Christmas At The Apollo

When I first spotted this record, I was sure it said Christmas At The Apollo, and I thought to myself, Wow! This is going to be great.  Then I looked again and realized my mistake, but I was still pretty excited.  It was something I'd never seen before and looked like exactly the sort of thing I could share out at Christmas.  So here it is.  The Apollo Club appears to be a group of male singers, some sort of amateur singing society, but one with great talent.  There may be Apollo Clubs in a number of cites, but this particular one appears to hail from Minneapolis according to the liner notes.  I couldn't find hide nor hair of this record on the internet, or at least nothing that told me anything I didn't already know from owning the LP.  Is it rare?  Probably.  Is it valuable?  No, not really.  It's just a small slice of Christmas past that some of you will enjoy and others will pass by.  If it looks like something you're interested in, then please download Christmas With The Internationally Famous Apollo Club (Soma MG 1216, Mono).  The cover photo was taken at the premier of The Seven Wonders Of The World in Chicago in 1956, so the record probably came out in 1957 or 1958.  Just a guess...

1. Shepherds, Awake
2. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
3. Mary Had A Baby
4. Carol Of The Bells
5. Silent Night
6. The Innkeeper's Carol
7. As It Fell Upon The Night
8. O Bone Jesu
9. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
10. Luther's Cradle Hymn
11. Deck The Halls

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I shared another LP on this label some years ago, but here's a link to the 2010 reshare where the download should still be good.

2007 Redux, Part 4

And, finally, the last part of my 2007 revisit to Christmas in July.  This covers the final quarter of the month, and includes day 32.  I usually go a day or two over because 31 days just can't handle that much Christmas!  On to 2008 soon...

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A Douglas Two-fer

I got a request to repost my old Mike Douglas shares, so here they are.  The first one, shown above, dates to 1967, but I first shared it in 2006 (in August, no less), right after he passed away.  Then I found the second one, below, from 1979, much later than the first one, but I shared it out the following year, in 2007.  Neither of them are something you see very often, so I'm happy to bring them back for you.

Mike Douglas-My Kind Of Christmas (Epic BN 26322, Stereo, 1967).

1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
2. The First Noel
3. Do You Hear What I Hear?
4. O Holy Night
5. (The Story Of) The First Christmas Carol
6. White Christmas
7. Silent Night, Holy Night
8. Silver Bells
9. Ave Maria
10. Touch Hands On Christmas Morning

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The Mike Douglas Christmas Album (Word WSB-8815, Stereo, 1979).

1. Oh Holy Night
2. One Small Child
3. Do You Hear What I Hear?
4. What Child Is This?
5. Christmas Song
6. It's O.K. To Be A Kid At Christmas
7. Christmas Is Love
8. Thanks To You At Christmas
9. Special Delivery
10. Happy Birthday, Christmas

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2007 Redux, Part 3

What was I about to post?  Oh, yeah, today's link to old Christmas in July shares.  I hope you guys are enjoying these.  Today is the third part of 2007, should be days 17 through 24.  Lot's of good tunes in here.

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Hawaii Via Belgium

What's that? You want some Hawaiian Christmas music? But you want it to come from a bunch of Belgian studio musicians?  Not a problem.  I recorded this last year, but never shared it out for whatever reason, but I'm giving it to you this year because I'm tired tonight and don't want to work on something new.  This has seen it's fair share of shares on the various sharity blogs out there, but this is my rip, and if you don't already have it, I think you'll enjoy it.  This is The Waikikis-Merry Christmas In Hawaii (Kapp KS-3444, Stereo, 1965).  Mele Kalikimaka!

01. White Christmas
02. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
03. Silver Bells
04. Snow In Hawaii
05. O Tannenbaum
06. Sleigh Ride
07. The Little Drummer Boy
08. The Christmas Song
09. Winter Wonderland
10. Waikiki Christmas
11. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
12. Silent Night

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If you want better Hawaiian Christmas music, you're going to have to pay for it.  I used to share out a great one, but it's now something you can legally download.

A Couple Of Pointers

In case some of you are here looking for random Christmas things to download, allow me to point you towards a couple of shares that are somewhat hard to find.  I shared out two red records on Christmas And A Half this past year, that's also known as Ernie's birthday, or June 25th if you prefer.  You can find those two records here and here.  Nothing too exciting, but a couple more for the collection you're building.  One of them is by an unknown artist, so if you can put a name to the music, I'd be very appreciative.

2007 Redux, Part 2

And here's the second collection of stuff from Christmas In July 2007, days 9 through 16 if memory serves.  Lots and lots of interesting stuff in these downloads, I hope you're taking advantage of them while the gettin's good.

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Stereo Mummers

One of the more popular, or at least one of the more talked about shares from last year was Happy Holiday With The "Best Of The Mummers", but unfortunately, the copy I had was in mono.  So I got a little excited when I saw a copy of this LP on a dealers list earlier this year, hoping it was a stereo copy.  And sure enough, it was!  (The cover was a little rough, with some wear and some tape across the back, but it sounds good.  And I wasn't going to even try to get that original price code sticker off of there.  If I had more time and more proficiency in image editing, I could probably replace that with a chunk of the mono cover, but I'm tired and lazy.)  Now I get to share this with you, and I'm officially proclaiming it the happiest Christmas music I'm going to share all season.  Don't believe me?  Download it and listen.  If you don't agree, I'll give you your money back!  This is Happy Holiday With The "Best Of The Mummers" (Sure SS-Vol. 13, Stereo, 1963).  Oh, I was also able to put the date of 1963 on it based on some ads I found online, either in the excellent Google index of Billboard or something similar they've done with other trade papers and newspapers.  It's amazing the information that's out there if you look.

1. Quaker City String Band-Happy Holiday And White Christmas
2. Quaker City String Band-Jingle Bells
3. Greater Kensington String Band-Silver Bells
4. Greater Kensington String Band-Winter Wonderland
5. Polish-American String Band-Christmas Bells
6. Polish-American String Band-Mistletoe Polka
7. Greater Kensington String Band-I'll Be Home For Christmas
8. Greater Kensington String Band-Silent Night
9. Polish-American String Band-Christmas Time
10. Polish-American String Band-Jingle Bells Polka
11. Quaker City String Band-Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
12. Polish-American String Band-Happy New Year To You
13. Aqua String Band-Golden Slippers and Four Leaf Clover
14. Aqua String Band-Auld Lang Syne

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Happy Holidays From ...

For the mix-tapers out there, here's another collection of celebrity IDs from the late Eighties.  Some of these are repeats from the one I shared last year, but not many.  Most of these are unique to this record, and a couple of them are actually interesting.  Drop these at random spots on your compilation or radio show, and see how many people think you've actually got celebrity guests!  This is Holiday Greetings From The Epic, Portrait And CBS Associated Families (Epic Portrait Associated/CBS EAS 2864, Stereo, 1987).  They also make nice things to drop at random on people's iPods.  If only there was a way to beam them wirelessly across the room and add them to people's playlists...

01: Greg Allman
02: Ana
03: Big Trouble
04: Bill Carter
05: Robin Zander of Cheap Trick
06: Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick
07: Cherrelle #1
08: Cherrelle #2
09: Angela Clemmons
10: Charlie Daniels
11: Mary Davis
12: Gloria Estefan And Miami Sound Machine
13: Fabulous Thunderbirds
14: David Hallyday
15: Hiroshima
16: Insiders #1
17: Insiders #2
18: Tuesday Knight
19: Krystol
20: Lion
21: Aimee Mann of 'Til Tuesday
22: Teena Marie #1
23: Teena Marie #2
24: Kathy Mathis
25: Ozzy Osbourne #1
26: Ozzy Osbourne #2
27: Ozzy Osbourne #3
28: Quiet Riot #1
29: Quiet Riot #2
30: The Radiators
31: REO Speedwagon
32: S.O.S. Band #1
33: S.O.S. Band #2
34: Dan Siegel
35: Charlie Singleton
36: Survivor
37: Robert Tepper
38: Wa Wa Nee #1
39: Wa Wa Nee #2
40: Weird Al Yankovic #1
41: Weird Al Yankovic #2
42: Weird Al Yankovic #3
43: Weird Al Yankovic #4
44: Weird Al Yankovic #5
45: Pia Zadora

Good grief, that's a long list.  I hope you appreciate this.  I'm not even sure who some of these people are.

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2007 Redux, Part 1

Now that I'm done sharing out all the old Christmas in July things from 2006, I guess I can move on to 2007.  Here's the first batch of those, including days 1-8.  Don't say I never gave you anything.

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New John

Lucky for me, someone requested a re-share of my old John McCarthy Christmas record. That jogged my memory about this record and makes the perfect pairing.  Look close at the credits on this record from Columbia and you'll see a credit to John McCarthy conducting The Regency Choir.  Sweet, eh?  I'm not going to spoil the moment by blathering on and on, so if you want to listen to The Regency Choir-John McCarthy, Conductor-Three Wise Men (Columbia CS 9382, Stereo, 1966), please be my guest.

1. The Bells Of Christmas
2. Jesus Garcia
3. Silent Night
4. Pat-A-Pat-A-Pan
5. The Bells Of Bethlehem
6. Do You Hear What I Hear?
7. Three Wise Men, Wise Men Three
8. Heavenly Night
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. O Bambino (One Cold And Blessed Morning)
11. O Come, All Ye Faithful

Zippyshare

I really hate my LP covers this year. The big scanner/copier at work is getting older and older, and it's doing a worse and worse job. All those horizontal streaks you see in my cover scans aren't really there, those are artifacts from the scanning process. And I don't really have time to breath this year, much less spend a lot of time in PhotoShop (actually, I'm trying to learn Gimp this year...) fixing things.  Anybody want to contribute a large flatbed scanner to the cause?  I tried to do these on a little 8.5 x 11" home unit, and it just wouldn't cut it.  The glass was too far recessed into the plastic housing, pushing the sleeves flat against the glass creased everything up something awful.  Maybe next year I will be able to get something nice, unless, of course, someone has one they want to let go cheap. ;)

Old John

I had a request to share out the record you see below.  Not the one you see above, though.  But there wouldn't be the one below without the one above, so you're getting both.  The record up top is The John McCarthy Chorale-Merry Christmas Sing Along (RCA Victor LPM-2476, Mono, 1962, "An RCA Victor Record Club Exclusive") and I first shared it out back in 2006. The nicest thing I could say about it was that it had a great cover.  It was also in mono, and I eventually found a re-released version of the music in Stereo, but it was in the cover you see below, resequenced and retitled The John McCarthy Chorale-The Greatest Songs of Christmas (RCA Music Service R114285, Stereo, 1973).  Both issues were made for RCA's record club but in different decades.  I've since found a stereo copy in that original cover, so they do exist.  But anyhow, you can see where I'm going with this.  Someone asked for it, and I'm throwing it back up here.  Get the one you want, mono or stereo.

1. Joy To The World
2. Silent Night
3. I Saw Three Ships
4. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
5. Twelve Days Of Christmas
6. Wassail Song
7. Hark! The Heral Angels
8. Ding Dong (Merrily On High)
9. Oh Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
10. Angels From The Realms
11. We Three Kings Of Orient Are
12. The First Noel
13. Pat-A-Pan
14. Good King Wenceslas
15. Jingle Bells

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MediaFire-Stereo

PS-I liked that original cover so much, I stole it for one of my comps back in the day.

2006 Redux, Part 4

The fourth and final collection of songs originally shared out during Christmas in July 2006, this covers days 26-31, I believe.  I don't think there was a bonus day in 2006, but maybe.  Sometimes it just doesn't all fit into one month.  Anyhow, this is the end of 2006.  Stay tuned for shares from 2007 soon.

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60 Blasts From The Past

Here is a new remaster of an old favorite.  Now, if I can just get the attribution right.  The primary performer here is Les Djinns Singers, but every third track is by The Christmas Bell Ringers.  The title of the album is 60 French Girls-Joyeaux Noël.  There is no group called 60 French Girls, at least that's the way I understand it.  I've also been told several times over the years of sharing this that there is no such word as joyeaux in any language, much less French, so that must have been made up by the fine folks at ABC-Paramount when they made this LP.  I've been sharing this record for years (although for many years the download was titled 60 Franch Girls), and it's always been a popular download.  So this year I decided to re-record it with some of the experience I've gained over the years and I think it sounds better than ever.  But you should download it and be the judge, jury and executioner.  Well, I hope execution won't be necessary, but you never know.  This is 60 French Girls-Joyeaux Noël by Les Djinns Singers and The Christmas Bell Ringers (ABC-Paramount ABCS-397, Stereo, 1961).

01. Les Djinns Singers-Minuit, Chretriens (O, Holy Night)
02. Les Djinns Singers-Nuit Des Nuit (Silent Night)
03. Christmas Bell Ringers-Good King Wenceslas
04. Les Djinns Singers-Il Est Ne Divin Enfant (He Is Born A Divine Child)
05. Les Djinns Singers-Noël 'Trois Anges Sont Venus Ce Soir' (Christmas 'Three Angels We've Seen This Night')
06. Christmas Bell Ringers-Hark, The Herald Angels Sing
07. Les Djinns Singers-Non Beau Sapin (O Tannenbaum)
08. Les Djinns Singers-Pour Noël (For Christmas)
09. Christmas Bell Ringers-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10. Les Djinns Singers-Noël, C'est L'Amour (Christmas, This Is Love)
11. Les Djinns Singers-Noël Blanc (White Christmas)
12. Christmas Bell Ringers-O, Come All Ye Faithful

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Going back and reading my original post of this, I guess I didn't like it. Maybe it's the new transfer, or just the passage of time, but I like it a lot more now. Or perhaps the things that you knew from when you were younger just get better with age. Like broccoli.  Oh, and for what it's worth, I found a single released from this LP of Pour Noël (For Christmas) & Minuit, Chretriens (O, Holy Night).  It's the exact same music, only it was in mono.  No picture sleeve, even.  So I'm not gonna bother throwing it up here.

More Not Elvis

Those of you with memories that go back more than a week might remember that I opened up the Christmas sharity season with an LP from Elvis Jr. Well, now I'm back with a couple more tracks that have a tenuous connection to The King of Rock 'N Roll.  Little Michelle Cody seems to have taken the death of Elvis pretty hard back in 1977.  She decided to record a little tribute song to him, or at least somebody decided to have Michelle sing a tribute song.  No idea who that was, and I've also got no idea who got her to sing it twice!  The version above on the Jimbo label (Jimbo 892, Stereo) sounds to me like it was recorded first, mainly because Michelle sounds like she's younger on this one.  The version below, on the Safari label (Safari SA 601, Stereo, 1978), is dated 1978, so if the one above came out first, it must have been rush released right after Elvis passed away in 1977.  The Safari version even sported a Christmas themed B-side, All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy.  I'm not claiming that any of these songs are actually any good, but you know you need more Elvis-themed songs in your Christmas collection.  I hunted around the web a bit and found some links to the Safari version of Merry Christmas Elvis, but the Jimbo version seems to be relatively unknown.  I like sharing stuff like that.

1. Michele Cody-Merry Christmas Elvis (Jimbo Version)
1. Michele Cody-Merry Christmas Elvis (Safari Version)
2. Michele Cody-All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy

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For those of you who care about such things, I found both of these records at the same time at a Goodwill store right near my house. I thought they were different pressings of the same song until I looked a little closer and saw different credits on them. You've got to pay attention to such things if you want to get ahead in this business. And one of the sleeves was autographed, though I've got no idea if it's legit or not. Kathy really loved Michele when she was younger, but no so much because she later gave these records to Goodwill. Oh, well.

2006 Redux, Part 3

Time for the third part of my 2006 Christmas in July reposts.  As the month wears on, I usually share out more music per day, because I have a better idea of how many songs I have and what I'm going to be able to get recorded.  I don't usually have very much done ahead of time, I'm a horrible procrastinator, but as the middle of the month comes and goes, I pick up steam a little bit and share out more.  So this third set is only a few days, something like 21-25 or 26, but it's almost as big as some of the earlier two packages.  I didn't want you to think you were getting less than your money's worth.  Which reminds me, I haven't received payment from most of you.  Every once in a while, click that advertisement on the right side of the screen.  Every time someone does that, Google puts a few cents in my pocket.  If enough of you do that, I get a little record money.  It takes forever, but it's a nice little present once in a while.  But enough about that, here's the download.

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