peace on earth / little drummer boy

This unlikely holiday duet between Bing Crosby and David Bowie almost didn't happen.  The producers of Crosby's TV Christmas special Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion brought in Bowie and several other British stars to legitimize the Christmas in England theme of the special.  Bowie lived very close to the Elstree Studios where the show was taped.  The original plan was for the duo to sing 'Little Drummer Boy' (written in 1941 by teacher and composer Katherine Kennicott Davis) but, according to show writer Ian Frasier:  "David came in and said: 'I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?' We didn't know quite what to do."

Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan quickly worked up an original song 'Peace on Earth' in a little more than an hour at a piano in the basement of the studio.  They arranged the new song as a counterpoint to 'Little Drummer Boy'.  Bowie and Crosby recorded their performance with less than an hour of rehearsal.  

The recording took place on September 11, 1977.  Less than a month later, Crosby died of a heart attack.  The Christmas special would air on November 30 of that year.  The medley would only be available as a bootleg for several years until RCA decided to release it as a single in 1982.  It peaked at number three on the British charts.  






http://legacy.davidbowie.com/


International Club Crosby












Bowie: Hello... you're the new butler?
Bing: Hahaha! Well, it's been a long time since I've been the new anything!
Bowie: What's happened to Hudson?
Bing: I guess he's changing.
Bowie: Yeah, he does that a lot, doesn't he? Uhm... Oh, I'm David Bowie, I live
down the road.
Bing: Oh!
Bowie: Sir Percival let's me use his piano if he not around. He's not around, is
he?
Bing: I can honestly say I haven't seen him, but come on in! Come in!
Bowie: But uh...
Bing: Come on in!
Bowie: Are you related to sir Percival?
Bing: Well, distantly...
Bowie: Oh, you're not the poor relation from America, right?
Bing: Ha! Gee... news sure travels fast, doesn't it? I'm Bing.
Bowie: Oh, I'm pleased to meet you. You're the one that sings, right?
Bing: Well, right or wrong, I sing either way.
Bowie: Oh well, I sing too.
Bing: Oh good! What kind of singing?
Bowie: Mostly the contemporary stuff. Do you eh... do you like modern music?
Bing: Oh, I think it's marvellous! Some of it's really fine. But tell me, have you ever listened to any of the older fellows?
Bowie: Oh yeah, sure. I like ah... John Lennon and the other one with eh...Harry Nilsson.
Bing: Mmm... you go back that far, uh?
Bowie: Yeah, I'm not as young as I look.
Bing: Haha, none of us is these days!
Bowie: In fact I've got a six year old son. And he really gets excited around the Christmas holiday-thing.
Bing: Do you go in for anything of the traditional things in the... Bowie household, Christmas time?
Bowie: Oh yeah, most of them really. Presents, tree, decorations, agents sliding down the chimney...
Bing: What??
Bowie: Oh, I was just seeing if you were paying attention.
Bing: Haha!
Bowie: Actually, our family do most of the things that other families do. We
sing the same songs.
Bing: Do you?
Bowie: Oh, I even have a go at 'White Christmas'.
Bing: You do, eh!
Bowie: And this one. This is my son's favourite. Do you know this one?
Bing: Oh, I do indeed, it's a lovely theme.

Come they told me pa-ram-pam-pam-pam
A new-born king to see pa-ram-pam-pam-pam
Our finest gifts we bring pa-ram-pam-pam-pam
Ra-pam-pam-pam, ra-pam-pam-pam

Peace on Earth, can it be
Years from now, perhaps we'll see
See the day of glory
See the day, when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again

Peace on Earth, can it be

Every child must be made aware
Every child must be made to care
Care enough for his fellow man
To give all the love that he can

I pray my wish will come true
For my child and your child too
He'll see the day of glory
See the day when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again

Peace on Earth, can it be
Can it be

white Christmas

This nostalgic classic is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling single of all time. Irving Berlin wrote 'White Christmas' while in sunny California, telling his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!" Bing Crosby debuted the song on his radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941. He later recorded it with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers as part of an album of songs from the film 'Holiday Inn'. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942 and spent eleven weeks on top of the Billboard charts, as well as topping the Harlem Hit Parade. Decca re-released the single and it made it to the top of the charts during the holidays in 1945 and 1946, making it the only single to hit number one on three separate occasions. It made twenty separate appearances on the pop chart and has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,

just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

to hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,

just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen

to hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white christmas,

with every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright,

and may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white christmas,

just like the ones I used to know

May your days be merry and bright,

and may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white christmas,

with every christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright,

and may all your Christmases be white

May your days be merry and bright,

and may all your Christmases be white

And may all your Christmases be white (All your Christmases be white)

And may all your Christmases be white (All your Christmases be white)

And may all your Christmases be

(All your Christmases be white)

(All your Christmases be white)

pennies from heaven

This standard found a silver lining in the dark grey cloud of the Great Depression. The songwriting team of Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston composed ‘Pennies from Heaven’ in 1936. Johnson wrote the music and Burke did the lyrics. The song gave the title to two movies and has been featured in several other films. It has been recorded by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Dinah Washington, Clark Terry, Frances Langford, Arthur Tracy, Big Joe Turner, Dean Martin, The Skyliners, and many others.








Bing Crosby introduced the song in the film ‘Pennies From Heaven’, for which it received an Academy Award nomination. His version with with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra spent ten weeks at the top of the charts.


That same year Billie Holiday recorded a version with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra. Their version peaked at number three.



Louis Prima


Stan Getz with the Oscar Peterson Trio




Frank Sinatra and Count Basie





A long time ago
A million years BC
The best things in life
Were absolutely free.
But no one appreciated
A sky that was always blue.
And no one congratulated
A moon that was always new.
So it was planned that they would vanish now and them
And you must pay before you get them back again.
That's what storms were made for
And you shouldn't be afraid for
Every time it rains it rains
Pennies from heaven.
Don't you know each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven.
You'll find your fortune falling
All over town.
Be sure that your umbrella is upside down.
Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers.
If you want the things you love
You must have showers.
So when you hear it thunder
Don't run under a tree.
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me