There's nothing more exciting to me than finding a Christmas record I haven't seen before. Though much of the time, as soon as you spot it, you have some idea of what it may be. Maybe it's a recording from a high school choir, or a compilation from a grocery store of the same old carols from RCA. But sometimes it turns out to be something different from what you expect, and this is a good example of that. The cover appears to be a still from some sort of Christmas movie, and indeed the fine print on the back tells us that this is the soundtrack to a TV special that I've never seen or heard of. None of the names in the credits generate much in the way of hits on the internet, and I wasn't able to get any results based on the name of the alleged TV special. It's a bit of a generic name, so there may yet be some info out there. Maybe it was a special that never got made? There aren't even individual performer credits for the songs, so the names I put in the tags are my best guesses based on what they sound like. That's except for the tracks credited to Susan Barnes. I was able to find a mention of a single she put out featuring two of the songs here, and it's clearly her voice on others, so I'm fairly comfortable with those attributions. And guess what? Some of her songs are disco! Give it a listen and I think you'll enjoy it! This record turned up at a record store in Orlando just a month or so ago, and it appears to be a Florida production, though the label is from Louisiana. Sometimes you just get lucky! This is
The Magic Of Christmas (Penniwall Records No Number, Stereo, 1979).
1. Christmas Song
2. Up On The House Top
3. Hee Hee Hee Ho Ho Ho
4. Be Glad That You Are Little
5. Christmas Christmas
6. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
7. White Christmas
8. The Magic Of Christmas
9. Christmas Morning
10. Elfie
11. Christmas Time Of Year
12. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
MEGA
Are there other disco Christmas records? There must be. (Not that I want to hear them.)
ReplyDeleteLooks like tracking down the identity of the (presumably local) Christmas special this is associated with is going to be a bit of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI checked IMdb just in case and it looks like their information stops in 1995.
Whatever this comes from must date from the late 1970s. The photo's on the front/back cover definitely suggest a low budget production, possibly even a filmed Christmas play.
You should ask Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History. If anyone would know, she would. And even if she doesn't, she'd probably love to hear about something like this that she's never heard of before. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, folks!
ReplyDeleteBuster-There are plenty of Christmas Disco records, but precious few good ones.
Graham-Yeah, I wish this special had a more distinctive name, it might make searches easier.
Stubby, good idea!
Ernie - Good luck. I looked over Joanna's website and she also collects Christmas reords.
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ReplyDeleteA couple years ago I read and enjoyed Joanna Wilson's book, "The Triple Dog Dare". She had never managed to catch an "A Christmas Story" marathon, so she found a way to make it happen. It's a good read.
Thanks for shout-out guys. This Christmas record is a puzzler for me too. I believe the TV special must have been a local production--I'm unaware of a nationally broadcast TV special by that title in that time frame. However, local Christmas TV specials were plentiful in the 1970s--they still are. I recommend doing some local Orlando newspaper TV listings searches (through the Orlando library with a professional reference librarian or even online through a newspaper database). This might provide more names associated with the TV production and more info to research. I love a good mystery!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep digging, but I can't let that research keep me from my precious Christmas music!
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me, I have another soundtrack record that has some mysterious origins. I need to get busy and post that one. Pretty sure the special in question was not a US presentation.
This looks fun & I love a mysterious TV special, too, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteSomewhere else that might be worth looking into is the 'Lost Media' community, this kind of 'partially found' media is definitely something they'd be interested in.
ReplyDeleteNot familiar with it, but I'll take a look. Thanks for the comment!
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