In addition to being heavy on the Chipmunks, the countdown was also loaded with Gene Autry tunes-three in all. Also, having to put “Nuttin’ for Christmas” two spots away from the original “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” by Jimmy Boyd at #15 is solid evidence that mathematics is no damn good for anybody. The second hour was a little better, although it’s hard to understand at years’ distance the attraction of “Christmas in Killarney.” Up at #17, Casey mentioned that several versions of “Nuttin” for Christmas” had been popular in 1955, but he chose to play the ear-bleeding version by Ricky Zahnd instead of the more popular (but equally ear-bleeding) one by Barry Gordon. The omission of “Snoopy’s Christmas” is weird given that it was the most recent release on the list, and a giant hit besides. Demento.Ĭasey skipped certain songs that ranked among the Top 40-“Christmas Polka” by Guy Lombardo and the Andrews Sisters, “You’re All I Want for Christmas” by Frankie Laine, and “Snoopy’s Christmas” by the Royal Guardsmen-supposedly because copies fit for air couldn’t be found. It’s like Casey was possessed by the spirit of Dr. Goodman and Whitfield created precisely the same sort of mess.Īfter the wretched “Baby’s First Christmas,” the proceedings took a more positive turn with the Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick” and Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Paper,” only to crash to a halt again with Stan Freberg’s “Christmas Dragnet.” … The first hour ended with the Chipmunks version of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” And thus another big problem with the show is revealed: specifically, too many Chipmunks records (three in all, counting “The Happy Reindeer”), and generally, too much novelty crap. “The Happy Reindeer,” a Chipmunks record in all but name with the same speeded-up voices, created an epic train wreck alongside the Williams record, which runs something like five minutes and seems twice as long. But the six records that followed Elvis represented as horrid a stretch as any in AT40 history: “Santa Claus Is Watching You” by Ray Stevens, “The Happy Reindeer” by Dancer, Prancer, and Nervous, “Little Altar Boy” by Andy Williams, Dickie Goodman’s “Santa and the Satellite,” “Santo Natale” by David Whitfield, and “Baby’s First Christmas” by Connie Francis. It started off reasonably enough, with “If Every Day Was Like Christmas” by Elvis. I wrote about the show several years ago, and some of that post follows, with a couple of added notes and hyperlinks. Fifty years ago, on Christmas weekend, American Top 40 aired a countdown of the Top 40 Christmas hits of all time.
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