The last couple of days have been quite hard on a
lot of people. I still am in disbelief
over what has happened, and I am sure that millions all over the world are
still grieving. If you haven’t already,
do take the time to look at the piece that I wrote yesterday. The title is “How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?”
For today, I want to go back to a more normal
schedule for the blog. We are right in
the middle of “The Pop Culture Addict’s Advent
Calendar”, and I think that part of the grieving process is finding
a way to continue living our lives as best we can. We’ll never forget what happened, nor will we
forget the names of those who lost their lives that fateful morning, but at the
same time, we can’t live our lives in fear.
We all have to find a way to deal with our pain in our own ways, and if
I can offer up a blog entry that makes people smile, laugh, or just find out
something that they might not have known in the world of pop culture, then
maybe I’m doing some good.
So, let’s begin Day #16 with the weekly Sunday
Jukebox entry. As I have done for the
last couple of weeks, this entry is Christmas themed. And today’s song was performed by what could
be called the most unexpected and odd duet that modern pop music has ever
seen.
And yet, it worked. It worked brilliantly.
In the world of pop music, there have been some
interesting collaborations over the years, each one seemingly paired up for
shock value. Some examples over the last
thirty years include the following...
(Wow...after watching that KLF video, I must make
a note to myself to feature that song in a future entry. It’s so bad, it’s too good to pass up!)
And, then there’s this collaboration, which was
released thirty-five years ago...
ARTIST: David Bowie and Bing Crosby
SONG: Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
ALBUM: Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993
DATE RELEASED: November 30, 1977*
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: N/A
SONG: Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
ALBUM: Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993
DATE RELEASED: November 30, 1977*
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: N/A
There are a couple of things that I want to
explain about this song before I talk about how this collaboration came
about. First, you might have noticed
that I have put a star beside the date of release. That’s because the song was first heard on
this particular date on a Christmas special that aired in both the United
States and the United Kingdom. The
actual song release was not pressed until five years later in November
1982. The song was released in the UK
shortly before the 1982 Christmas season, and quickly reached #3 on the UK
charts that year, setting the stage for the huge release of David Bowie’s 1983
album “Let’s Dance”.
TRIVIA: Did you know that the UK version of this song
is almost twice as long as the one released in the USA?
So, how did the collaboration between David Bowie
and Bing Crosby come to happen?
I mean, if you were to go back in time to the year
1977 and tell people that David Bowie and Bing Crosby were going to perform a
duet together, they would probably have given you a clueless look or laughed in
your face in disbelief. After all, both
men were as different as night and day.
David Bowie (a.k.a. Ziggy Stardust) was known for
his androgynous style (at least in his early days), frequently pushed the
button with his songs, and worked hard to become one of the most well-known and
respected male vocalists in the United Kingdom.
Bing Crosby was far more conservative in
appearance than David Bowie was. His
claim to fame was the wildly popular “White Christmas”, which broke records all
over the world...in fact, he is estimated to have sold half a billion records
during his career!
To pair both of them up for a recording of a
Christmas song seemed like a rather goofy idea, especially since Bowie’s style
of music and performing seemingly clashed with the more traditional approach
that Crosby was known for.
And yet that’s exactly what happened when David
Bowie was asked to appear on Bing’s upcoming holiday special, “Bing Crosby’s
Merrie Olde Christmas”, set to air just in time for Christmas 1977.
The performance between Bing and David was
recorded, like most Christmas songs at the time, on a warm, September
day...September 11, 1977, to be exact. And,
as you saw in the video, the segment opened with David dropping by Bing’s house
from down the road (!!) and the two of them sharing their holiday
traditions.
What you might not have been aware of was the fact
that despite their on-screen rapport with each other, David Bowie was a bit
apprehensive about performing a duet with Bing.
He later admitted in an interview years later that the only reason that
Bowie agreed to guest star on Bing Crosby’s holiday special was because his
mother was a fan. At the same time,
there was some speculation that Bing Crosby had no idea who David Bowie even
was! Of course, re-watching the video
again, if Bing really was clueless about whom David Bowie was, he certainly did
not appear to show it!
The song that both Bowie and Crosby performed was
a medley of sorts. Initially, both men
are singing the classic Christmas carol, “The Little Drummer Boy”, which was
first recorded in 1941. But as the
second verse begins, David starts singing the original composition entitled “Peace
on Earth”, written by the songwriting team of Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and
Alan Kohan. Bing continued to sing “Little
Drummer Boy”, creating a harmony that worked incredibly well.
It was a collaboration that on paper looked
ridiculous...but seeing it on screen and hearing both of them singing just made
the song even more magical.
TRIVIA: Of course, some of the magic might be taken
away when I tell you that David Bowie actually despised singing “Little Drummer
Boy”, and wanted to sing something else, hence the reason for the creation of
the lyrics for “Peace on Earth”.
Although, I’m sure that nowadays, David Bowie can
probably look back on this performance and be proud of it, because it was such
a big hit in the United Kingdom...but I think that the performance also holds
another special meaning for Bowie.
David Bowie would end up being the very last
person that Bing Crosby would ever sing with again.
Just a little over a month after the two got
together and performed that song for Bing’s Christmas special, Bing Crosby
passed away on October 14, 1977 from a heart attack sustained while he was
playing golf.
Bing Crosby was seventy-four years old.
The Christmas special aired posthumously, on
November 30, 1977, on CBS, and fans watched as he sang with David Bowie in the
special, not realizing that this duet was one of his final performances ever.
It’s been thirty-five years since Bing Crosby
died, and yet his legacy continues to live on.
“White Christmas” is still widely popular today, and even the duet that
he did with David Bowie all those years ago is still a regular staple on radio
stations every December.
And that is the story of a collaboration that
seemed a bit peculiar on the outside, but ended up being sweet music to
everybody’s ears.
Coming up tomorrow, it’s Day 17...and in the
Monday Matinee, we’ll see how a cap wearing Southern gentleman helps save
Christmas for the people of Orlando, Florida.
Know what I mean, Vern?
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