS—

“My Favorite Things” is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass released a version in 1969 as a single from their 1968 album, Christmas Album. It reached No. 45 on the Billboard 100.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS * 06 * DECEMBER 20

A HOLIDAY TUNES COUNTDOWN! 07 CHRISTMAS DAYS

—IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR—

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a popular Christmas song written in triple time in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album. However, the song was not released as a promotional single by Williams’ record label (Columbia Records) that year, as they instead opted to promote his cover of “White Christmas” as the official promo single from the album.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

ANDY WILLIAMS * 07 * DECEMBER 19

A ’63 HOLIDAY MEMORY: THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS!

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU (COMPLETE LP) * 1963

—A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU—

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records) is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 45 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his “Wall of Sound” treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector’s regular artists during this period. The album peaked at No. 13 on Billboard magazine’s special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart in December 1963. The album, released in the United States on November 22, 1963—the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated—was an immediate relative failure (in reception) at that time.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album

A HOLIDAY TUNES COUNTDOWN! 08 CHRISTMAS DAYS

—LITTLE SAINT NICK—

“Little Saint Nick” is a Christmas-themed hot rod song about Santa Claus and his sleigh, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the American rock band the Beach Boys. The song was first released as a single on December 9, 1963, and peaked at number 3 on Billboard magazine’s special seasonal weekly Christmas Singles chart. Its B-side was an acappella version of “The Lord’s Prayer”. “Little Saint Nick” was recorded on October 20, 1963 at Western Studio in Hollywood. “Little Saint Nick” reappeared on The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album in 1964, with the stereo pressings of the album containing a new mix that removes the overdubbed sleigh bells and tuned percussion.

(Source: WiKipedia)

— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —

THE BEACH BOYS * 08 * DECEMBER 18