GOOD MORNING - IT'S MONDAY! I really hope you will get lively and ready to conquer the week after hearing today's Countdown tune. The Andrews Sisters were hot, hot, hot in the forties. When they recorded their 1941 hit Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy it started a career that eventually led to the sale of over 80 million records. During the war years they entertained the Allied Troops extensively in Africa and Italy. Their vocal harmonies influenced many great artists from Mel Torme to The Beach Boys. You can hear their influence today as well. Any time you hear three-part harmony singing, you must give the Andrews Sisters credit for being the first to sing those creative vocal arrangements.
So today, you will hear a great cover version of Last Christmas by Post Modern Jukebox singers Sara Niemietz, Cristina Gatti and Arian Savalas with tap dancer Melinda Sullivan. No. 20 on the 2021 Christmas Countdown. This tune really kicks - Enjoy.
And to show the innovative singing by this trio from the forties, I have included a BONUS TRACK entitled THE ANDREWS SISTERS AT THE HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN. It's not a Christmas song but you will get an idea of the how this amazing group sang back in the day.
And, because it's Monday, I decided to add another Bonus Track with Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters singing a great Christmas Classic with a very cool video - Mele Kali Kimaka.
So, take a listen and get going. I know you still have Christmas Shopping to do. Time's running out.
First - a personal note. I grew up singing gospel music. At the age of twelve, my father called a family meeting and announced that we were going to form a gospel quartet and sing in church or wherever we were invited. It was the classic - Daddy sang bass - Momma sang tenor. My brother was the lead and I sang baritone (I later became a tenor). So, I have sung gospel music almost my entire life. My dad would drag us to gospel sings all over the south when I was a kid. Gospel music became part of my DNA and I still love singing and hearing great gospel music today.
Bill Gaither, along with his wife Gloria, became the driving force behind Southern Gospel Music thriving well beyond its height of popularity in the fifties & sixties. I grew up listening to the greats like Jake Hess, Hovie Lister, J,D. Sumner, The Statesman Quartet and other icons of this genre of music. In the early 1980's The Gaither Vocal Band was formed.
Since that time the GVB has had some twenty-one different singers. Some of the greatest high tenors such as Larnelle Harris, David Phelps Guy Penrod, Michael English and many others have been in and out of the quartet over the years. Winner of two Grammys and twenty DOVE Awards, this talented group of singers has traveled the world proclaiming the joy of the good news through gospel music.
Today, I have included two videos showing the amazing vocal skills of this group. First, please enjoy MARY WAS THE FIRST ONE TO CARRY THE GOSPEL - NO. 21 ON THE 2021 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN.
And for a Bonus Video, listen to the amazing acapella singing as they perform THE CAROL MEDLEY.
I hope you enjoy today's presentation of this great gospel music proclaiming the birth of Christ.
founded in 1925 in St. Louis, have been performing as a precision dance company at Radio City Music Hall since 1932. Their most renown show is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. i have told many people - seeing The Rockettes in Radio City Music Hall at Christmas should be on every person's Bucket List. They are truly amazing to watch, listen and enjoy this incredible group of dancers perform. Over three thousand women have performed with this amazing dance institution since 1933. One of my observations - When we saw them perform at Radio City in December of 2014 - How in the world do they find that many women the same size and height that can dance? But that's another post for another day.
The Rockettes must be seen live to truly appreciate the precise dancing they perform. The dancers that perform are one of two teams with thirty-six women in each team and four standbys. They perform eight different dance numbers in each show.
Please enjoy The Rockettes performing some serious dancing, with some of the most precise footwork by an amazing team of thirty-six women dancers - No. 22 on THE 2021 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN.
And a Bonus Video for today. The Rockettes as Toy Soldiers. Amazing - Enjoy.
Just makes you feel like dancing - gotta dance the night away!
As the lead singer for twenty years fronting MATCHBOX TWENTY,Ron Thomas established himself as a great composer and lead singer. Today's tune and video show him taking on Christmas in a very powerful tune. In addition to his time with Matchbox 20, as a solo artist and in collaboration with many big-time artists such as Mick Jagger, Daughtry, Travis Tritt and Santana, for which he won three Grammy Awards for co-writing and singing on the song "Smooth". Today's tune gets us started on a nice melody about the joy and simplicity of Christmas in a small town. The images and the music remind us of the season of peace and harmony with family and friends.
So, please enjoy today's contemporary tune celebrating the special feeling for Christmas. NO. 23 on the 2021 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN - SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS. Get up and dance a little.
MERRY CHRISTMAS. Hope this tune gets you going today.
The innovative Christian Rock/Pop band for KING & COUNTRY has redefined popular gospel music with a unique combination of power and precision. The two brothers, Joel and Luke, were born in Australia and immigrated to the US, settling in Nashville as kids.
This most uncommon band won their first Grammy in 2014 with the release of the album Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. The tune on today's post, The Little Drummer Boy, was first recorded in 1951 by The Trap Family Singers. Today's interpretation was released in 2019-2020. for KING & COUNTRY completely reinvented this holiday classic producing a powerful driving song that completely redefines this Christmas Standard.
So please enjoy this powerful and explosive tune by this multiple Grammy winning Christian Band. The first video is a passionate presentation of this classic tune about honoring the Christ child. Please enjoy for KING & COUNTRY performing The Little Drummer Boy - No. 24 on The 2021 Christmas Countdown.
The second video is a live performance of this powerful retake on The Little Drummer Boy.
I hope this tune will bring you pleasure and joy for this season.
The first post for the 2021 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN needs a little bit of history. Today's music, with an amazing video, is produced by Coca Cola, the best-selling soft drink in the world. Coke has become known, over the years, for creating great and relevant commercials that reach far beyond their desire to sell more product. The famous soft drink was invented May 8, 1886. As COKE began to grow in popularity its stock began to grow in value.
In the 1920's and 1930's, a banker named Pat Munroe, in the small town of Quincy , Florida about 20 miles from Tallahassee, Florida, began to encourage his customers to buy stock in Coca Cola. And many customers did exactly that. One $40 share of coke purchased in 1919 is worth an estimated $6.4 million today. As a result, Quincy became the single richest town per capita in the United States with at least 67 millionaires who were dubbed "Coca-Cola Millionaires". It's still a small town, but, in 1996 the collective wealth of residents was $375 milliion.
So, the greatest selling soft drink company in the world produced the video you can enjoy today. It's simply called - COCA COLA CHRISTMAS COMMERCIAL 2020. It captures, in an invigorating video, the importance of this great holiday season and the love that we share with family and friends. If you can watch today's video without a tear being shed, well, that's on you.
Enjoy NO. 25 on the 2021 CHRISTMAS CONUNTDOWN - COCA COLA CHRISTMAS.
I hope you got all the deals you were looking for on Black Friday. And I hope you and yours have a great season. Merry Christmas. More great music and videos are coming.
OK - First of all. Apologies are due. I have been busy, busy, busy with a lot of stuff. Plus, the whole COVID thing. So - I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I have not posted anything in a very long time. And I know you hang on every word I write (LOL), so forgive me and please read on.
The love of my life and I are both vaccinated and we're getting our booster shots right after Thanksgiving. However, my kids, my niece, my nephews and most of their friends have not. It's a generational thing. When we Boomers grew up in the fifties, sixties and seventies we got vaccines for everything. But the Gen Xers, the Millennials and the Gen Zers are slowly taking over and looking at us "old" people like we are crazy getting vaccinated. I think that is truly bizarre, but, as they say, Life Goes On.
However, I am always bragging on how smart my kids are. I have had numerous discussions with many "youngsters" from age 18 to 50 and it is a waste of breath. Maybe they know something we don't. I know that they are much more techno savvy than those of us who grew up with TV as the most enlightening technology of the ages.
Today is my first post since last Christmas as I prepare for the ninth edition of THE TOP 25 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN FOR 2021. So, in one week I will begin the 2021 Countdown. I have searched everywhere to find some great new Christmas tunes. Plus, there will be some always great tunes that I just can't get enough of.
Today - a preliminary post as we approach December. Please enjoy one of the hottest comedians performing today on holiday traditions - The one and only, very funny Jim Gaffigandoing HOLIDAY TRADITIONS 1.
So - Happy Thanksgiving. Just eat, laugh and love friends and family. I hope today's post and the coming Christmas Countdown will make your holidays better.
