Well, we're almost at the end of 2011. A new year will soon be upon us. I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday to all those readers who doesn't celebrate Christmas.
This week I thought we'd ask about some of the classic Christmas/Holiday songs of the past 50 years or so and since most of these songs still get played on the radio during this time of year, they're fairly easy questions.
Hopefully everyone's in a holiday mood, so let's have a holly, jolly fun time.
QUESTIONS
1. Elvis Presley took this 'Blue' song to # 1 for two weeks on the Christmas singles chart in 1964. It comes back every year and is one of the top songs of the season. Can you name thhis holiday tune?
2. They're starring in a movie right now, but back in December of 1958, this group of 'furry little animals' had the # 1 song on the singles chart. Who are they and what was their # 1 Christmas hit?
3. Brenda Mae Tarpley was 16 when her 'dynamite' Christmas song hit # 14 on the Pop singles chart and we've been 'rockin' to that holiday hit every year since. Can you guess the song as well as the name Brenda Mae changed to? (HINT: She also scored a dozen Top ten hits throughout her career which began in the 1950's. In 1960, she hit # 1 twice.)
4. In 1984, a group of rock and pop stars from England and Ireland got together in a London studio and recorded a charity Christmas single that raised millions for African famine relief. What was the name of the song and the group of stars who recorded it?
5. He's a huge movie star these days, although his most recent film was severly panned by many critics. Several of his movies have grossed over one hundred million dollars each. Before moving to Hollywood, he was a TV cast member on one of NBC TV's longest running series, which is where he performed his only holiday hit, which reached the Top 10 in 1995. WHo is this performer and what was his holiday hit?
ANSWERS
1. 'The King' of rock'n'roll saw his recording of "Blue Christmas" hit the top of the Christmas singles chart in December of 1964.
2. The Chipmunks were the creation of Ross Bagdasarian, who used the stage name David Seville. Simon, Alvin and Theodore were named after executives at Liberty Records in Hollywood, where Ross aka David recorded. The chipmunk 'sound'was created by recording the background musicians at normal speed, then playing the tape at a slower speed while David / Ross recorded his 'chipmunk' vocals at normal speed. The tape was then brought back to regular speed and while the music sounded normal, the voices were sped up, thus 'chipmunky' and The Chipmunk Song" was born. There latest movie, "Chipwrecked" is in theatres now.
3. The song was "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" as sung by Brenda Lee, the former Brenda Mae Tarpley. Brenda was born on December 11, 1944 in Lithonia, Georgia. She signed with Decca Records in 1956 and first hit the charts the following year when she was only 13 years old. Her nickname back then was 'Little Miss Dynamite'. In 1960, her two # 1 hits were: "I'm Sorry" and "I Want To Be Wanted". In 1964, Brenda took another holiday song, "Jingle Bell Rock" to # 8 on the Christmas singles chart.
4. All those stars, which included Paul mcCartney, Phil Collins, Sting, Bono and George Michael, going under the name Band Aid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" at the Sarm West Studios in the Notting Hill district of London in November of 1984. "Do They Know It's Christmas" had been written by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox and when it was released, sold a million copies in its first week. The single raised millions for African famine relief efforts.
5. That would be Adam Sandler, who was a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 1990 to 1995, which was where he performed "The Chanukah Song". Some of Adam's hit movies include "Happy Gilmour", "The Wedding Singer", "Mr. Deeds", "50 First Dates" and "You Don't Mess With The Zohan". His current film, "Jack and Jill" is not getting good reviews from film critics.
No comments:
Post a Comment