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1 of 1- Richard Baker
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- From: Kenilworth, Warwickshire, Engl
- Registered: 20/11/2010
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Still Up there.
The Spokane "Spokesman" has an item about White Christmas here
It starts out with the headline "75 years after its premiere, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" still enthralls listeners" and continues with "It was Christmas Day, 1941, 18 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Bing Crosby was on the air with “The Kraft Music Hall,” a variety radio program he hosted for a decade. He announced that he would be debuting revered songwriter Irving Berlin’s newest tune, a Christmas song that was to be the musical centerpiece of Crosby and Fred Astaire’s upcoming vehicle, “Holiday Inn.”
There are some nice images accompanying the article, including Bing's Oscar for "Going My Way", but they are too large to slot in here.
In the UK the "Daily Telegraph" has a spread about the 100 best Christmas songs of all time
White Christmas and Bing's version of Rudolph are there, though not possibly in quite the positions we might expect or wish for.
(Spot the typographical error which makes a nonsense of the Rudolph item!)
It's accompanied by the following images.
My thanks to Ron Field for telling me about the Daily Telegraph content.
- Richard Baker
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Re: Still Up there.
The theme relating to the 75th anniversary of White Christmas is picked up by the Scottish press here
The piece goes astray to my mind when getting the opinions of a record shop proprietor from Dundee "you can’t beat The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl for the best Christmas song ever!".
Their songs have caught the attention of many but will their records last so long? I have my doubts. As for best ever - well longevity is proof in itself. Like at least one Scottish product. I raise my glass to the 75th anniversary and Bing's part in it.
Then the article returns to firmer ground and covers Bing and golf in Scotland. It's worth a look.
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Thread Starter- Richard Baker
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Re: Still Up there.
Before others raise queries, Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues had a smash hit with "Fairtytale of New York" which is claimed to be the biggest selling Christmas song in the UK of the 21st Century.
It's not what you would identify as a traditional Christmas song, and there are a fair number of negative votes for the Youtube video.
Kirsty was killed in a powerboating accident in Mexico in December 2000 at the age of 42.
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Thread Starter- Richard Baker
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- Posts: 1,542
Re: Still Up there.
Archiefit wrote:
Hmm, news to me, never heard of either the singer or the song. So much for that "biggest selling ever" claim. I would think a person would of at least have had to heard of it before you can claim it's overwhelming popularity. Maybe it's a British thang, in the US it's a no-thang.
You're not alone in your bewilderment. The Pogues are basically an Irish group (labelled as punk folk it seems). The song has been a big hit in the UK and Ireland, and to some extent in a number of Scandinavian countries and New Zealand over a period of several years from as far back as 1987. A quick poll among some of friends and family suggests a strong generational split in opinion, but all those in the 50+ group loathe it and stick with Bing.
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Thread Starter