Keener 13

Today’s highlights include: Happy Birthday, Elvis, Billboard hits – then and now, remembering Op Art, the New Seekers & the Coke ad in the last episode of Mad Men, fewer commercials on NBC, Donny Osmond’s 62nd album & how to go invisible on the Internet.

Oh the things that used to bug us! Today in 1969, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were barred from an exclusive hotel for wearing “Op Art” pants. The optical illusion must have been too much for the hotel staff to take. They were both asked to leave the Hotel Crillen in Lima, Peru after refusing to change clothes.

NBCUniversal says it’s reducing the amount of ads its serves during prime-time even further, and it’s looking now at other times throughout the day to do the same. Seems like a good idea, with audiences deserting their network for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Now if we could just get the bankrupt radio companies like iHeart to do the same thing.

Elvis Presley is on our birthday list. He would be 83 today, born at his parent’s home, a two-room house that was built by his father at 306 Old Saltillo Road, East Tupelo, Mississippi. A twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn. The King is still raking it in. His estate’s 2017 earnings were $37 million dollars. Here he is with Ann Margaret in a scene from “Viva Las Vegas”.

What’s hot this week on the Billboard Charts. Call me old fashioned, but I can’t connect with any of these. Contrast that with these number ones from every year on this date via radio station WKNR in Detroit.

(1965) Name Game, Shirley Ellis
(1966) Jenny Take a Ride!, Mitch Ryder
(1967) I’m a Believer/Steppin’ Stone, Monkees
(1968) Nobody But Me, Human Beinz
(1969) Crimson & Clover, Tommy James & The Shondells
(1970) Venus, Shocking Blue
(1971) Knock Three Times, Dawn
(1972) American Pie, Don McLean

For all of you who have those smart phones that unlock when you look at em, read this Mashable article to see if a photo of your face can do it too. The good news: iPhones are immune. And speaking of Internet security, famed hacker Kevin Mitnick teaches us “how to go invisible online“, courtesy of our friends at Wired Magazine.

From the “I feel old” department: 50 years ago today The final episode of “Shindig” airs on ABC, featuring The Kinks and The Who. 50 years after his first solo release, Donny Osmond is back in the studio to work on his 62nd album. 40 years ago today, the band Rush are named as the country’s official Ambassadors Of Music by the Canadian government.

Happy Birthday to: Elvis Presley, 1935 (d. 1977); Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger Vocalist), 1937; Stephen Hawking (Genius), 1942 (d. 2018); Robby Krieger (The Doors), 1946; Terry Sylvester (Hollies), 1947; David Bowie, 1947 (d. 2016)

We leave you with this Mad Men memory. Today in 1972, The New Seekers had an international hit w ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing. The song started as a Coca Cola TV ad, as imagined by Don Draper in the final MM episode.

Growing up in the shadow of the Motor City, everyone eventually listened to CKLW. Its 50,000 signal blanketed 28 states and 5 Canadian provinces with the famous Top 40 format promoted by Bill Drake and guided locally by Paul Drew.

One dimension of the CK sound was 20/20 News (Video), a high energy newscast at 20 and 40 past the hour that presented the stories of the day in a breathless, tabloid manner that shocked and delighted Detroit audiences. Byron MacGregor, born Gary L. Mack on March 13, 1948 was a central figure at 20/20 news. At the height of CKLW’s popularity, he recorded a Gordon Sinclair editorial, entitled “The Americans”. It resonated with our psyche and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard pop charts in 1974.

Byron went on to anchor television news at Detroit’s WKBD-TV and became an afternoon news fixture on WWJ Radio before succumbing to complications related to pneumonia on this date in 1995. He was just 46.

Lots of great content on this morning’s feed: Remembering Rick Nelson, The New Woodstock, navigating New Year’s Eve, a poignant remembrance of Margot Kidder, celebs in commercials before they were famous, and a quote to inspire you in 2019. Let’s dig in!

Quote of the day: Siri kept calling me Shirley this morning…then I realised I had left my phone in Airplane mode.

On this date in 1985, Rick Nelson & six others died when his charted DC-3 aircraft crashed in Texas. A generation grew up with Rick and his brother David as co-stars on their parent’s television show, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”. When Rick showed interest in music, his bandleader father knew how to capitalize on it. Here’s a 1986 remembrance, courtesy of Popular Culture Classics. Nelson patriarch, Ozzie, died in 1975, mom Harriet in 1994, and older brother David passed away in 2011 at the age of 74. A 1998 documentary revealed a family quite different from what we saw on the small screen, but perhaps more like many real families were, then and now.

A reboot of the famous Woodstock Music and Art Fair returns to the site of the historic 1969 concert for a 50th anniversary event in August of 2019. The original was a money loser, until the 1970 film and double LP brought the event back to the center of the world’s attention. It amplified the carriers of Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Who, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, Sha-Na-Na, Santana, Richie Havens and others. The lineup for the 2019 iteration has yet to be announced.

Looking ahead to 2019:

Had enough of those sleep deficit inducing New Year’s Eve parties? We talked on Friday about Netflix’s cool way to scam kids into getting into bed early tonight. Here’s an idea from WSJ Columnist Jason Gay on how to pull something similar with those friends who want you to stay up late.

Will the New Year mean a new gig? If you’re over 50, you better have a Plan-B. Research shows that more than half of us in that age bracket are more likely to be pushed out of our job before we are ready to go. Here are some tips on reinventing yourself from our friends at the Harvard Business Review, just in case you need them..

Quick Takes:

The LA Times reports that Rabbit Ears are making a comeback in the era of cord cutting.

More & more retailers are saying, “Your cash ain’t nothing but trash.” Don’t forget that debit card!

Turner Classic Movies remembers those who left us in 2018. The piece was produced before we lost Penny Marshall.

The New York Times does a uniformly excellent job of writing celebrity remembrances. Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s piece on Margot Kidder is a tour de force.

The folks at TED teach us “How to disagree productively and find common ground“. A skill sorely needed in Washington right now.

Check out Robert DeNiro, DustinHoffman & JohnTravolta before they were famous, in these early 1960s TV commercials.

The 1960 version of Oceans Eleven was set on New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. It remains my favorite version of the franchise. Here’s the original trailer.

The SciFi Channel (now calling themselves SyFi) is running another New Year’s Eve Twilight Zone marathon. Rod Serling‘s daughter, Anne, regularly tweets about her famous father. What’s your favorite episode?

My guess is that you’ve made your share of lists of things you hope to achieve in the New Year. The most common? According to Jonathan Fader, writing for Psychology Today, they are: Losing weight, exercising more, quitting smoking, managing debt, saving money, getting a better job or education, reducing stress, and taking a trip or volunteering.

The bad news: Resolutions are easy to make and very hard to keep. Why? One sentence statements are rarely backed up with action plans. It’s human nature to give up at the sign of the first obstacle. And often, we don’t set the bar high enough.

The good news: People who make resolutions, write them down and work to create the habits to make them stick are much more likely to succeed in keeping them.

There are many tales of people who decided to reinvent themselves and transformed their lives in the process; Martha Stewart, Joy Behar, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Kroc and Col. Sanders are a few of the more well known.

In reality, we are in a constant state of becoming. Our skin regenerates every 2-3 weeks and our skeleton is completely different today than it was ten years ago. The Buddhists say that the sooner we can understand that everything is impermanent, the more we can take advantage of the situation to grow into happier, more productive people.

Perhaps author and entrepreneur James Altucher said it best. “Every day, you reinvent yourself. You’re always in motion. But you decide every day: forward or backward.”

Deciding to do nothing is a decision, too.

Nearly three decades ago, Chicago newspaper columnist and author, Sydney J. Harris penned a set of resolutions that have resonated with me ever since. They are just as meaningful today as they were when he first wrote them. As you look ahead to 2019, all of us at the wish you success in pursuing whatever your dreams may be. Here’s hoping that a little Sydney Harris creeps into those dreams.

Resolutions I’ll try to keep if you’ll try to make
Sydney J. Harris

To remember that we all basically want the same things, and our differences of opinion are less fundamental than our similarities of need.

To stop blaming ‘them’ for what is wrong with the world, and to examine more honestly and scrupulously our own failure to live up to our beliefs and ideals.

To respect goodness as much as we despise evil – otherwise, it becomes too easy to turn into a hater instead of a healer.

To keep in mind at all times that ‘justice’ is a seamless web, and not until we defend and assure justice for others do we gain the right lo claim it for ourselves.

To know that real strength most often discloses itself in gentleness, and weakness in furious aggression.

To refrain from self ­congratulations in contributing to charity – rather, to work for the elimination of the underlying conditions that continue to make such a charity necessary.

To say no more than we know, to speak no more than what we mean, and to give others as much the benefit of the doubt as we expect from them.

To cease imagining that we can improve conditions by ‘doing’ more than we do, without at the same time ‘becoming’ more than we are.

To understand that what we loosely call freedom is not a personal attribute, but a social relation – and that the optimum of freedom for everyone depends on self-imposed restrictions democratically arrived at.

To look beyond the transitory issues that divide us, and grasp for the permanent ends that unite us – not in mere sentimentality, but as a sheer matter of survival of our self-destructive species.

To recognize and admit our prejudices freely, and – if it is beyond our power to extirpate them – to discount them as realistically as we discount our limitations of eyesight or hearing or taste buds.

To accept the hard moral truth that from the moment we do anything credible in the anticipation of applause or popularity, we have forfeited our right to such credit.

To stop justifying selfishness because ‘the world is a jungle’ – for it can also be a garden depending on whether one wants to plant and water, or to plunder and uproot.

Finally, to treat people as if they were what they ought to be, which is the only way to help them become what they can be.

Be safe this New Year’s Eve. It’s what we DJs call “Amateur Night”. People who don’t typically drink a lot, drink a lot. Drive a little more carefully. Watch your own consumption. Have a little more patience. Kiss someone you love at midnight. Be safe!

See you next year!

Growing up in the 60s, I vividly remember Batman’s short prime as a hugely popular, if campy, television show on ABC followed by a 1966 movie iteration. Adam West and Burt Ward in the roles of Batman/Bruce Wayne and Robin/Dick Grayson rocketed to stardom and just as quickly faded into typecast oblivion.

When Michael Keaton took on the role in the Tim Burton directed film version in 1989, Batman’s bankability at the box office was reaffirmed and a franchise bloomed.

Batman on Film
Batman (1943); Batman and Robin (1949); Batman (1966); Batman (1989); Batman Returns (1992); Batman Forever (1995); Batman & Robin (1997); Batman Begins (2005); The Dark Knight (2008); The Dark Knight Rises (2012); Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016); Suicide Squad (2016); Justice League (2017); Joker (Coming in 2019).

Batman’s first appearances on the big screen were in two 15 part serials, produced in 1943 and 1949. Both were eventually compressed into full length feature films. (Video-Batman) (Video-Batman and Robin). Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery  were the first two actors to don the cape and cowl. The 1966 film featured West and Ward reprising their Television roles with popular guest villans Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. It received mostly favorable reviews for its tongue in cheek camp.

The 1989 Tim Burton film was heavily promoted and eagerly anticipated as a darker, more serious take on the caped crusader. Michael Keaton, previously known for less serious roles, delivered the goods, with Jack Nicholson‘s frightening portrayal of The Joker mesmerizing audiences worldwide. The film topped $411.35 million in total revenue and was the highest grossing film based on a DC comic book until 2008’s The Dark Knight. (Wikipedia)

Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck contributed their interpretations with varying degrees of success. Bale’s nemesis in 2008’s The Dark Knight Rises was Heath Ledger, in a show stealing performance as The Joker.

The two decade lifespan of the franchise introduced the character to several generations of fans, each associating the star-of-the-day with the titular role. But inevitable “Worst to Best” lists have been created. Zach Snyder likes Ben Affleck.  Variety thinks Christian Bale is the best and serial star Lewis Wilson as the worst, with Val Kilmer a close second-from-the-bottom. Business Insider ranks Keaton at the top and George Clooney at the bottom.

Any franchise is hard to sustain. Just ask the Broccoli family, who has produced 24 James Bond films with six different actors in the title role. Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig could not be more different from one another. But like the Batmen, each made the role their own and built fan bases who revere their performances.

Will Batman continue to be at the center of our consciousness? As long as there are comic books and kids, we think so.

For the record, I like Connery best as Bond and Keaton head and shoulders above all the others as the Dark Knight.

We leave you with Looper.com’s video review of worst to first Batman films. You may not agree (we don’t) but it’s worth the watch just to see the clips. “Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed.” Let’s go!

Highlights from today’s morning show include some back story on Radio City Music Hall, two pivotal dates in John Lennon’s timeline, the four women who played “Dolly” on Broadway (plus one on film), Sonny & Cher get a show, sprinting across Antarctica and the third longest running prime time soap opera in history debuts.

The iconic Radio City Music Hall opened on this date in 1932 in New York, home to the Rockettes & in the same complex as the NBC Studio 6-B where Jimmy Fallon‘s Tonight Show is taped. Johnny Carson started his long reign in that same studio.

Today in 1958, John Lennon meets future wife Cynthia Powell at the Liverpool College of Art. 22 years later to the day, just weeks after his death, Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” (Video) hits #1 in America.

Today in 1970 “Hello, Dolly!” closes at New York’s St James Theater after 2844 performances. Carol Channing originated the title role. Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters have all made it their own since. Barbara Streisand starred in the 1969 film version.

Today in 1971 The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour gets a regular run on CBS after  serving as a summer replacement. It stays on the air for three years until their divorce got in the way. The duo would reunite in 1976 for a two year stint hosting the identically formatted The Sonny & Cher Show, proving “The Beat Goes On”.

Tonight in 1979 the wildly popular CBS show, “Dallas”, spins off another prime time soap opera: “Knots Landing“. It will become longest-running primetime drama on U.S. TV after Gunsmoke and Bonanza.

Missing Carrie Fisher today. Our favorite princess left us on this date in 2016. We lost her mom, Debbie Reynolds the next day. Carrie’s autobiographical “The Princess Diarist” is a great listen on Audible. She narrates the book herself, adding a dimension of authenticity and honesty that is at once candidly funny and heartbreaking. Debbie’s “Unsinkable” memoir is equally so.

The Stars above have burned a little brighter ever since.

In the News:

NYT: Sprinting across Antarctica, alone.
Bloomberg: Making sense of the stock market’s wild ride.
Weather Underground: Who gets blizzard conditions today?

Today’s Birthdays: Scotty Moore (Elvis’ Guitar Player), 1931, (Died 2016); Mike Pinder (Moody Blues), 1941; Mick Jones (Foreigner), 1944; Larry Byrom (Steppenwolf), 1948; David Knopfler (Dire Straits), 1952

This morning’s playlist video links:
Roll to Me – Del Amitri
It Don’t Come Easy – Ringo
Shake It Off – Tim Akers & The Smoking Section

The second in our series of inspirational quotes to fire you up for 2019 comes from master motivator, Jim Rohn: “If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

As we say goodbye to 2018, lets look back 50 years to see what Chicago’s WLS dubbed “The Top 89 Hits of 1968”.

It was quite a year in Chicago. The Democratic Convention demonstrations gave the city and its long serving mayor, Richard Daily a black eye. Top-40 radio was at the zenith of its popularity across the country and the Windy City had two rockers that were constantly challenging one another for dominance: ABC owned WLS and WCFL, licensed to the Chicago Federation of Labor. Nothing like some hot competition to keep everyone at the top of their game.

And so it was on the charts in 1968. The Beatles had, arguably, their biggest hit record, the double sided Hey Jude & Revolution. Motown was still churning out the hits and R&B had gone mainstream. The Brits were well represented with the Four Lads, the Stones and the Bee Gees leading the charge. And a new genre, “Bubble Gum”, was starting to pop into the pop charts.

Here’s how WLS ranked the most popular tunes of the year as part of their final Hit Parade, published on December 23, 1968..

1.  HEY JUDE/REVOLUTION-The Beatles
2.  LOVE IS BLUE-Paul Mauriat
3.  HONEY-Bobby Goldsboro
4.  HARPER VALLEY PTA-Jeannie C. Riley
5.  THIS GUY’S IN LOVE WITH YOU-Herb Alpert
6.  YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY-Ohio Express
7.  THOSE WERE THE DAYS-Mary Hopkin
8.  HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE-Marvin Gaye
9.  FIRE-Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
10. JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH-Rolling Stones
11. GRAZIN’ IN THE GRASS-Hugh Masakela
12. VALLERI-The Monkees
13. LOVE CHILD-Supremes
14. MONY MONY-Tommy James & The Shondells
15. BEND ME, SHAPE ME-American Breed
16. LADY MADONNA-The Beatles
17. MRS. ROBINSON-Simon & Garfunkel
18. PEOPLE GOT TO BE FREE-Rascals
19. GREEN TAMBOURINE-Lemon Pipers
20. JUDY IN DISGUISE-John Fred & The Playboy Band
21. VALLEY OF THE DOLLS-Dionne Warwick
22. LITTLE GREEN APLES-O.C. Smith
23. WOMAN WOMAN-Gary Puckett & Union Gap
24. HELLO, I LOVE YOU-Doors
25. YOUNG GIRL-Gary Puckett & Union Gap
26. ABRAHAM, MARTIN & JOHN-Dion
27. TURN AROUND, LOOK AT ME-Vogues
28. SLIP AWAY-Clarence Carter
29. TIGHTEN UP-Archie Bell & The Drells
30. THE HORSE-Cliff Nobles & Co.
31. I WILL ALWAYS THINKABOUT YOU-New Colony Six
32. THE DOCK OF THE BAY-Otis Redding
33. 1-2-3 RED LIGHT-1910 Fruitgum Company
34. A BEAUTIFUL MORNING-Rascals
35. BORN TO BE WILD-Steppenwolf
36. THE GOOD, BAD & THE UGLY-Hugh Montenegro
37. SPOOKY-Classics IV
38. DO IT AGAIN-Beach Boys
39. I WONDER WHAT SHE’S DOING TONIGHT-Boyce & Hart
40. STONED SOUL PICNIC-5th Dimension
41. SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE-Aretha Franklin
42. HOLD ME TIGHT-Johnny Nash
43. LIGHT MY FIRE-Doors
44. OVER YOU-Gary Puckett & Union Gap
45. CHEWY CHEWY-Ohio Express
46. SEALED WITH A KISS-Gary Lewis
47. MacARTHUR PARK-Richard Harris
48. PICTURES OF MATCHSTICK MEN-Status Quo
49. I GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU-Bee Gees
50. CHAIN OF FOOLS-Aretha Franklin
51. LADY WILL POWER-Gary Puckett & Union Gap
52. MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS-Grass Roots
53. ANGEL OF THE MORNING-Merilee Rush
54. I LOVE YOU-People
55. SIMON SEZ-1910 Fruitgum Company
56. I WISH IT WOULD RAIN-Temptations
57. FOOL ON THE HILL-Sergio Mendez & Brazil 66
58. INDIAN LAKE-Cowsills
59. GOING OUT OF MY HEAD-Lettermen
60. THERE WAS A TIME-James Brown
61. ELEANOR-Turtles
62. I’M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME-Supremes/Temptations
63. WHITE ROOM-Cream
64. FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE-Stevie Wonder
65. DIFFERENT DRUM-Stone Poneys
66. BONNIE & CLYDE-Georgie Fame
67. I’M A GIRL WATCHER-The O’Kaysions
68. LA LA MEANS I LOVE YOU-Delphonics
69. SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE-Cream
70. THERE IS-The Dells
71. REACH OUT OF THE DARKNESS-Friends & Lovers
72. MAGIC CARPET RIDE-Steppenwolf
73. JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE MIND-Amboy Dukes
74. I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER-Aretha Franklin
75. CLASSICAL GAS-Mason Williams
76. CINNAMON-Derek
77. I SECOND THAT EMOTION-Smokey Robinson/Miracles
78. SPECIAL ANGEL-Vogues
79. DANCE TO THE MUSIC-Sly & The Family Stone
80. CRY LIKE A BABY-Box Tops
81. HOW DID WE EVER GET THIS WAY-Andy Kim
82. SUMMERTIME BLUES-Blue Cheer
83. YOU KEEP ME HANGIN’ ON-Vanilla Fudge
84. WHO’S MAKING LOVE-Johnny Taylor
85. JUST DROPPED IN (TO SEE…)-First Edition
86. THE UNICORN-Irish Rovers
87. DOWN AT LULU’S-Ohio Express
88. COWBOYS TO GIRLS-Intruders
89. I NEED LOVE-Third Booth

What are your favorite Christmas tunes? When my wife was putting together her list on Amazon Prime Unlimited, we got to talking about our  all time Christmas faves. Casey Kasem recorded an All Time Christmas Countdown for his American Top 40 program in 1971. It’s vastly different than the latest Billboard iteration. Let’s look at them both.

BTW.. The top selling single of all time is still Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”.

Here’s Billboard Magazine’s Take:
Look and Listen to the entire list

1 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU-Mariah Carey
2 IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR-Andy Williams
3 JINGLE BELL ROCK-Bobby Helms
4 ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE-Brenda Lee
5 A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS-Burl Ives
6 Nat King Cole – THE CHRISTMAS SONG-Nat King Cole
7 RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER-Gene Autry
8 LAST CHRISTMAS-Wham!
9 LET IT SNOW-Dean Martin
10 HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS-Gene Autry
11 SLEIGH RIDE-The Ronettes
12 FELIZ NAVIDAD-Jose Feliciano
13 (THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE) HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS-Perry Como
14 WHITE CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby
15 IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS-Perry Como
16 BLUE CHRISTMAS-Elvis Presley
17 IT’S COLD OUTSIDE-Dean Martin Baby
18 IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS-Michael Buble
19 WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME-Paul McCartney
20 UNDERNEATH THE CHRISTMAS TREE-Kelly Clarkson

American Top 40 All Time Christmas Countdown December 25, 1971
01. WHITE CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby
02. RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER-Gene Autry
03. LITTLE DRUMMER BOY-Harry Simeone Chorale
04. THE CHRISTMAS SONG-Nat King Cole
05. JINGLE BELL ROCK-Bobby Helms
06. SILVER BELLS-Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely
07. WINTER WONDERLAND-Ray Conniff Orchestra & Chorus
08. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN-Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
09. BLUE CHRISTMAS-Elvis Presley
10. THE CHIPMUNK SONG-Chipmunks
11. JINGLE BELLS-Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
12. FROSTY THE SNOWMAN-Gene Autry
13. SLEIGH RIDE-Leroy Anderson
14. HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS-Gene Autry
15. I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS-Jimmy Boyd
16. PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS-Charles Brown
17. ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE-Brenda Lee
18. NUTTIN’ FOR CHRISTMAS-Ricky Zahnd
19. YOU’RE ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS-Frankie Laine* (Not played on countdown)
20. I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS-Bing Crosby
21. ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH-Spike Jones
22. MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY-Charles Brown
23. CHRISTMAS IN KILARNEY-Bing Crosby
24. HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS-Perry Como
25. IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS-Chipmunks
26. I YUST GO NUTS AT CHRISTMAS-Yogi Yorgesson
27. SANTA BABY-Eartha Kitt
28. MARY’S BOY CHILD-Harry Belafonte
29. CHRISTMAS DRAGNET-Stan Freberg
30. PRETTY PAPER-Roy Orbison
31. SNOOPY’S CHRISTMAS-Royal Guardsmen* (Not played on countdown)
32. LITTLE SAINT NICK-Beach Boys
33. BABY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS-Connie Francis
34. SANTO NATALE-David Whitfield
35. SANTA & THE SATELLITE-Dickie Goodman
36. LITTLE ALTAR BOY-Andy Williams
37. THE HAPPY REINDEER-Dancer, Prancer & Nervous
38. SANTA CLAUS IS WATCHING YOU-Ray Stevens
39. MERRY CHRISTMAS POLKA-Andrews Sisters* (Not played on countdown)
40. IF EVERY DAY WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS-Elvis Presley

Here’s Bing singing “White Christmas” in the 1954 film of the same name.

One of the most underrated talents of the 70s was Rupert Holmes. He first came to my attention when I got a hold of his 1974 album “Widescreen”, a collection of musical stories that had great lyrics and even better music. That one never got traction and it wasn’t until this week in 1979 that he had his only number one with “Escape – The Pina Colada Song“.

What is less known is that he was the driving force behind the band The Bouys. Holmes convinced Scepter Records to give them a one-single contract. The label refused to promote the band, so Holmes tried to think of an angle that would get them some viral publicity. He landed on writing a tune that would get The Bouys “banned” from airplay, thus generating major buzz. He wrote a tune that hinted at cannibalism and that did the trick, ultimately getting The Bouys’ one hit, “Timothy” on the charts. It peaked at #17 in February of 1970.