Popular Nostalgia

Vaughn Wilton Monroe was born October 7, 1911 and showed an early talent for the trumpet. He wanted to be an opera singer, but the Depression made that ambition impractical. Instead, he sang with several bands, among them Austin Wylie (who later worked for Artie Shaw), Larry Funk (for which he made his recording debut), [...]

Released in December 1994, this song reached number 1 in several countries although it lost out to East 17′s “Stay Another Day” in the UK. It sold eight million copies and was belted out by many a hen-night up and down the land. In December 2006 “All I Want for Christmas Is You” became the [...]

Johnny Mathis had to choose between becoming an Olympic athlete and starting his recording career after both opportunities came along at once. He stuck with the latter and became a record breaking success, nicknamed the “velvet voice”, yet his athletic records still remain at San Francisco State University. This track has to be the cheesiest [...]

Boney M were a West German pop and disco group who toured extensively throughout the 1970′s. The line-up of singers has changed many times over the decades, but the singers who performed and lip-synched on this single were: Maizie Williams, Bobby Farrell, Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett with Frank Farian as manager and behind-the-scenes vocalist. [...]

“Two Little Boys” is a song written by Theodore Morse and Edward Madden in 1902 about the experiences of two men in the US Civil War. In 1969 it was revived by good old Rolf Harris, who hobbled his way through the notes and made it all sound like there was a punch line coming [...]

“Christmas Alphabet” was Christmas #1 in 1955. He had been named Top UK Male Vocalist in 1952 and 1954. He could impersonate many famous singers and had sung with the top big bands of the era. Dicky appeared on “CALLING DICKIE VALENTINE” (ATV) in 1961. This series for the popular fifties and early sixties singer [...]

“Mistletoe and Wine” got to number one in the UK in 1988. It features a choirboy, brass band and some dodgy graphics on the video. Check out the 80′s bouffant hair and the long grey shapeless coats. Anyone who can sway with as much gusto as Cliff Richard deserves a number one. The original was [...]

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” was written and first performed in 1934. The original was more instrumental than vocal. There is a version by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, which was one of the first covers. The best part about this song is the latitude for jazz and big band antics, which is [...]

“Stop the Cavalry” was released in 1980 for Christmas. This track was originally written as an anti-war song but a line about about a soldier wishing he was home for Christmas led the record company to add tubular bells and turn this tune into a yuletide staple. Thanks to the brass band arrangement, the track [...]

Mud’s cover of the Elvis hit was a glam rock success. Rob Davis (lead guitar) went on to write “I just can’t get you out of my head” for Kylie Minogue and “Spiller” for Groovejet. Les Gray (vocals) died in February 2004 after taking his show “Les Gray’s Mud” around the UK. Mud were big [...]

This song was released in 1987. Kirsty MacColl was drafted in for the female lyrics after Cait O’Riordan left the band. MacColl was later killed in a boating accident and Katie Melua sang the part instead on a 2007 performance for Jonathan Ross. The track reached #1 in Ireland but was kept off the top [...]

This song was kept off the top spot in 1984 by Band Aid’s “Do they know it’s Christmas?”. George Michael had still had input on that day and Wham! decided to donate all of the money from their song to the Band Aid appeal anyway to help mitigate the effects of the Ethiopian famine. “Last [...]

This song has been sung by some of the 20th Century’s sexiest women. Santa Baby was originally sung by Eartha Kitt who delivered the sultry Christmas list with the tongue-in-cheek it deserves. Kylie Minogue and Madonna have both covered it but the beauty of its original release in 1953 was how risque it would have [...]

The biggest selling track of Brenda Lee’s career is “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. In 1958, when she was 13, Owen Bradley asked Lee to record a new song written by Johnny Marks, who wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (Gene Autry) and “A Holly, Jolly Christmas” (Burl Ives). Lee recorded the song, in July with [...]

Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters with Michell Ayres & his Orchestra released their version of the “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas” on September 10, 1951. Bing Crosby also did a version and so have many other artists. The song was written in Nova Scotia and refers to a Christmas tree there in the [...]