Christmas season means holiday songs of all varieties, including the novelties that really do put a smile on your face. Our next entry actually may hold a record of the most unusual variety.
You see, "Nuttin For Christmas" charted---get this---five times in December 1955. Five different & diverse artists recorded the same song. That list includes Stan Freberg, aided by voice acting legend Daws Butler, and orchestra leader Art Mooney, whose chosen vocalist would become something of an icon in the cartoon business himself as an adult, though not on the legendary level of Butler.
Barry Gordon is now a professor teaching a course on politics & the media in California, and once made a run for Congress out of the Golden State some years back. Most folks might remember him from stints on Fish & Archie Bunker's Place back in the day. Toonologists will remember him for shows as diverse as Jabberjaw, SWAT Kats, & the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons. He was and might still be the voice of the Nesquik (formerly Nestle's Quik) Bunny. But, did you know his career started when he was barely out of kindergarten? Yeah, I didn't realize it, either, until now.
Anyway, Gordon was just 6 or 7 when he recorded the vocals on "Nuttin For Christmas" for bandleader Art Mooney on the MGM label in 1955. Different accounts don't have any consistency to the age, you see. His version might not be on the same level of iconic status as, say Stan Freberg's, but, well, judge for yourself. The track was played on Music Choice's "Sounds of the Seasons" channel earlier tonight, which was the inspiration for this entry.
Hey, it's gotten worse in recent years. Like, Smash Mouth may have killed their careers asking Rosie O'Donnell (!) to sing with them on their version. Couldn't they have done a casting call for kindergarteners?
No comments:
Post a Comment