Sting: A Winter's Night ... Live from Durham Cathedral

Premiered 26 November 2009

This 2009 special is a collection of wintry songs, ancient and modern as performed by Sting and a small army of around 35 musicians.  It was filmed in Durham Cathedral in the north of England.

As befits the setting, the program includes a mix of traditional songs such as "Soul Cake" and "Gabriel's Message" and interweaves them with more modern settings of ancient texts such as Peter Warlock's "Balulalow."   There are also a few re-workings of original songs from Sting's back catalog.  

RigbyMel says:

Whether or not one enjoys this special is going to have a lot to do with whether or not one enjoys Sting as a performer.   I happen to be fan and I think his musicianship shines in this special.

One of the concert's highlights is a beautiful arrangement of  "Christmas At Sea"  (a setting of a Robert Louis Stevenson poem). It's interwoven with a Scots Gaelic counter-melody called "Thograinn Thograinn" performed by harpist Mary MacMaster.

The lilting "Burning Babe" and the Appalachian-tinged "Cherry Tree Carol" are also standouts in an overall great performance.  The one number that sticks out like a sore thumb is "Cold Song", which has a good pedigree, as it was written by Henry Purcell, but doesn't really sit well in Sting's vocal range.  That being said, as a music history geek, I appreciate the ambition and breadth of this program.

The talented musicians and beautiful architectural setting make for excellent viewing and listening.  I also like the fact that many of the songs are NOT ones that regularly pop up on your average 24-hours a day 7 days a week Christmas radio station.

This is a special that I seem to return to and enjoy each year and recommend to Sting fans and music geeks.

RigbyMel's rating:

 3 and a half candy canes


J.A. Morris says:

Unlike my co-blogger, I'm not a big Sting fan.  The Police were one of the favorite bands of my youth, but Sting's solo career has been inconsistent in my opinion.  But I enjoyed A Winter's Night. It's feels more like a folk concert or a musicology seminar than just another "Sting concert".

Not every song performed here is explicitly a "Christmas Song", but it contains enough references to the holiday to qualify as a "Christmas" concert.  Sting opens with "Gabriel's Message," a traditional Christmas song he first recorded back in 1987.  I actually enjoyed this version better.  The string section incorporates the melody of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" into "Soul Cake."  I share RigbyMel's enthusiasm for "Christmas At Sea".  There's something hauntingly beautiful about hearing someone sing in a dying language like Scots Gaelic.  A high point of the concert.

If I have any problems with A Winter's Night, it's the pacing.  I've been to lots of concerts in my life, and the decision of when to play songs can make or break a concert.  I first saw this when it was featured on PBS's Great Performances series.  The performance ended with a rousing rendition of "I Saw Three Ships."  It gets the crowd dancing and clapping, a clog-dancer comes out and gets the fans even more excited.  I was even dancing a bit myself watching on tv! 

However, the version presented on DVD has one more song after that, "You Only Cross My Mind In Winter."  Not a bad song, but it's a much more subdued than "Three Ships" and has a major effect on the ending.  It didn't ruin the concert, but it's a misstep by a master showman.

A Winter's Night is an enjoyable concert recording.  Since its release, it has been something we watch near the beginning of every holiday season, and we often have it playing as "background music" while we put up Christmas decorations.  It's recommended, even for folks who aren't diehard Sting fans.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 candy canes.

Cee Lo's Magic Moment

Premiered November 26, 2012

R & B singer and judge from The Voice Cee Lo Green hosts his first Christmas special.  It features a concert recorded last October 10 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Cee Lo Green & his band on a very festive stage.

Cee Lo welcomes the Muppets, singers Eric Benet, Rod Stewart and all the vocalists who served as Green's team members on The Voice.

Songs include:

"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
"This Christmas"
"What Christmas Means To Me"
"The Christmas Song"
"Run Run Rudolph"
"Merry Christmas Baby" (with Rod Stewart)
"White Christmas"
"Silent Night" (with Eric Benet)
"All I Need Is Love" (with The Muppets & "Voice" contestants)

Cee Lo & Rod Stewart perform "Merry Christmas, Baby".

Between songs, we get some interaction between Cee Lo, Kermit (Steve Whitmire) and Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson) of the Muppets , who are seated in the front row.  He dedicates his performance of 'The Christmas Song' to them.

CeeLo and Eric Benet sing 'Silent Night'. 

At the end of the concert, Cee Lo invites Kermie and Piggy up on the stage.  They talk about how they just recorded a song together called "All I Need Is Love" for Cee Lo's Christmas album.  They launch into the song and are joined by Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson), Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Baretta), Animal (Jacobson, again), Gonzo The Great (Dave Goelz) and the Snowths (Jacobson, yet again).

Cee Lo, the Muppets and The Voice team close the show with "All I Need Is Love"

The song borrows heavily from "Mahna Mahna", a song made famous by the Muppets.  Cee Lo invites his team from The Voice to back them up in a classic variety show "All Hands On Deck" closing number. 

J.A. Morris says:

I suppose your enjoyment of this special depends on how much you like Cee Lo Green's music.  I can take or leave him, but I enjoy some of his songs (especially "F*ck You").  He has a likeable stage persona here as the host.

Cee Lo backed up by his masked drummer.

 Cee Lo is also not above indulging in what could be described as "Christmas schmaltz".  For instance, while singing "The Christmas Song", he changes the lyrics.  Instead of "For kids from 1 to 92", he directs the song to the audience and sings "To each and everyone of you". Cee Lo seems to be channeling his inner Bing Crosby/Perry Como/Andy Williams here, not there's anything wrong with that at Christmas!

I wasn't crazy about most of his guests.  Rod Stewart is someone I can deal with in very small doses, and I don't watch The Voice, so a reunion of Cee Lo's team doesn't interest me.  But I did appreciate the song selection here.  "Run Run Rudolph", "What Christmas Means To Me" and "Merry Christmas Baby" aren't nearly as overdone as other Holiday hits.

But thing that prompted me to watch this was the Muppets.  I grew up with the Muppets and they've long been synonymous with Christmas TV specials.   Even though most of the original Muppeteers have either died or retired, it's always fun to see the Muppets.  Cee Lo has a nice rapport with them, he's not "too cool" to interact with Muppets.  And it was particularly nice to see old school Muppets like the Snowths make an appearance!  If you grew up liking the Muppets' performance of "Mahna Mahna", you'll probably enjoy the live performance here of "All I Need Is Love".

Cee Lo's Magic Moment will be most enjoyed by Cee Lo Green enthusiasts, but if you like the Muppets it's worth watching at least once.

J.A. Morris' rating:
2 and a half candy canes

Glee: "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"

Aired December 13, 2011


In this episode the members of the New Direction glee club are celebrating the holidays just after Sectionals are over. The show opens with Mercedes (Amber Riley) singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with the other members of the club joining in.

Mercedes singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

After the opening number, we learn that Finn (Cory Monteith) is having trouble finding a Christmas present for Rachel (Lea Michelle). Rachel gives him an expensive and long list full of "bling" and tells Finn he can just get her five things off of it. Finn is hit with the realization that, “Holy crap, I'm dating Kim Kardashian.”

Finn and Rachel sharing a Christmas moment by the lockers

We cut to a scene where Coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is talking to Kurt (Chris Colfer), Artie (Kevin McHale) and Blaine (Darren Criss) in her office. Sue is being uncharacteristically magnanimous, saying she forgives the New Directions for past misunderstandings (mostly of her own creation) and wants them to sing at a homeless shelter. Sue has been looking for ways to keep busy since her sister died and says that her plans to shoot reindeer with Sarah Palin fell through.

Irish exchange student Rory (Damian McGinty) will be spending Christmas away from his family for the first time. He sings "Blue Christmas" as a tribute to them. Sam (Chord Overstreet), who is also away from his family, is sympathetic and offers to be Rory's Christmas sponsor and show him how Americans celebrate the holiday.

Meanwhile, glee club sponsor teacher, Will Schuster (Matthew Morrison) has an exciting proposition for the group - their very own television Christmas special with Artie as director. (The local tv affiliate has lost the rights to the "Christmas Yule Log" video and needs to fill time.) Artie agrees to direct as long as he can film in black and white and include a Star Wars tie-in - which was inspired by the Force (apparently) infiltrating Artie's dreams. We get a great cameo from Chewbacca when the scene shows us what was going on in Artie's head.

Chewbacca and the cast of Glee - what a Wookiee!

Unfortunately, the planned tv special is scheduled for the same time as the planned visit to the homeless shelter, but everyone is so excited about being on television that they don't think it through.

Artie auditions people's song ideas for the special including Rachel covering Joni Mitchell's "River." He deems it too depressing. Rachel counters that "Joni Mitchell isn't depressing, she's emotional!" but Artie is unmoved. His vision for the show sounds like a corny old school Christmas special with Kurt and Blaine receiving guests at their "ski chalet" and random friends dropping by to perform various musical numbers. We see lots of these in the show including Kurt and Blaine's rendition of "Let It Snow", Britney and the Cheerios doing a cover of the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" and Rachel and Mercedes duetting on "My Favorite Things."

As per usual, we get to see disagreements between members of the Glee club in this episode. Will Finn find the right present for Rachel? Will the Glee club help bring Christmas cheer to the homeless or will dreams of local tv stardom get in the way? "Yule" (haha) have to watch this episode of Glee and see for yourself!

Haul out the holly (and tinsel) ...

RigbyMel says:

This is the second Christmas episode for Glee and it is ... ok. Not great, but ok. I enjoyed the fun references to old-style Christmas variety specials of yore, right down to the deliberately goofy overacting and stilted segues into songs - it kind of reminded me of a less funny Colbert Christmas. The songs were mostly well-chosen (with one exception that I'll get to momentarily). I find it irritating that the producers of the show choose to use and abuse auto-tune on EVERY SONG especially on people like Amber Riley and Lea Michelle who have fine singing voices and DON'T need to be electronically tweaked onto the right pitch - this is a general complaint I have about the series.

I also don't like the fact that we have yet another instance of women being portrayed as crazy or greedy on the show in the subplot about Rachel wanting "bling" from Finn for the holidays. (SPOILER ALERT: Rachel eventually sees the error of her ways in this ep. However, I have doubts that the lesson learned will carry forward much in future episodes of the show.)

Which brings me to another lesson we're supposed to take away from the show - yes, being kind to people and thinking of others at the holidays is a GREAT message to be putting out there and it cannot be repeated often enough. BUT the use of the ultimate "white-guilt" song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is condescending at best, and perhaps a bit insulting at worst. I have never been a fan of this song whether in a Bob Geldof, Glee or any other context and I find the song's treatment of the subject - hunger/homelessness - to be smug and heavy-handed. ("Thank God it's them instead of you" - REALLY?)

Complaints aside though, if you are a fan of Glee and/or Christmas there are definitely things to enjoy in this episode - I cannot call it a "classic" though.

My rating:
Two and a half candy canes


J.A. Morris says:

We're in general agreement on "Extraordinary Merry Christmas," including our feelings about "Do They Know It's Christmas." A decent episode, but not one I see myself watching annually. I thought Amber Riley did a better job at hitting the high notes than Mariah Carey does on "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The episode features an original song called "Extraordinary Merry Christmas," which is okay, but won't make you forget "White Christmas" or "Rudolph."

I also appreciated the episode's references to A Charlie Brown Christmas (such as Rory's reading at the end) and The Star Wars Holiday Special .

In last year's Christmas episode (which we have yet to review), we learned that Britney (Heather Morris) still believed in Santa Claus. It would've been nice to know if she still believes, but the writers seem to have forgotten about that plot line (as they often do).

As a fan of the classic Holiday variety shows RigbyMel mentioned, I'll admit that the "chalet" scenes brought a smile to my face. Chris Colfer and Darren Criss did a nice job here with the singing and dancing.

My rating:
Two and a half candy canes

Saturday Night Live's Tradition Of Thanksgiving Songs

Hi again everyone,
We're big fans of Saturday Night Live, especially of the show's classic eras.

SNL has never had a "Thanksgiving episode", but the show has featured quite a few Thanksgiving-themed musical numbers over the years.

In 1976, host Paul Simon opened the show by singing "Still Crazy After All These Years"...in a turkey costume:


Sorry I couldn't find any video of this online.  Simon stops in the middle of the performance and calls it "one of the most humiliating experiences of my life!"

EDIT (2019):  Since we first published this post back in 2011, a Youtube video of the Paul Simon clip has become available, so here it is: 

Perhaps the most famous Thanksgiving song in the show's history was performed on November 21, 1992. Adam Sandler introduced "The Thanksgiving Song", a new song he'd written about eating turkey. It also contains a plethora 90s pop culture references that have nothing to do with Thanksgiving:

A year later (November 20,1993 to be exact), Sandler did an excellent impression of Bruce Springsteen performing a Thanksgiving song.
Here's a Springsteen Thanksgiving:

In 1996, we got a sketch featuring multiple singers auditioning new Thanksgiving songs for a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. This sketch includes the debut of Cinder Calhoun, played by Ana Gasteyer. "Cinder" would become a recurring character on the show for several years. Tim Meadows also stands out in this sketch performing a sultry, soulful and innuendo-filled Thanksgiving ballad.
Watch "Thanksgiving Song Auditions" here:

And speaking of Cinder Calhoun, she showed up the next year on Weekend Update to perform another Thanksgiving song. The song condemns the killing of turkeys on Thanksgiving and compares Butterball to Hitler and Stalin! She was joined by musical guest Sarah McLachlan on "Basted In Blood:
Here's a photo from the bit from 11/22/97:

EDIT (2019): And here's a link to an article with the video clip:  https://www.thecut.com/2015/11/basted-in-blood-your-lilith-fair-holiday-jam.html

And just last year, current cast member Jay Pharoah appeared on Weekend Update and wondered what a Thanksgiving rap written by Jay-Z or Biggie Smalls would sound like. Pharoh proceeded to rap about Thanksgiving and its trappings, from November 20, 2010:

So maybe if you're musically inclined, you'll find yourself leading your family in a singalong of one of these songs tonight after you've finished all the pumpkin pie. Okay, that probably won't happen (considering some of these songs contain outdated references George Wendt and Darryl Strawberry), but these songs are still lots of fun.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

J.A. Morris and RigbyMel

The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count

Since spring is the season of allergies here in Virginia, I've had this song stuck in my head on and off for the past several days (especially as I've been trying to rid my car of evil, yellow pollen dust ...).

So Holiday Film Reviews now presents a musical interlude linked for your listening/viewing pleasure: "The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" by The Divine Comedy.



This is a fun pop song by the British band The Divine Comedy. It was originally released on their Liberation album in 1993, but the linked version is a re-recording that was done for their 1999 best of compilation entitled A Secret History ... The Best of the Divine Comedy. The single peaked at #17 in the UK charts.

Interestingly, the song points out a bit of a geographical difference as I tend to associate allergy season in Virginia with spring and autumn, but this song is about summer. Summer is generally more of a pollen-filled season in the U.K. than in the eastern U.S. actually, so this makes some sense.

Something to mull over with your U.S. (Virginia) allergies and congestion today.

TTFN

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Bet you thought I forgot about my Beatles-related Christmas song series, didn't you? Well I didn't.

Today's installment is going to feature and assortment of goodies (since the holindaze got a bit busy and I am behind).

First, an obvious one "Happy Christmas (War Is Over" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono



The song was released as a single by John and Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band in 1971. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #2 on the UK charts.

The lyric is based on a campaign in late 1969 by Lennon and Ono, who rented billboards and posters in eleven cities around the world that read: "WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko". The cities included New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Helsinki. At the time of the song's release, the US was deeply entrenched in the unpopular Vietnam War. The line "War is over, if you want it, war is over, now!", as sung by the background vocals, was taken directly from the billboards.

The childrens choir in the background consisted of kids from the Harlem Community Choir and they are credited on the single.

This song has (rightly) become a holiday standard and has been covered by everyone from Celine Dion and Sarah McLachlan to Maroon 5, 'N Sync and Andy Williams (!) We even heard it as part of one of the Christmas shows at Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Christmas Town this year. That being said, it always bothers me a bit when people cover the song and leave the "War Is Over" portion of the lyrics out and replace them either with "ahhs" or instrumentals. Especially in times (as now) when the U.S. is engaged in 2 wars overseas. Still this is probably the best of the Beatles' solo Christmas songs and I am glad that others recognize that (even if they try to de-politicize it). I stand before you an unabashed peace-nik and think the song is better with its message intact.

On a much lighter note, here are 2 audio rarities. They feature tracks by Paul McCartney that only appeared as snippets on the Beatles Fan Club Christmas Records. They were originally released as flexi discs to members of the Beatles' UK fan club. Each year from 1963 to 1969, the Beatles had recorded a short Christmas message for their fans, composed of carols, skits, jokes, and thanks to the loyal "Beatle People".

Herewith, McCartney's contribution to the 1968 edition in its entirety:


It's basically an improvisation with guitar and for all that it is pretty catchy. Certainly not deep or anything or on a level with Lennon's 1971 Happy Xmas release but fun.

And here is McCartney's contribution to the 1969 edition (also the last Beatles Christmas Record made):


This is even MORE slight and improvisatory, but Paul's melodic talents make it worthwhile, I think.

More later this week ... !

Macca Christmas-y songs

As some of my readers will know, I am a bit of a fan of the Beatles. Hence, I figured I'd throw in some bonus blog material. This will probably become a once a week thing during the next month or so.

So today, I figured I would start with some solo Beatles material, specifically, some Christmas-y music videos courtesy of Sir Paul McCartney.

First, we have the ubiquitous 1979 chestnut "Wonderful Christmastime" which seems to have no middle ground (or not much anyway), people seem to either really like it or really REALLY hate it. I reckon it is slight (especially where work from a former Beatle is concerned), but fun. Here is the video (my advice to the haters is, don't click the play button!):



Here are a couple of fun facts about the song:

* The pub you see in the video is the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.
* The synthesizer riff was played on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5.
* The song did not crack the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the year of its release, but did chart at #6 in the U.K. singles chart.
* The song can be heard in the 1998 animated film "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie," as well as all over your local pop radio station during the holidays.

The second video from Sir Paul that I am including is for "Pipes of Peace." Written for the 1983 album of the same title (released October 31, 1983), the title song was released as a single on December 5, 1983. Although it is not explicitly a holiday song from a lyrical standpoint (except in a "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All" sort of way), the video is most definitely Christmas-y. The video depicts the famous WWI Christmas truce between British and German troops. Macca plays soldiers on both sides of the trenches who meet up in No Man's Land while other soldiers fraternize and play football.



* This song was Paul McCartney's first and *only* number 1 single as a solo artist in the U.K. (!)
* The single (with "So Bad" as the B-side) reached number 23 on the U.S. charts.
* The video was my introduction to the WWI Christmas truce of December 1914.

The Christmas Truce is also dramatized in the film Joyeux Noel, about which more later (hopefully).

So there you have some Beatle-y Christmas-y music videos for your viewing and listening pleasure. I plan to post a few more of these as the holidaze progress.