HAPPY NEW YEAR

I don't even know what auld lang syne means and I hate the song so I want to use this song I just discovered from Abba to express the joy of surviving the past year and moving on to the new year, 2011.

I'm hoping for the best and I wish happiness and prosperity for all in this upcoming year.

Happy New Year - Abba

TEENA MARIE (1956-2010)

It is a very sad day in the world of music for the loss of r&b singer, Teena Marie.

I always loved her music and my favorite album was her 1983 album, "Robbery (Expanded Edition)".  She had a strong and passionate voice but I don't think her talent ever got the proper recognition she deserved.

She was born Mary Brockert in Santa Monica, CA, and began singing at the age of 2. She was heavily influenced by the sounds of Motown and other African-American artists and could convincingly sing in that style.

She would eventually sign with Motown Records where she met the late Rick James who would help write and produce her first album, "Wild and Peaceful" in 1979. She had success right away with her first single, "I'm A Sucker For Your Love" which hit number eight on the r&b charts although her picture did not appear on her album because the label was unsure how audiences would react to her being a white artist. The world did find out by her second release, " Lady T" the following year and it would be perfectly fine as she would later be dubbed, "The Ivory Queen of Soul ".

She completed thirteen albums during her career with her last, "Congo Square" being released last year. Although she had only one song, "Lovergirl" hit the top ten on the pop charts, she got plenty of airplay on the r&b charts with thirteen top forty with seven reaching the top ten there.

The glorious sounds of Lady T will truly be missed.

THE FIRST TUNE OF CHRISTMAS

The perfect Christmas song.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

"The Christmas Song" - Nat "King" Cole (1961)

THE SECOND TUNE OF CHRISTMAS

Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas" for the 1942 musical film, "Holiday Inn" and it was actually done as a duet with Bing Crosby and actress Marjorie Reynolds (although her voice was dubbed by singer, Martha Mears). Bing recorded a solo version and it topped the charts that year.

Later, the song would appear again in another musical, appropriately titled, "White Christmas" in 1954 which also starred Bing Crosby.

This is another song that has been recorded by many, many people but Mr. Crosby's version is the only one in the Guiness Book of World Records as the Best Selling Single Of All Time with 50 million copies being sold.

"White Christmas" - Bing Crosby (1942)

THE THIRD TUNE OF CHRISTMAS

One of the best of the modern Christmas songs, "This Christmas" was originally written and recorded by the late, great Donny Hathaway. Of course, there are plenty of different takes of the song but this is still the only version that matters.   

"This Christmas" - Donny Hathaway (1970)         

THE FOURTH TUNE OF CHRISTMAS

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" was written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne in 1962 and was a plea for peace during the Cuban missile crisis. This song has been recorded by many different artists over the years but my favorite is by Whitney Houston. She was in her prime, delivered a stirring and passionate vocal plus the song has a great arrangement.

Her version was made as part of a 1987 Christmas themed album,  "A Very Special Christmas". It assembled other popular musical artists of the day and the proceeds went to benefit the Special Olympics. There have been seven other albums released in the series.

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" - Whitney Houston (1987)

THE FIFTH TUNE OF CHRISTMAS

The odd pairing of the elder Hollywood crooner and the younger glam-rock god was put together for what would turn out to be Bing Crosby's last television Christmas special, which merged the very familiar holiday song, "The Little Drummer Boy" with an original song written for the show, "Peace on Earth". This was done, apparently, because David Bowie hated the drummer boy song and didn't want to sing it. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it gave the song a fresh take and a Christmas classic was born.

"The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth" - Bing Crosby & David Bowie (1977)

Here is the clip from the TV special: