Well, just today and tomorrow left to play Christmas songs, and I still have several I want to play, so I’m doubling/tripling or quadrupling up today!  No lyrics, just a brief blurb and the song!  And if you want to take a listen at some really strange, ‘out there’ Christmas music, I encourage you to drop by Bruce Hackett’s blog, Hack’s Back Pages!

Let’s start with one requested by my dear friend, Carolyn …

My Grown Up Christmas List was written by David Foster (music) and Linda Thompson-Jenner (lyrics) and was originally recorded as a duet with David Foster and Natalie Cole in 1989.  But by far the most popular version is by Amy Grant, recorded in 1992 for her second Christmas album Home for Christmas.  Since then, there has been a series of cover versions by many artists, and it has become a standard Christmas song in the 21st century. It is one of David Foster’s most widely sung songs.

Then there’s that classic by Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song.  According to SongFacts …

Here’s the story of how this song was written:

Mel Torme and Bob Wells were songwriting partners, and used to take turns going over to each others’ homes to write songs. One particularly hot July day, Mel drove over to Bob’s house in Teluca Lake, California. When he got there he walked into the house, couldn’t find Bob, but found a spiral notepad of paper with some words on it: “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, Yuletide Carols being sung by a choir, folks dressed up like Eskimos.” When Mel found Bob, he asked him, “What’s this?” and Bob said, “It’s so blistering hot here, and thought it would be fun to see if I could write something about a totally different season, the winter season, Christmas season, and see if I could mentally, virtually cool off.” Mel said, “Not only have you also cooled me off, but I think you’ve got a song here!” And the duo wrote the rest of the song in about 35 minutes.

I could do an entire post on this song alone, but keeping it short, Nat King Cole first recorded this in 1946 with his group The Nat King Cole Trio, and has recorded it four times in total.

Where Are You, Christmas? is a song that was co-written by James Horner and Will Jennings for the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 2000.  Its original title was “Christmas, Why Can’t I Find You?” Mariah Carey co-wrote a full-length version of the song with additional lyrics, renamed Where Are You Christmas?, for the film’s soundtrack. The song was originally recorded by Carey, but because of a legal case with her ex-husband Tommy Mottola, it could not be released, so it was re-recorded and released by Faith Hill. A video was released featuring Hill singing from the Grinch’s mountaintop home, interspersed with clips from the film and a cameo appearance by Momsen as Cindy Lou Who.

And last, but not least on my list is another one just for fun, I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas!  This one is also for Carolyn, though she didn’t specifically request it this year, for rawgod’s lovely partner, Gail, and for my own wonderful daughter, Chris!

This is a Christmas ‘novelty’ song, written by John Rox, and performed by Gayla Peevey in 1953 when she was ten years old. Peevey was a child star who was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before her family moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, when she was five. When released nationally by Columbia Records the song shot to the top of the charts, and the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a baby hippo named Matilda.

Peevey was filmed performing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in October 1953, airing on November 15, 1953.

A popular legend holds that this 1953 hit had been recorded as a fundraiser to bring the city zoo a hippo; but in a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser. Instead, a local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey’s local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas.

The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years. Peevey, by this point 73 years old, was again present when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a rare pygmy hippopotamus in 2017.

Okay, folks … that’s a wrap for today … one more tomorrow and then Christmas is OVER!  By the way, be sure to check out our friend Clive’s “Advent Countdown” posts for even more holiday fun ‘n tunes!