| C30
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Agreed Lesley..........Nasty month, December. For differing reasons though, that month contains all the "artificial jovial seasonal hype" that I loathe, and another birthday for me that I would sooner forget than remember.
Roll on January.
Reply #2101. Dec 12 10, 10:31 AM
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Jazmee27 
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I'll be glad to see December go-rough year, rough month... but I'd almost rather skip to February as my birthday--as well as two relatives who have since passed on--are in that month.
Reply #2102. Dec 12 10, 11:23 AM
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| lesley153
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Ooh yes, agree about the hype. I'd never heard of "Silver Bells" before I stumbled upon it in a quiz here, but now it's part of every tape loop in every shop. In the last few weeks, I've heard a lot of versions, all bad. Perhaps decent singers wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.
The next one in the tape loop is usually the soulless Paul McCartney Christmas-hype-by-numbers pot-boiler - Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time. Vile.
Roll on January when my ears will be able to stop bleeding.
When's your birthday, Ray? |
Reply #2103. Dec 12 10, 11:41 AM
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Jazmee27
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I can't stand "Silver Bells" anymore--and I never did care for "White Christmas".
But now, every time I hear them, a certain name pops into my head--the name of the elderly gentleman who, every year, sings those two songs at the holiday party at the Holiday Inn sponsored by the Lions' Club.
He's one of those who enjoy singing, but can't sing to save his life!
Reply #2104. Dec 12 10, 1:34 PM
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| lesley153
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"enjoy singing, but can't sing to save his life"
I think that covers most of us. :)
Thank you for trying, Lochalsh. I did watch the clip - all of it, honest - and I will never get those five minutes, nine seconds, back again. What were Twisted Sister thinking of when they added it to the repertoire? |
Reply #2106. Dec 12 10, 2:23 PM
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| C30
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I will not go into my opinion of the Christmas period, because anyone who dares to dislike it is quickly condemned as a "killjoy"
Bah Humbug !
Lesley......16th December
Reply #2107. Dec 12 10, 2:26 PM
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| lesley153
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| Ooh soon! Got anything planned, like jelly and ice cream bah humbug? |
Reply #2108. Dec 12 10, 3:28 PM
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| tinamomnsox
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Hi, Lesley. Hope you had a good day.
Reply #2109. Dec 12 10, 9:59 PM
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| lesley153
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Thank you, I did. I stayed at home in the warm, and didn't hear Silver Bells all day! Except it was worming its way round my brain the whole day, but it went away while I slept. :)
How was your day? |
Reply #2110. Dec 13 10, 6:23 AM
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tezza1551
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Lesley, I don't think "Silver Bells" is as bad as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"... just pure saccharin.
But like all those seasonal songs, once or twice a year is enough !
Reply #2111. Dec 13 10, 6:50 AM
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Jazmee27
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Some of those "seasonal songs" are so sickening I can't stand to hear them anymore. I always say, "If I hear (insert song title) even once, I'm going to scream!"
Reply #2112. Dec 13 10, 7:08 AM
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| C30
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"Here it is Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun".......SCREAM! I can safely say, from personal experience, that not "everbody is having fun" ! In fact, in the period 1975-1995, I probably worked a 12 hr shift at least 15/20 of them on Christmas Day. I most definitely was NOT "having fun" !
Reply #2113. Dec 13 10, 2:46 PM
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| lesley153
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Tezza, I hadn't really thought about it till you mentioned it, but I couldn't imagine Judy Garland singing anything saccharine, and the title made me wonder if there might be more to it than a whole-hearted Christmas song. So I looked it up and found what Wiki had to say about it.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas
In the film "Meet Me in St. Louis," a St Louis family is faced with a move to New York for Father's promotion, and they're not at all happy about it. She sang it to cheer up her little sister, and the original words said that we may be leaving everyone we know and love, but at least we'll be together. The little sister is not convinced.
Here she is singing it in the film. I think it's a stunning clip -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yudgy30Dd68&NR=1
- but it doesn't seem to have cheered her little sister up at all!
The uploaders comments under the clip contrast the darker original lyrics, which seem to me to fit the film perfectly, with the popular version. Apparently Frank Sinatra asked the songwriters to make it a bit jollier. So we can blame ole Blue Eyes for ruining a good song for the sake of commercialism.
Here's Sinatra singing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpPdl0StUVs&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Not IMHO his finest performance, and what happened to the jolly? He's turned it into a soulless dirge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's also a religious version called "Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas," and it's on YouTube being sung by Ruthie Henshall, in the Royal Albert Hall, with a male voice choir of thousands. People who like this sort of thing will find it the sort of thing they like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the shops I wandered into this afternoon was playing a high female voice singing Silent Night at half speed, followed by welcome silence. I was expecting it to be followed by Silver Bells, and I'd have run out of the shop with my fingers in my ears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let's all hear it for the great Noddy! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
All together now, you all know the words:
"It's the most wonderful time of the year."
|
Reply #2114. Dec 13 10, 5:14 PM
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| Lochalsh
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Judy Garland appeared to have an innate sweetness about her, and she certainly was talented. Lesley, do you know this duet? Judy's precious and in full voice in it (well, and her singing partner's got some pipes, too: :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYpcFHtxm60
Reply #2115. Dec 13 10, 6:24 PM
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| lesley153
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Wow! Fabulous!
And what a coup getting these two brilliant singers together. Streisand was 21 and at the beginning of her career, while Garland was in her late 30s and heartbreakingly near the end of hers. (She was only 47 when she died. What a dreadful waste.)
I wonder how starstruck Streisand was. Probably at least a bit. |
Reply #2116. Dec 13 10, 6:47 PM
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| Lochalsh
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I'm so glad you liked it! It's a treasure, I think.
What impresses me is they're so respectful of each other's talent. Garland could have pulled the star punches, or Streisand the ingenue punches, and it just didn't happen.
Take that, "All About Eve"! :)
I always feel a certain sadness when I watch/hear Judy. Gone too soon, indeed. I'm happy to see that Liza's had a decent life despite the early tragedy, and that she's inherited some of her mother's gifts.
Please pass the tissue.
Reply #2117. Dec 13 10, 7:06 PM
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| lesley153
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Sorry, forgot to answer the question - no, I can't remember seeing this before. Can't think why not!
Bit more Judy Garland. Here she is, singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow as it was written, not chopping the phrases up and making the song last twice its intended length, and not drowning it in uncontrolled vibrato.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhzbzwPNgXA
Nice. And please preserve me from Eva Cassidy's and Leona Lewis's versions. |
Reply #2118. Dec 13 10, 7:07 PM
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| lesley153
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Yes, it looked very much like a seasoned singer trying to make a green one feel comfortable and confident.
"...and that she's inherited some of her mother's gifts..."
Some. Not all of them. When I hear Judy Garland singing a song, I wonder why anyone else bothers even trying. |
Reply #2119. Dec 13 10, 7:09 PM
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| Lochalsh
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"Someplace where there isn't any trouble ..." *sigh*
No, Liza doesn't have the vocal gifts of her mother, but she has a on-stage charm of her own.
"Rainbow" is just clumsy schmaltz in anyone's hands (or rather, throat) but Judy's.
Reply #2120. Dec 13 10, 7:37 PM
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