SOUNDTRACK: CROON AND SWOON: A Classic Christmas (1998).
I grew up listening to big band and crooners. Bugs Bunny taught me a lot about crooners, too. So if there’s a Christmas album dedicated to them, I’m all over it. It’s amazing how many songs are here that are not on other compilations as well (even though it’s really hard to tell since all of the singers basically did all of the songs at some point).
BING CROSBY & THE ANDREWS SISTERS-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” This is a pretty traditional take on the song with a but of fun from the Sisters.
LENA HORNE-“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” This is done with Lena’s typical zest and verve. It’s a really fun version. I have come to really appreciate Lena this year.
JOHNNY MATHIS-“Winter Wonderland.” This version sounds a bit fast, frankly. It doesn’t quite sound like his smooth voice although he still sounds great. The middle section includes an extra verse I don’t know
Over the ground lies a mantle of white
A heaven of diamonds shine down through the night
Two hearts are thrilling
In spite of the chill in the weather, ooh the weather
Love knows no season, love knows no clime
Romance can blossom any old time
Here in the open
We’re walking and hoping together
Together, together, together
Although I understand that other singers have included it as well. He has a lot of fun with the song after this including a wonderful run through some octaves after the other kiddies knock him dooooooooooowwwwnnnnn.
LEROY ANDERSON-Sleigh Ride. This is the classic instrumental that is used all of the time. It’s awesome and comes complete with the woodblocks for horse hooves and a horn whinney.
ANDY WILLIAMS-“Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Pure Christmas spirit wrapped around a singer.
PERRY COMO-“There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” This is sung by a big group of happy people. Classic-feeling. Although the line “gee the traffic is terrific” is always hilarious.
ANGELA LANSBURY-“We Need a Little Christmas” This is taken from the musical “Mame” Its a fun musical version with a full cast which really adds to the song.
BING CROSBY-“It’s Beginning To Look a Lot like Christmas.” A classic crooner from Bing.
GENE AUTRY -“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” This one sounds sweet and cute, almost like a children’s version. Even the instrumentation feels kid-friendly. I love it.
DORIS DAY-“Here Comes Santa Claus.” I associate this version with children as well, but Doris Day is kinds of sexy right? I don’t know much else by her, but this song is sweet. She has a chorus of men singing with her. They sing the “Santa knows that we’re Gods children.” That and “gives thanks to the Lord above ’cause Santa Claus comes tonight” is always a weird disconnect.
TONY BENNETT-“My Favorite Things”
Not a Christmas song in any way. It’s a crazy over the top Tony Bennett croony version. I don’t care for what he’s done to the song and it doesn’t belong here anyhow.
JUDY GARLAND-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” A Christmas song by Judy was on the other day. I can’t recall the song but I hated it, it sounded so mournful and depressing. For this song she sounds so wavery and frail that I can’t stand it. I don’t know if this is just how she sings all the time or if it’s a particularly bad recording but it hurts! it hurts!
RAY CONNIFF-“Silver Bells” This is a strangely stiff version of the song. The men in particular are very dull but the women add some spark
MABEL MERCER-“The 12 Days of Christmas” No idea who she is but she is operatic and formal and over the top and its fairly strange–the way she rolls her rs on “five golden r-r-r-rings is pretty funny. But i know she is deadly serious despite the absurdity of the song
GENE AUTRY-“Frosty the Snowman” is also cute and kid-friendly. It’s very sweet with a clopping feet rhythm.
PEGGY LEE-“Days of Christmas.” I don’t know this song at all.. How is there an old-timey Christmas song that I don’t know? It’s very sweet. I like that it starts with the melody of “The First Noel” and then turns into something else entirely with the lyric: “This song of mine in three-quarter time.”
PERRY COMO-“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” This version is slow and croony and lovely.
ROSEMARY CLOONEY-“White Christmas.” This is a lovely straightforward version of this classic song.
Overall this is a great collection of songs.
[READ: December 10, 2018] “One Gram Short”
Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my third time reading the Calendar (thanks S.). I never knew about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh). Here’s what they say this year
Fourth time’s the charm.
After a restful spring, rowdy summer, and pretty reasonable fall, we are officially back at it again with another deluxe box set of 24 individually bound short stories to get you into the yuletide spirit.
The fourth annual Short Story Advent Calendar might be our most ambitious yet, with a range of stories hailing from eight different countries and three different originating languages (don’t worry, we got the English versions). This year’s edition features a special diecut lid and textured case. We also set a new personal best for material that has never before appeared in print.
Want a copy? Order one here.
Like last year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection.
This story appeared in the New Yorker on December 1, 2014. I enjoyed it then and I think I enjoyed it more this time. here’s some of what I wrote then:
It opens with a man who confesses to only going to a certain coffee bar because he thinks the waitress is cute. He wants to ask her out but is afraid that “the movies” sounds like too big of a commitment, plus if she says no, that’s the end of them. He understands that she likes smoking pot so he figures he’ll ask her to share a joint with him.
The problem is that he doesn’t have any. So he contacts his old friend (whom he hasn’t talked to in years). The friend immediately tells him that he’s dry–the whole country is dry. “They closed the Lebanese border on us because of the trouble in Syria, and they closed Egypt because of all that al-Qaeda shit.” The narrator is a bit put off that his friend assumes he’s calling for pot (even if that is why). He emphasizes that all he wants is enough for one joint so he can smoke with this girl but the friend can’t help him.
The next day though, his friend calls back with a deal. He knows of a guy who has a prescription for medical marijuana. He doesn’t like the stuff, so he’s not using it–he has like ten grams. And he wants to meet with the two of them.
Turns out he is a lawyer and is not going to sell it to them–he’s not a dealer! Rather, he is willing to trade it to them for a service. And the service is entirely legal and is even law-based.
They agree. And it’s quite a scene.
The question of course is if the ends justify the rewards. This story was quite funny and gave an interesting insight into how awful political situations can impact everyone.
I wanted to include that the ending devolves into a feud between Jews and Arabs–talk about a gram being nowhere near enough.
It was translated by Nathan Englander. Here is an interview with Etgar Keret about the story.
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