The Marcels were a doo-wop group that formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and were known for turning pop songs into doo-wop rock and roll. In 1961 their doo-wop version “Blue Moon” sold a million copies and is featured in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.” The Marcels were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.
In 1961, The Marcels appeared in a rock and roll movie for Columbia titled Twist Around the Clock with Dion and Chubby Checker. In the film they sang “Blue Moon” and a Twist song called “Merry Twist-mas.”
Houston, Texas native Shelley Duvall was discovered in 1970 by director Robert Altman. She was selling cosmetics at a mall when Altman, in town to film Brewster McCloud, pulled her from the job for the role of Suzanne. She earned a reputation as an offbeat character actress and had roles in numerous films, including Annie Hall (1977), The Shining (1979), Popeye (1980), and Roxanne (1987). She produced and hosted several children’s series for cable: Faerie Tale Theatre (1982), Tall Tales and Legends (1985), and Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories (1992).
Here is another horrific Christmas song from actress Shelley Duvall, called “The Nicest Present.”
Danny Kaye (1913 – 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian with an amazing creative range, encompassing dance, popular song, classical music, complicated verse, impersonation and improvisation. Appearing in many movies, as well as on stage and television, Kaye was an amazing entertainer, often performing songs and material written by his wife, Sylvia Fine.
After dropping out of high school Danny worked for a radio station and later as a comedian in the Catskills, in the area known as the “Borscht Belt.”
Kaye’s first big break came in 1941, appearing in the hit Broadway comedy “Lady in the Dark.” His show-stopping song was “Tchaikovsky,” by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, in which he sang the names of a whole string of Russian composers at breakneck speed, seemingly without taking a breath.
Danny Kaye is well known for his roles in films such as “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1947), “The Inspector General” (1949) and “White Christmas” (1954). He also starred in two pictures based on biographies, “Hans Christian Andersen” (1952) and “The Five Pennies” (1959) which was about jazz pioneer Red Nichols.
Kaye also starred in a radio program of his own, The Danny Kaye Show (1945-1946), and hosted his own variety hour on television from 1963 to 1967. He also appeared as a guest star on numerous television shows throughout his career. Here is Danny performing on The Muppet Show:
According to some sources Danny Kaye had a long-term affair with Eve Arden in the 1940s. Kaye and Laurence Olivier reportedly had a 10-year gay affair in the 1950s, when Olivier was still married to Vivien Leigh.
In 1951, Danny Kaye recorded “Santa Claus Looks Like My Daddy” with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra and Chorus, a year before Jimmy Boyd’s hit song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”
The Galli Sisters, were a vocal trio, led by Norma Galli, and they were quite popular from the late 1930s through the early 1950s. They started off as children singing on the radio and later sang with Art Mooney’s band in the late 1940s. They had several major hits with Art Mooney, including “There’s A Barber In The Harbor Of Palermo” (1947), “Bluebird Of Happiness” (1948) and “Wabash Cannonball” (1949).
In 1950, The Galli Sisters released the eternally irritating song “Because He’s Santa Claus,” backed with “Santa, Send Someone To Me” (National 9133).
Bobby Helms (1933 – 1997) was an American singer, who had hits on both the country and pop music charts in the late 1950s. After hearing Bobby sing, Ernest Tubb arranged for Bobby’s audition with producer Paul Cohen, who signed him to Decca Records. Here is Bobby Helms performing “Long Gone Daddy” on the 1950s Televison show Town Hall Party:
In January of 1957, Bobby Helms released “Fraulein,” and “My Special Angel,” which both did very well in the charts.
Christmas 1957 saw the release of the Bobby Helms hit song “Jingle Bell Rock,” and it reappeared again on the charts four of the following five years, becoming a Christmas classic in the process. The B-Side of the single was a less popular song, called “Captain Santa Claus and His Reindeer Space Patrol.” The rocket sound effects sound like a combination of a toilet flushing and someone clearing their throat of phlegm.
After the conclusion of his Decca contract in 1959, Red Sovine signed with Starday Records, and in 1978 he released a Christmas album called “Christmas With Red Sovine” (Starday SD-1040, 1978). The album featured many classic Sovine tear-jerkers, such as “Faith in Santa,” and “A Bed For Baby Jesus,” a song about a 3 year old girl who asks her daddy to take her money and buy a bed for baby Jesus.
In the movie Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell’s character, Ricky Bobby, refuses to pray to any Jesus other than the “dear Lord baby, infant, 8 pound 6 ounce” Jesus. When his wife informs his that he doesn’t need to continually refer to Jesus as an infant because, “he did grow up you know,” Ricky counters, saying he will continue to pray to the infant Jesus, because that is the one he likes best.
I don’t even know what to say about this song. I have no idea who Beulah is, but here she is singing “Santa Kissed Me.” The tempo of the song puts me to sleep, but the voice of the singer jerks me back to reality. It’s a terrible car wreck of a song that you can’t help but listen to, but really wish you hadn’t.
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