20-Le Petit Renne Au Nez Rouge

Time for another volume of Christmas music from 45 produced in and for our neighbor to the north, Canada! Hopefully you enjoyed the first installment of music from closer to the North Pole because this is more of the same. I think it's great stuff that really has a Christmas feel to it even if you don't speak the language. Not that it's all French, there's plenty of English here, too, but some of those French-Canadian songs are really cool. Plenty of surprises in here, so be sure to give it a listen ASAP. Enjoy!

1. Bill D'Entremont-What A Night
2. Bobby Prochaska-The Huron Carol
3. Charles Aznavour-Un Enfant De Toi Pour Noel
4. Dinah Christie With Ozzie Williams Music-Christmas Fairyland
5. Francine Raynor-Christmas Is The Time
6. Juliette With The Jimmy Dale Swingers And Orchestra-Christmas Is A Day Of Miracles
7. Les Baronets-Arr. Et Orch. Jean-Guy Capados-Vive Le Temps Des Fetes
8. Les Classels-Jolies Clochettes
9. Marc Gélinas-Arr. et Orch.: Jean Larose-A Noel Tu Reviendras
10. Marion Williams-Silent Night
11. Michel Pagliaro-Saint Nicolas
12. Nestor-Arr. et Orch.: Roger Pilon-Les Enfants d'Chomeurs
13. Paolo Noel, Vanessa et Diane-Noel Des Tout Petits
14. Paul Brunelle et Ses Troubadours du Far-West-C'est Noël Dans Notre Village
15. Pierre, Jean Et Yves Demontigny-Le Petit Train Bleu
16. Rene Simard-Dir. Mus.: Jacques Crevier-Triste Noel
17. Renee Martel-As-Tu Vu Le Pere Noel
18. Robert Charlebois-Arrangements et Direction Musicale Pierre F. Brault-Marie Noel
19. Sacha Distel-Orchestre Dir.: Jacques Denjean-Ding, Ding, Dong (Jingle Bells)
20. The Rovers-Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
21. Ti-Blanc Richard Et Ses Joyeux Copains Orchestre-Le Reel Des Carillons
22. Karine Lecault-Le Petit Renne Au Nez Rouge
23. Brenden Gillam Featuring Wendell Ferguson On Guitar-Merry Christmas Merry Christmas-Instrumental
24. Aglae-Arr. et Orch. Georges Tremblay-Seule A Noel
25. Anne Renee-Arr. & Orch: Pierre Nolés-Noel Blanc
26. Bob Bradburn-Count Your Blessings
27. Danny Ducharme-Narration By Pat Morgan-Christmas Boy
28. Dany Aube-Un Ange Viendra
29. Dennis Day With The Al Harris Quintette And The Laurie Bower Singers-I'll Be Home For Christmas
30. Evelyne John-Arr, Mus. Dir.: Jacques Laflèche-La Discotheque Du Pere Noel
31. Ginette Reno-Arrangements et Direction Musicale: Léon Bernier-Les Enfants Oublies
32. Jen Roger-Orchestre Dirigé Par Michel Brouillette-Bethleem, Je Crois En Toi
33. Les Bel Canto-Nous Marcherons Dans La Neige
34. Les Djinns Sous La Direction De Paul Bonneau At Le Grand Orchestre De Paris-Pour Noël
35. Levis Bouliane-Au Pres Du Feu
36. Lucien Jeunesse Avec Jack Ledru Et Son Ensemble-Chanson De Saint Nicolas
37. Marcel Martel et Ses Amis de L'Ouest-Par La Cheminée
38. Ozzie Williams Music-Dance Of The Panda Bear
39. Patrick Stafford-Ave Maria
40. Pierret Beauchamp-Acc: Léo Du Plessis à l'Orgue Conn-J'ai Vu Maman (Embrasser l'Père Noël)
41. The Bells-Auld Lang Syne (Disco Version)
42. Wilf Carter And The Calgary Stampeders-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
43. Fernand Gignac-Arr. et Orch. Roger Pilon-Les Etoiles Sourient Pour Noel
44. Jean-Claude Darnel Chante Avec Les Enfants-Le Bonhomme De Neige
45. Jack Scott-Christmas Greetings

MEGA

 

RIP Mitchell

I don't normally post things here on the blog that I didn't record myself, but I'll make a special exception this morning for a special person that we lost early this year. Many of you Christmas music enthusiasts have seen the movie Jingle Bell Rocks! It's all about those of us who enjoy the Christmas music and the hunt for it, as well as the artists who make the music of the season. Well, Mitchell Kezin was the guy who made the movie and featured in most of it. You remember him as the guy who got to Ameoba Records at closing time and finds that the Christmas section during the holidays is more than you can see in just a few minutes. It reminded me of the first time I visited Ameoba Hollywood. It was January, several weeks after Christmas, but they still had a small Christmas section out that I had to spend an hour or so digging through. It's a big dream of mine to make it to any one of the Ameoba stores during the holiday season, but it would be a very expensive trip for sure. I once made it to Manhattan a few weeks before Christmas, and I spent days traipsing through record stores buying whatever looked interesting that I could lay my hands on. Mitchell happened to be in NYC that same weekend and we tried to get together but it never worked out. He was on the other end of the island and I think he was waiting for a package to be delivered that had the one single he needed to finish his annual MerryMix. I remember getting very sick for the second half of the weekend, so that nixed the rest of the weekend to meet up. He and I chatted occasionally and exchanged notes about music. I contributed some minor things to his mixes. One of my great regrets was not taking the time to film a short cameo he asked his friends for to make a short bit in the movie about the vast network of Christmas collectors he knew. I had just started going out with my new girlfriend at the time, and couldn't make the time to film anything. So when people tell me about that movie, I get to tell them that I was almost in it, but wasn't. Anyhow, that's a long winded introduction to this, a tribute mix that was put together by my friend, The King of Jing-A-Ling, in honor of Mitchell. Each track was contributed by someone who had some connection to Mitchell and his movie. My contribution is the very last song, a cover of a track written by Chris Dedrick, an artist who's music featured in the movie even though it's almost unknown to people outside of our little Christmas music clique. Mitchell's annual Christmas mix was frequently finished late at night on Christmas Eve and was only available in WAV format via a giant download. He always promised to make a CD version or a smaller download of it in the next few days after Christmas, but I don't think it ever happened. He was always on to the next thing, whether it was a documentary about Bob Dorough he was actively filming prior to his untimely death or a project about Urbie Green he was thinking about. He also mentioned a follow-up to Jingle Bell Rocks! a time or two, but now that's never going to happen. It's a shame because that movie really helped to make a lot of people like me feel good about what we do. Not that I feel bad, but it starts a lot of conversations in record stores when I walk up to the counter with a giant stack of Christmas records and they start to tell me about this movie I should see...  Here's a link to the download, give it a listen and share some memories of Mitchell or his movie in the comments if you like.

MEGA

19-Santa's Discotheque

So what's this share all about? Take a look at the tracklist and I think you'll figure it out pretty quick. Polka, waltz, cha-cha, mambo, disco, hustle, boogie, even some square dancing, twisting and a hootenanny or two. That's right, it's all about dancing your way into the season no matter what your favorite moves might be. This one is a wild ride between styles but I think it's a very successful collection of stuff. There are plenty of other songs for dancing spread out over all the shares this season, so if you feel like getting down after this collection has played, you wouldn't have to work too hard to put together a part two. In fact, I hope you do. But first, enjoy this one!

1. Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones-Dashing Sleighs Polka
2. Walunas "Jolly" Band-Let's All Dance Around The Christmas Tree
3. Larry Green And His Orchestra-Vocal Refrain By Ray Dorey And Quartette-Our Christmas Waltz
4. Bill Darnel And The Smith Brothers With Sid Bass And His Orchestra-We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo
5. Evelyne John-Arr, Mus. Dir.: Jacques Laflèche-Santa's Discotheque
6. Father Guido Sarducci-I Won't Be Twisting This Christmas-Stereo
7. Frank Yankovic-Old Fashioned Christmas Polka
8. Gene & Jerry-Hootenanny Christmas
9. Gordon MacRae With Paul Weston And His Orchestra-Merry Christmas Waltz
10. Hernando Hopkins And Orchestra-Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Cha Cha
11. Hugo Winterhalter And His Orchestra-The Christmas Song Cha Cha (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
12. Jimmy Boyd With Mitch Miller & His Orchestra-I Saw Mommy Do The Mambo (With You Know Who)
13. Joe Loco Quintet-Winter Wonderland
14. Kevin Sellew-Santa Claus Is Coming-Cued
15. Martha Reeves Of Martha & The Vandellas-Season's Greetings
16. Memphis Sounds Orchestra-Sleigh Ride
17. Michael George And The Stageband-Rudolph's Wild Ride (Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer)
18. Mike Sikorsky-Music By The Bradsmen-Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
19. Milt Patrick-Merry Twistmas
20. Pearl Bailey-Jingle Bells Cha Cha Cha
21. Raindolls-Disco Santa Claus
22. Santa's Disco Band-Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Disco
23. Santo & Johnny With Hutch Davie Orchestra-Twistin' Bells
24. Sky-Noel Collection
25. Tex Fletcher And Kit Stewart With The Hootenanny Orchestra-Merry Christmas Polka
26. The Kent Harian Orchestra And Chorus-Christmas Cha-Cha Choo Choo Train
27. The Weather Girls-Dear Santa (Bring Me A Man This Christmas) Part 1
28. Walter Murphy Orchestra-Disco Bells
29. Wayne Newton-Jingle Bell Hustle
30. 20 Accordionists From The Accordiana-Happy Day Polka
31. Clifton Ridgewood-Little Drummer Boy-Disco Version
32. Dancer, Prancer And Nervous-The Singing Reindeer-Dancer's Waltz
33. Danny Robinson, Caller-Deck The Halls
34. Frank Petty Trio-Mike Di Napoli, Piano-Jingle Bells--Mambo
35. Hank Snow, The Singing Ranger And The Rainbow Ranch Boys-The Reindeer Boogie
36. Little Cori-Arranged And Conducted By Marc Fredericks-Picture Of Mommy Twisting With Santa
37. Moonlion-The Little Drummer Boy-Disco Version
38. Orchestral Fever-Good King Wenceslas
39. Paul & Paula-Holiday Hootenanny
40. Richard Maltby And His Orchestra-Jangle Waltz
41. Sing Along With Santa's Pixie Helpers-The Christmas Song Cha Cha Cha
42. Stanley Fritts And The Korn Kobblers-Vocal By Stanley Fritts And Ensemble-Santa Claus Polka
43. The Pinetoppers-Jingle Bell Polka
44. Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians-Vocal By Kenny Gardner-The Merry Christmas Waltz
45. Lawrence Welk And His Champagne Music, Vocal By The Sparklers-The Christmas Waltz

MEGA