12 Days of Christmas Cassettes: 2 Old Hollywood Holidays

Welcome to the Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks 12 Days of Christmas celebration extravaganza!!! (Don't send me messages telling me that the 12 days of Christmas actually BEGIN on Christmas and end on January 6th, with the Epiphany. I know. But I'm not celebrating that way... so let us quickly move along.)

So today's post is going to focus on a couple of actor/singers who made a name for themselves performing on stage, on screen, and in song. 

Lena Horne does an amazing version of "Jingle Bells" titled "Jingle All the Way" among many other jazzy, brassy covers of Christmas standards. Horne was a famous performer of the stage and screen all the way back from the forties up until the 90's when she finally retired. She has performed with greats such as Tony Bennett Harry Belafonte, and yes, even Bing Crosby. Her voice is brash and yet feminine, big and yet not obnoxious. The tracklist here includes:

-Side A-
1. Jingle All the Way
2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
3. Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
4. Winter Wonderland

-Side B-
5. White Christmas
6. The Little Drummer Boy
7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
8. The Christmas Song

Since Bing Crosby does possibly my FAVORITE version of "Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" it is almost impossible to extricate him from Christmas now for me (the possible exception being the fact that he does the Headless Horseman song from Disney's Sleepy Hollow short) and this makes a good collection of Bing Crosby Christmas music a necessity around the holidays. With a career that began in the 20's and didn't stop until the 70's, Crosby is fondly remembered for Holiday classics like "Holiday Inn" and "White Christmas. The tracklist on his tape includes:

-Side A-
1. Silent Night
2. White Christmas
3. Faith of Our Fathers
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. Adeste Fideles
6. I'll Be Home for Christmas

-Side B-
7. Jingle Bells
8. Christmas in Killarney
9. Silver Bells
10. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
11. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
12. Mele Kelikimaka

And who can forget his truly bizarre but FANTASTIC duet with David Bowie?

I'll be going right up through Christmas day itself posting, so be sure to join me back here tomorrow for more of the 12 Days of Christmas Cassettes celebration!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Hunting!