My latest MOJO Blog, all about Wham’s visit to China in 1985 -
Wham In China
Dr. No Meets Swan Dive
A little late night fun with iMovie – the opening titles of Dr. No set to our song “Theme From A Man Called Danger.”
Some Slightly Late New Year’s Resolutions
In 2011, I resolve to give up the following –
Impersonating colonial blacksmiths
Sending large foreign remittances to Dr. Joseph Ngobo, Dr. William Akpan and Dr. Benjamin Oguejiofor
Hoarding copies of Starship’s Knee Deep In The Hoopla
Modeling in the nude for free
Going through revolving doors three times while singing Lionel Richie’s “Hello” backwards
Ham ‘n’ Jammy Sandwiches
My dream of mastering Old Saxon
My dream of meeting John Saxon
Conspiring against starlings
Working on a 50s-era musical about a communist infiltrator disguised as a dog who wreaks havoc on Wall St – How Now Dow Bow Wow Mao
Trying to write To-Do Lists with my Stylophone pen
My bid to get a dental hygiene event (Dentathlon) added to the 2012 Olympics
Running a Dolph Lundgren Fan Club
Buying UT boxers at CVS
Throwing pebbles at gray Nissan Cubes
Body popping in line at the post office
Quoting from the movie Chairman Of The Board
Spreading rumors that marascino cherries cure lumbago
Wincing whenever I hear the word “cubbyhole”
Merry Christmas from Swan Dive!
Here’s a version of “Winter Wonderland” that we recorded last week with our friend Jim Hoke from Aqua Velvet. He did the beautiful arrangement, which also features Steve Herman on trumpet. Happy Holidays!
When Bing Met Bowie
It was the unlikeliest of duets. A surreal mash-up of an old-guard crooner with a glam rocker. Der Bingle meets Ziggy Stardust. And it might never have happened if it weren’t for some eleventh-hour song doctoring.
On September 11, 1977, David Bowie arrived at Elstree Studio in London to tape a segment for Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special. The producers planned to have Bowie and Bing harmonize on “Little Drummer Boy.” But during the rehearsal, Bowie complained that the song’s range was too low and didn’t properly highlight his voice. Bing quickly defused the diva moment, suggesting that they alter the arrangement or choose another song.
According to Crosby’s daughter Mary, Bing wanted all of his guests to feel at ease. “That’s how Dad was. It was totally genuine. He wasn’t worried. And if he was worried, he didn’t show it. He just wanted to make him comfortable. David said, ‘I need to sing the melody because I can’t do that key.’ And Dad just said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to get in there somehow.’”
With just a few hours before the cameras were to roll, three of the show’s producers and writers, Buz Kohan, Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, left the set and found a piano in the studio’s basement. In seventy-five minutes, they wrote “Peace On Earth,” an original tune that acted as a clever counterpoint to “Little Drummer Boy.”
Bowie liked it. Bing did too.
“You could see them both just kind of going, ‘Oh this is gonna be fine,’ recalled Mary Crosby.
After some scripted banter and a few run-throughs, the pair nailed the take that we all know and love. A month later, Crosby died of a heart attack. The special was broadcast on CBS that December as a final tribute to the singer who was the voice of Christmas.
And that might have been that. As Buz Kohan has said, “We never expected to hear about the song again.”
But in the years since, it has slowly grown into a bonafide Christmas classic and a YouTube holiday staple with millions of views.
“It’s because music of the kind of my dad did – and I think that David did – transcends all generations and all cultures and countries,” Mary Crosby said.