Tune Tuesday – Happy 50th Anniversary

Today marks the 50th anniversary of (in my humble opinion) the greatest Christmas special of all time. On December 10, 1974 ABC aired The Year Without a Santa Claus for the first time. The plot focused on a fear of every child – Christmas being cancelled and Santa Claus taking the night off.

In 2019, I wrote a piece for The Happy Holidays Blogathon on the special. It goes into much more detail than I will in this blog. It remains one of my most read blogs to date. You can read that piece here:

The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

I don’t think anyone would disagree with me when I say that the characters who truly make this special are The Miser Brothers. The Snow Miser and Heat Miser are instantly recognizable to kids who were raised in the mid-70’s and early 80’s. These two also top the list of my favorite characters:

My Top 20 Favorite Christmas Characters

Their songs are the high points of the musical score. It only makes sense that I post those two songs for Tune Tuesday. Here is the great Dick Shawn as Snow Miser and George S. Irving as Heat Miser! After the video, read on for more 50th anniversary info.

My friend, Rick Goldschmidt, is the official Rankin/Bass Productions historian/biographer and has authored many books on their specials. This year, in celebration of the 50th anniversary, he has put out a book on The Year Without a Santa Claus (and the Night Before Christmas). It can be bought here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MISERBROS

You can learn more about him at his blog: https://enchantedworldofrankinbass.blogspot.com/

He was nice enough to even sign my copy!

The Year Without a Santa Claus is something I will watch every year. I will sing along with the Miser Brothers, cry at Blue Christmas, and (spoiler) rejoice that Santa decides to NOT take the day off.

Movie Music Monday – A Charlie Brown Christmas

Okay, I admit that I am stretching it a bit. Technically, a Charlie Brown Christmas is not a movie. It is a holiday special, but if you do a Google search for Christmas Movies, you will be surprised at how many lists that it appears on. So roll with me on this one…

A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted 59 years ago today on CBS. It is the first animated special based on Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip. Honestly, the special is pretty deep. It deals with Charlie Brown’s depression, the commercialization of the Christmas holiday, and the story of Jesus’ birth.

A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and aired continuously on television for 56 years. The special’s soundtrack is one that continues to sell well during the holiday season and many of the tracks still get airplay on radio today!

The music was provided by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, a group of jazz musicians. The producer of the special (Lee Mendelson) was a jazz fan. He had heard the Trio’s version of “Cast Your Fate To the Wind” and thought they would be perfect for the soundtrack.

It is Vince Guaraldi that wrote the instantly recognizable “Linus and Lucy.”. He also wrote two originals for the special: Skating and Christmas Time Is Here. Lee Mendelson had a difficult time trying to find a lyricist to write words to “Christmas Time Is Here.” With time running out to get the project finished, he jotted the lyrics himself on the back of an envelope. It took him all of 15 minutes.

Whether you listen to the instrumental version or the vocal, the song is just beautiful. Both versions are on the soundtrack. The instrumental:

…and the vocal:

I would guess it is not often that a song from a Christmas special would be so good that other artists would want to cover it. However, you’d be surprised at how many have!

The first cover was in 1982 by David Benoit. Patty Austin, Debby Boone, Kenny Loggins, Tony Bennett, Stone Temple Pilots, Grover Washington Jr, and others followed suit.

My favorite covers come from two amazing jazz artists. First, the great Mel Torme:

…and Diana Krall:

Almost 60 years later, A Charlie Brown Christmas remains one of the best holiday specials of the season!

Where is My Christmas Spirit?

By the time this blog posts, it will be a mere 9 days till Christmas. Our tree has been up since Thanksgiving. I’ve been listening to Christmas music. I have read A Christmas Carol. I watched a few of the holiday specials. Christmas pictures are done. So where is my Christmas Spirit?

My wife, Sam, and I had this conversation earlier today. You would think that we’d be a little more “in the holiday spirit” with all that is going on, but something just doesn’t feel right. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think Sam offered up some pretty plausible reasons.

No Snow

Sure, we had a good snow already, but it is long gone. When I was getting ready for work this afternoon, it was 55 degrees out! We’ve had plenty of rain, but we’re missing some snow. I know some will tell me to shut up, as they can’t stand snow. That’s ok, but for me, there has to be a little bit of snow for it to feel like Christmas.

Missed Traditions

Ok, I’m going to blame Covid. Sam and I are just not comfortable going anywhere. Because of that, we put some of our traditions on hold this year. One we could probably have done, was visiting Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo.

We’ve been doing since we’ve been together. It’s always fun, but we want to make sure that the kids don’t get sick. It’s probably fine for Ella, but a bit too cold to have Andrew out there at night. Next year, we’ll be back there for sure!

Online Shopping

Outside of one or two things, all of our Christmas shopping was done online. I’m not one who loves shopping in crowds, but I do like to actually walk through the stores. Many times, I find the perfect gift by just walking and looking. To me, getting a gift that is unexpected is even more special than getting something you asked for. Thought actually went into it!

Shopping in General

I guess this is kind of a combination of “tradition” and “shopping.” There are quite a few places that Sam and I love to go to and just walk through.

The Christmas Tree Store is one of them. We found some really wonderful things for Ella’s room after she was born. We also love going there for holiday themed items.
Barnes and Nobel is another. We love walking through and checking out the new books. Now it’s even more fun because we can find the kids new books.
The Mall – ANY mall! Just going and walking the malls is always nice for us, even when we don’t have anything we HAVE to buy. (I guess we got to walk JC Penney while we waited for Christmas pictures recently, but it wasn’t like walking the whole mall.)

Again, Sam and I are just not comfortable yet being out among people. There are just too many people who don’t cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze. I was never a germaphobe, but recently, I feel like I’ve become one.

Maybe it isn’t too late….

I have a feeling that once I am sitting there watching my kids open gifts, their happiness will fill my heart and I will be overwhelmed with joy for them. I’m sure it will all work out … memories will be made. There will be many smiles. I just wish I felt it a bit more right now….

I’m As Mad As Sally!

Earlier today it was reported that all of the Charlie Brown holiday specials will NOT be airing on broadcast TV this year! Instead, it will be moving to Apple TV (a pay service) for viewing. I’m not going to lie, I am sick of all of the various streaming options! I pay for cable and Netflix. Now there is Disney Plus, Hulu, Amazon, and others! CBS and NBC also have their own “pay” services! This just proves it is all about money!

I’m 50 years old, but I have always made it a point to watch the Peanuts specials (and many others). Now, I’m going to be forced to pay to watch it? No, thanks! I’ll go out and buy the specials on DVD. Then I can watch them when I want to! I’ve done the same with many of my favorite TV shows. If you look at my movie shelf, I have my favorites (not all, but most) on DVD.

Growing up, I remember it being a yearly tradition to sit down and watch Charlie Brown’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials. What a shame that after 60 years on broadcast TV, the almighty dollar has ruined it for kids of this generation!

The Halloween special is just fun. There are some great moments in it. I always thought it was cool that Charlie Brown was actually invited to Violet’s Halloween party! Of course, the story revolves around Linus and his belief in the Halloween entity, the Great Pumpkin. He vows to see the Great Pumpkin and convinces Sally to join him in the pumpkin patch.

I love when the gang goes out trick or treating! One of the things I always laugh at is Lucy’s witch mask! It’s hideous!

When the kids yell trick or treat at one house, the home owner passes out treats and the kids meet at the sidewalk excited to share what each of them got. It is here that Charlie Brown says the funniest 4 words in the special (in my opinion) – “I got a rock!”

As Sally and Linus wait for the Great Pumpkin, the two mistake Snoopy for the Great Pumpkin. Sally realizes that she has missed all the fun of Halloween and at this point loses it! She lets loose on Linus with one hell of a rant:

I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, when I could’ve been out for tricks-or-treats! Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, and all that came was a beagle! I didn’t get a chance to go out for tricks-or-treats, and it was all your fault! I’ll sue! What a fool I was! I could’ve had candy, apples, and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things, but no! I had to listen to you. You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick-or-treats come only once a year. And I miss it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. You owe me RESTITUTION!!

I guess I could easily go off on my own rant about the blockheads who made these classics unavailable to broadcast TV, but what good would it do? In the words of Charlie Brown….”good grief!”