Holiday greetings, everyone.
Once again we find ourselves in the throws of yet another holiday season;
it really does seem like it comes faster every year!
With the crash of the Yule Log.com message board last month
-- thanks to our hosting company’s disastrous conversion to a
new beta format -- came the loss of many previously filed threads and
posts. Among them was a post that I filed last year, two days before
the premiere of our newly restored Yule Log presentation on the Tribune
Broadcasting Network.
For this edition of “Chip’s Tips,” I thought I would
re-post it here for all those who have never visited our message board
and had the opportunity to read it.
Here is the original message as it was posted on December 23, 2006:
THE NEWLY RESTORED 18 SELECTIONS TO THE YULE LOG SOUNDTRACK
A lifelong dream will come to fruition on Monday with the premiere of
our restored Yule Log presentation on the Tribune Broadcasting Network.
My fervent desire for years was to restore the program back to its original
3-hour form with all its original music. And now, after all
the long hours of hard work, on Christmas Day 2006, it finally
becomes a reality...finally. I'm sure when I watch it, it will be quite
an emotional moment, and I'm sure that it will seem as surreal as all
the coverage and publicity surrounding it has been. This has been
bigger than anything I could have ever imagined, and it's been one hell
of a ride. What’s more, the response has been global; besides the
Associated Press interview (which had the biggest reach domestically
and internationally), I even had an interview with Australian Broadcasting
Radio in Sydney (yes, Down Under!), as well as radio station Q94-FM,
in of all places -- Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada! It has been quite a flattering
experience, and at the same time, like I said before, quite surreal.
The Yule Log clearly has worldwide appeal!
I am going to post below, the 18 selections that have now been
restored back into the program. This way on Monday, as you watch, you
will be aware of which ones constitute the newly restored 18. But
before I do, I would like to impart upon you the story of one
of these songs in particular, and how close I almost came to not getting
it. The song is "Christmas Is Christmas All Over The World" by
the Singing Angels.
This song was recorded and released in 1973 as a local 45-rpm single
in Cleveland, Ohio (where the group is based). After a long and extensive
search, I finally found a copy on the website of an out-of-print
record store in Virginia. But after calling the store and requesting
to purchase it, the clerk, a young kid, came back to the phone and
indicated that he could not find it. He then went on to say
that they probably had sold it.
Hearing that his tone was decidedly diffident, I waited about a
week and then called the store back -- this time asking for the
manager. After a brief time on hold, the manager came back to the phone
with lo and behold -- the record in hand! He then said that they had
recently reorganized the store, and that much of their stock was not
in its proper place.
I’m so thankful that I went with my instincts and called the store
back, because in this case, it really, really paid off big time.
If I hadn't, I would still, to this day, be looking for this
record, and the complete restoration of the Yule Log audio soundtrack
would not have been possible. It is quite ironic that the most
recently recorded song on the entire soundtrack, and for that matter,
the only song from the 1970s, is indeed the most rare.
What's more, it is because that it is so rare, that it pretty much
is only known today from the Yule Log presentation. It clearly is
one of the most recognizable, original and iconic songs on the entire
soundtrack, and the audio restoration just would not have been complete
without it. I am so thankful that I persevered in my search for
it.
In fact, in my search for the record, I even called the organization
in Cleveland, Ohio (my hometown by the way), and the current music
director of the group, Charles Eversole, told me that even
they themselves do not have a copy of the record. The only thing
that they had in their archives was a photostatic copy of the original
45-rpm single! He was kind enough to send me a copy, and even a few copies
of the original sheet music that the kids had used in 1973 when they
recorded the song for Princess Records. One additional tidbit of information
that I can give you about the song, is that the lead child singer credited
on the record is named Maria (no last name was given), and I'm sure you'll
agree that her voice embodies the very innocence that the song is trying
to convey. "Christmas Is Christmas All Over The World" is
song #22 in the presentation, and can be heard about 53 minutes into
the program. By the way, this is also one of the 12 songs that had to
be digitally re-mastered from its original vinyl especially
for this 2006 40th anniversary restoration.
In closing, just in case you’re
wondering how this song ever found its way to the Yule Log here in New
York, it was courtesy of composer Gladys Shelley, who co-wrote the song
(along with Jimmy Wisner), and was also co-owner (along with her husband
Irving Rosenthal) of the former Palisades Amusement Park in Palisades,
New Jersey. Ms. Shelley and her husband did a lot of commercial advertising
for their amusement park on Channel 11 WPIX-TV, and were good friends
with station general manager, Fred Thrower (creator of the Yule Log).
In 1973, both Arthur Godfrey and the Singing Angels recorded versions
of her song. Arthur Godfrey’s
was released nationally, the Singing Angels only locally (in Cleveland,
Ohio). Notwithstanding this however, she elected to present Fred Thrower
with a copy of the Singing Angels version of the song, and it premiered
that year on the WPIX Yule Log. This was also the year the overall soundtrack
was revamped and improved, giving birth to the “classic” program
that aired in various forms for the remainder, and consequently bulk,
of the Yule Log’s run on WPIX-TV. It is also this definitive program
that the great majority of people today are familiar with, and therefore
was the model for our audio restoration.
Here now are the 18 selections that I am so proud to say will be heard
on the Yule Log presentation for the first time in over 20 years, in
the order that they will appear in the program:
1) "SILENT NIGHT"/"O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM" ~
FRANK DEVOL (#16 in the program)
2) "I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS" ~ FRANK SINATRA (#17
in the program)
3) "SLEIGH RIDE" ~ ANDRE KOSTELANETZ (#18 in the program)
4) "O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL" ~ PERCY FAITH (#19 in the program)
5) "O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL" ~ THE ROBERT SHAW CHORALE
(#20 in the program)
6) "JINGLE BELLS" ~ PAUL MAURIAT (#21 in the program)
7) "CHRISTMAS IS CHRISTMAS ALL OVER THE WORLD" ~ THE SINGING
ANGELS (#22 in the program)
8) "ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH" ~ THE ROBERT SHAW CHORALE
(#23 in the program)
9) "HERE WE COME A-CAROLING" ~ THE RAY CHARLES SINGERS
(#24 in the program)
10) "GESU BAMBINO" ~ PERCY FAITH (#25 in the program)
11) "O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL"/"O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"/"COVENTRY
CAROL" ~ THE LIVING STRINGS (#49 in the program)
12) "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS" ~ PERCY FAITH
(#50 in the program)
13) "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS" ~ FRANK SINATRA
(#51 in the program)
14) "WHAT CHILD IS THIS" ~ THE RAY CONNIFF SINGERS (#54 in
the program)
15) "WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS" ~ MANTOVANI (#55
in the program)
16) "HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING" ~ ROGER WILLIAMS (#56 in
the program)
17) "SILENT NIGHT" ~ ROGER WILLIAMS (#57 in the program)
18) "IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR" ~ THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA
(#58 in the program)
Additionally, there was also time in the program
to include 2 bonus
songs:
1) "IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR" ~
THE LIVING STRINGS (#12 in the program)
(From a medley that had always been cut)
2) "THE CHRISTMAS TREE" ~ DAVID ROSE (#48 in the program)
(A song that aired in the original soundtrack prior to the advent of
the 1973 "classic" program)
Lastly, here is a list of 8 songs that were edited over
the years and aired in an abridged form, but are now played in their
entirety thanks to our restoration:
1) “WE THREE KINGS” ~ THE LIVING
STRINGS (#12 in the program)
2) “O TANNENBAUM” ~ MANTOVANI (#13 in the program)
3) “MARY’S BOY CHILD” ~ THE PETE KING CHORALE (#15
in the program)
4) “THE CHRISTMAS WALTZ” ~ DAVID ROSE (#37 in the program)
5) “BRING A TORCH JEANETTE ISABELLA” ~ PERCY FAITH (#47 in
the program)
6) “LO HOW A ROSE E’ER BLOOMING” ~ PERCY FAITH (#52
in the program)
7) “HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING” ~ ROGER WILLIAMS (#56 in the
program)
8) “SILENT NIGHT” ~ ROGER WILLIAMS (#57 in the
program)
Enjoy everybody!
Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri
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