Playlist: Listen, my jingle belles and jaunty baubles! ~ Christmas 2019

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In the words of Moby Grape… listen, my friends! Yes, it’s the (hopefully) monthly playlist presented by George’s Journal just for you good people.

There may be one or two classics to be found here dotted in among different tunes you’re unfamiliar with or never heard before – or, of course, you may’ve heard them all before. All the same, why not sit back, sip a glass of mulled wine, munch on a mince pie and listen away; for in the words of Noddy Holder, ittttttt’s… well, I’m sure you know what comes next…

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CLICK on the track titles to hear them

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The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra ~ Midnight Sleighride (1954)¹

Frank Sinatra ~ Jingle Bells (1957)

Dean Martin ~ Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (1959)

Sammy Davis Jr ~ Christmas Time All Over The World (1965)

Sally Ann Howes ~ Toyland (1967)

Petula Clark ~ The Happiest Christmas (1969)

Nina ~ Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown? (1969)²

Happy Days ~ Christmas with Fonzie and The Cunninghams (1974)³

The Wombles ~ Wombling Merry Christmas (1974)

Morecambe & Wise and Des O’Connor ~ If You Want Me To Be A Goner,
Get Me A Record By Des O’Connor (1975)⁴

Gladys Knight & The Pips ~ Do You Hear What I Hear? (1975)

Hall & Oates ~ Jingle Bell Rock (1983)

The Pro Arte Orchestra ~ The Box Of Delights (1984)⁵

Miles Davis, Marcus Miller and David Sanborn ~
We Three Kings Of Orient Are (1987)⁶

Ringo Starr ~ Pax Um Biscum (1999)

Eric Clapton ~ White Christmas (2018)

Slade, Pan’s People and Legs & Co. ~
Merry Christmas Everybody (1973)

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¹ The popular jazz version of Sergei Prokofiev’s thoroughly festive-associated Troika, from his Lieutenant Kijé film score/ suite (1934); the Sauter-Finegan version recently featured in the movie Isle Of Dogs (2018)

² As performed by the then Baroness von Pallandt on the 1969 Morecamble & Wise Christmas Show; On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (the Bond film for which this tune was written) celebrates the 50th anniversary of its release on December 18th

³ An excerpt from the sitcom’s second season episode ‘Guess Who’s Coming To Christmas’, broadcast on December 17th 1974

⁴ A classic sketch from the 1975 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show

⁵ The theme from the BBC’s much-loved serial adaptation of John Masefield’s The Box of Delights (broadcast November 21st-December 24th 1984)

⁶ As performed on a 1987 edition of NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman; the trio would go on to appear in a scene, performing the same tune, in the following year’s Bill Murray feature-film Scrooged

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