I
can't believe that it's only two more days until Christmas! Where
the heck did the month of December disappear to? Before you know it,
2012 will be another year in history!
But,
at least we'll always have “The Pop
Culture Addict's Advent Calendar”
as a visual record of the entire month of December 2012 to look back
upon.
It's
Day #23, and the last Sunday Jukebox entry of the advent calendar.
Before I continue on with this, I just wanted to thank all of you for
following this blog for not only the month of December, but since
this blog began back in May 2011. I always have said that I would
not have continued on with this blog if it weren't for all of you
showing interest in it. The comments (even those that offer
constructive criticism) are very much welcomed, and I really do
appreciate the support that you have given me.
I
think part of the reason behind the advent calendar is a way to thank
all of you for that support.
Now,
let's get on with today's subject.
If
you remember back a couple of weeks ago, I did a little bit of a
tribute to John Lennon, who was killed outside of his apartment
building on December 8, 1980. As a part of that tribute, I did a
feature on John Lennon's 1971 Christmas classic “Happy Xmas (War Is
Over)”.
But,
did you know that John Lennon wasn't the only Beatle to release
holiday themed songs? At some point, all four Beatles released a
holiday song.
Let's
take a look at Ringo Starr, for example. In October 1999, Starr
released a Christmas album entitled “I Wanna Be Santa Claus”.
Although the album was critically praised, and featured such classics
as “Winter Wonderland”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, and “White
Christmas”, commercially, it didn't do so hot, and none of the
album's twelve tracks ended up making a dent on the charts.
The
late George Harrison also had a holiday release, the 1974 single
“Ding Dong, Ding Dong”. The song also wasn't a huge success on
the charts, though it did peak at #36 on the Billboard Charts.
And
then there's the offering that was released by Paul McCartney. And
Sir Paul's song is one that can be quite polarizing. For every
person who claims that the holiday song is one of their most
favourite Christmas songs ever, there are others who find it cheesy,
annoying, and classify it as one of the worst Christmas songs ever
recorded.
I
will tell you that I definitely fall in one of these camps. But,
before I share my opinion, we need to listen to this song and watch
the video for said song.
ARTIST:
Paul
McCartney
SONG:
Wonderful
Christmastime
ALBUM:
N/A
(was a single release)
DATE
RELEASED: November
16, 1979
PEAK
POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:
N/A
PEAK
POSITION ON THE UNITED KINGDOM CHARTS:
#6
There's
a couple of things that I think that I should make clear before I go
ahead with the history behind this release. First, although the song
never did crack the Billboard Hot 100, it DID manage to reach the Top
10 for the designated Christmas Singles chart in December 1984 –
five years after it was originally released.
And,
secondly...I know that the video has Paul and Linda McCartney in it,
but man, oh, man is that video ever bad...in a bad way. I mean, I
know it was 1979 and that the video pre-dated MTV, but wow...I don't
think that I can ever un-see that.
This
single was recorded right around the same time that Paul McCartney
was working on tracks for his 1980 album “McCartney II” (the same
album that included the #1 song “Coming Up”). It was also one of
the last singles that featured the members of the band, Wings – the
band that Paul and Linda McCartney began in 1971.
And,
when I say “featured”, I mean that the band members appeared in
the music video. The members of Wings did not sing on the recording
of “Wonderful Christmastime”.
Well,
aside from Paul McCartney, that is.
The
single was recorded during the summer of 1979, and the music video
was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.
This
single proved to be a huge success for McCartney. Not only did it
perform well on the UK Charts, but financially, it's a little bit of
a gold mine for McCartney. The song has consistently played on radio
stations every Christmas season since 1979, and ranks near the top of
the most requested Christmas songs of all time. So, as far as actual
airplay goes, McCartney nets millions of pretty pennies alone.
And,
then there are all the cover versions of this song. Did you know
that there are no less than twenty-six different versions of
“Wonderful Christmastime” that have been released since 1979?
Some of the artists who have re-recorded the song include Amy Grant,
Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato, Jars of Clay, Kelly Rowland, and believe it
or not, the trio of Martin Sheen, John Spencer, and Stockard Channing
from “The West Wing”!
(Although
it makes sense when you consider that the last one was released as
part of a celebrity Christmas album released by NBC twelve years
ago.)
The
point is that with the airplay that McCartney's original song
receives, plus the royalties that he gets when someone else records
the song, it is estimated that McCartney makes an additional $400,000
from the song's royalties alone! This adds up to approximately $15
million generated income for McCartney since this song's 1979
release! Now, that is absolutely impressive.
Not
bad, considering that these days McCartney seems a little bit
embarrassed by the song and its success. Of course, McCartney also
seemed to realize not to look a gift horse in the mouth, as
“Wonderful Christmastime” is literally his gift that kept on
giving! And over the years, that initial embarrassment seems to have
melted away, as he performed the song on Saturday Night Live on
December 15, 2012.
So,
that's all that I have to say about “Wonderful Christmastime”.
It's
fascinating though...whenever the song “Wonderful Christmastime”
comes on the radio, people seem to have very strong opinions. Some
people love it, others can't stand it.
My
take? Unfortunately, I'm not all that wowed by it. To me,
“Wonderful Christmastime” isn't all that wonderful.
But
the reason why has nothing to do with who sings it. I think that had
McCartney taken on a different arrangement with different musical
instruments, and performed it more softly, it could have been a
beautiful song, well deserving of its wonderful description.
And,
I get that when the song was released, synthesizer music was huge.
After all, late 1979 was the time when the music scene was shifting
from disco to New Wave, and McCartney was just following suit. I
suppose I can't fault him for that.
But
listening to “Wonderful Christmastime” now, I can't help but
grimace over how incredibly dated it sounds. Even some of the
synthesizer heavy tracks from the middle of the 1980s don't sound as
old-fashioned as “Wonderful Christmastime”.
I
suppose that my final opinion about “Wonderful Christmastime” is
that it was an okay song with good lyrics...but its presentation
sounds extremely dated. It was good, but not nearly as wonderful as
it could have been.
But,
hey...at least I tried to be diplomatic about it. There are some
people who hate this song with the fire of an erupting volcano. But
they're entitled to their opinions.
After
all, McCartney has sung his way to the bank with this song. What
does he care anyway?
And,
that wraps up Day #23.
Tomorrow
is Christmas Eve, and for our twenty-fourth day of the advent
calendar, I've selected a holiday classic for your viewing
pleasure...a holiday classic that has spawned at least four remakes.
Which version will we feature? You'll see on Christmas Eve!
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