Saturday, December 13, 2025

Super Saturday, Armed Forces Version 7

We're falling into a routine here on these records. Couple of country artists on one side, big name pop artist on the flip. Well, I say pop. Popular music was all over the place in 1973. I don't think it would have been weird to hear Ray Conniff alongside The Doors or a solo track from one of The Beatles on the radio at the time. The market wasn't as segmented as it would become. Probably a lot fewer stations so everything had to share a limited space. These days there are more stations (or channels these days) than you can shake a stick at, so everything can be fitted into it's own lane and Metallica will never have to rub elbows with Lady Gaga. Well, there are always awards shows...  Anyhow, the share of the moment is An Old Fashioned Christmas (US Air Force Recruiting Service Directorate Of Advertising, No Number, Stereo, 1973). When did I first share this? 2007, look like. That's a long time ago, the thrid year of this blog.

1. Sonny James And Connie Smith With The Jordanaires-An Old Fashioned Christmas: Christmas In My Hometown; My Christmas Dream; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks; Silver Bells; A Chitmas Lullaby/Silent Night; The Star Still Shines; White Christmas
2. Ray Conniff, His Orchestra And Chorus With Roger Carroll-An Old Fashioned Christmas: Here We Come A'Caroling; Here Comes Santa Claus; Deck The Halls; The Real Meaning Of Christmas; It Came Upon The Midnight Clear; The Christmas Song; Frosty The Snowman; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town; O Come All Ye Faithful/We Wish You A Merry Christmas

MEGA

Posted by Ernie at 12/13/2025 02:00:00 PM

14 comments:

  1. BusterSaturday, December 13, 2025 4:12:00 PM

    This is a good one. Did they issue many of these without Air Force musicians?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErnieSaturday, December 13, 2025 5:16:00 PM

      I don't think so. I think the point was usually to highlight one of the bands in the actual service branch, but they got a way from that for a little bit when they tried to bring in these celebrities.

      Delete
  2. JustaJeepGuySunday, December 14, 2025 12:02:00 AM

    This is Christmas 1973? I was in California that year/ Where I was, one of the radio stations claimed they were going to play a period of "all Christmas music". I listened to the entire 4 hours and never heard a single song that I recognized as Christmas music. Pretty disappointing, lemme tell ya.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErnieSunday, December 14, 2025 8:49:00 AM

      Well, I guess you never know... :)

      Delete
    2. JustaJeepGuySunday, December 14, 2025 1:30:00 PM

      The radio station was out of San Francisco, so there's that...

      Delete
  3. musicman1979Monday, December 15, 2025 4:23:00 PM

    Looks like all of the Conniff sides were taken from his three Columbia Christmas albums.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErnieMonday, December 15, 2025 4:26:00 PM

      Yeah, they're kind of dropped in there while Ray and Roger pretend they're in the room with the group singing live. Same way on the Johnny Mathis record. :(

      Delete
  4. BryanSaturday, February 21, 2026 12:50:00 PM

    Ernie, I only know Sonny James from his hit "Young Love", so this was a nice surprise.
    I have run across Connie Smith's name on the internet, so she too was an interesting find.
    Well worth listening to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErnieSunday, February 22, 2026 9:44:00 AM

      There was a Connie Smith Christmas album at some point after this radio show, but it was all new recordings. I even shared it at the blog here briefly, but I don't think I've ever revisited it because I got reissued.

      https://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2012/12/shifting-gears.html

      Delete
  5. BryanSunday, February 22, 2026 4:50:00 AM

    Ray Conniff and the Ray Conniff Singers are my very favorite Easy Listening/AC artists to not only listen to, but to sing along with.
    Even though Ray and Roger are pulling the santa hat over our eyes, it still was a fabulous listen. Rays tidbits were a nice addition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErnieSunday, February 22, 2026 9:46:00 AM

      But do you have his 1999 Brazil-Only Christmas CD? Hard to find this one, I don't even have a copy.

      https://www.rayconniff.info/discography/original/s-Christmas

      Delete
    2. BryanSunday, February 22, 2026 12:15:00 PM

      Hi Ernie, no I do not. I thought I have heard of it though.
      I checked Amazon.de and iTunes.de, but it was not available.
      So, I grabbed it off YouTube.
      It sounds very good good, almost as good as the original versions.
      I am glad at least 2 new songs were included.
      Thanks for reminding me this exists.

      Delete
    3. BryanSunday, February 22, 2026 1:09:00 PM

      I have added it to my A Conniff, Faith, and Kostelanetz Christmas playlist. It contains all of their respective Christmas albums that I am aware of. 114 tracks.
      4 for Conniff, and 3 each for Faith and Kostelanetz. If only they had released at least 1 ore, no 2 more, no ? more.

      Delete
    4. ErnieSunday, February 22, 2026 4:15:00 PM

      Can't help you there, but there's a Norman Luboff that no one knows about...

      https://ernienotbert.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-luboff-reborn.html

      Delete

All comments are greatly appreciated, but replies aren't guaranteed...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)