|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| THESE TEN HOURS WERE
BROUGHT TO YOU WITH LIMITED INTERRUPTION FROM W.P.M.D.
RADIO AND YOUR HOLIDAY HOST, VINCE DANIELS |
THE COLLECTION:
"The Christmas Collection of the Century" is exactly
that. It is the music of the yuletide that has impacted
all cultures from 1900 to 2000. It encompasses the
different versions of familiar holiday songs and
features artists that from the beginning of recorded
music were either the first to popularize the song, or
perhaps brought a new interpretation to it.
There are a total of 165 songs in this 10-hour
collective. All were carefully chosen through years of
personally collecting long play Christmas albums and
later, compact discs. Some of these recordings were
passed down. Others were an acquired taste from having
grown up singing along to the same songs played on the
family phonograph year after year. Some of these albums
were discarded over time but fortunately were later
discovered and purchased at thrift stores. More
contemporary songs released around the end of the 20th
century have also been included.
To refer to this as "the work of a lifetime" would be an
understatement. What began in childhood, culminated in
a recording studio in November of 1994 and would
finally be completed in time to air on the radio during
an historic time when the world would celebrate a new
millennium. It would re-air for 5 additional years to
follow. Two hours were added later on. In the
blogs below you'll hear how it sounded when those extra
hours were added in 2002. Each blog represents one hour
of the 10-hour collection and tells a story all its own.
Complete with pictures of various album covers and the
images of the season, you'll read about the thought
process and why certain albums and artists held special
meaning.
Each hour was re-processed using the Digicart 360
which utilized a limiter in order to compress the sound.
If you'd like to download these shows onto compact
discs, please know that you will not hear the shows in
the "streaming" sound like the K.C.A.A. Many Moods
podcasts. These are the authentic original shows from
straight out of the "Digicart" digital cart machine and
are of superior stereo quality.
|
 |
IN APPRECIATION:
Elena Rosero - Announcer, for her top of the hour
openings full of cheer.
Craig Breit - W.P.M.D. Faculty Advisor
Dennis Clare - W.P.M.D. Operations Manager. Thanks to
both men for availing the stations production facilities
for several weeks and also for the airtime during the
2000-2005 holiday season.
The On Air Staff - for adding their brief wishes at
various times throughout this special show. |
| EACH HOUR
GUARANTEES A 45 MINUTE NON-STOP BLOCK OF CONTINUOUS
MUSIC ALONG WITH THE NAMES OF THE SONGS AND WHO
PERFORMED THEM. |
|
|
Hour # 1 . December 19, 2002.
The Heavy Hitters (Part 1 of 2). |
|
"This is the ultimate collective of 20th
century pop standards, instrumentals,
traditional and chart topping holiday
music plus carols from other centuries to
ever be assembled for radio," says Vince
Daniels, the man who since November
of 1994 has been carefully selecting what
he was one day planning to be The
Christmas Collection of the Century.
"The very first collection that I
recorded started out to be a bunch of
songs that I would segue and put on 90
minute cassette tapes. Remember those
things? I would bring these tapes to
Farr's Hallmark Stationers
where I was working at the time.
They would play them on the store's sound
system for the customers and co-workers to
enjoy. I ended up making 4 different tapes,
but it was that first one that they ended up
playing over and over every year for 5 years
that everybody memorized and loved." In
December of 2000 Vinnie would take all of
these tapes and incorporate them
into what was originally an 8-hour radio
special, but over time grew to a 10-hour
extravaganza.
Since each side of these cassettes were 45
minutes, he came up with the idea that every
hour would feature "45 minutes of
uninterrupted Christmas music." According to
Vince, "when I was inspired to step in to a
recording studio in 1994 I opened with
Andy Williams It's the
Most Wonderful Time of the Year and
didn't know where to go from there." From
there he played Madonna and
Santa Baby. Other artists and
songs featured in this hour include
Perry Como and Home for
the Holidays; Wham's
Last Christmas; Anne
Murray's
Christmas Wishes; The
Ray Conniff Singers Frosty the
Snowman;
Mitch Miller and the Gang's
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow;
Bobby Helms Jingle Bell
Rock;
The
Ronettes I Saw
Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and
Bing Crosby's White Christmas,
among others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 2. December 19, 2002. The
Heavy Hitters (Part 2 of 2). |
|
Every hour leads off with an opening song
(or two) followed by "your holiday host,"
Vince Daniels just before he
goes into a few minutes of commercials. After
that, you hear 45 minutes of continuous
Christmas music and in the case of this hour,
you hear the 2nd side to that original 90 minute
cassette tape that Daniels recorded back in
1994. He would return to the studio in 1997 to
put together some follow-up Christmas
Collection of the Century cassettes, but
by then compact discs were in, and vinyl was
out.
With the exception of the lead-off song,
This Christmas from Donny Hathaway,
every song during the 45 minute block in this
hour (just as in the previous hour) originates
from vinyl records, as will hours 7 and 8. The
reason is "because I want you to feel the warmth
that comes from vinyl that often you don't get
from C.D.'s. Plus the fact that the fidelity is
a lot better," claims Vinnie who also assures
listeners in the opening that "the snap, crackle
and pop is not a commentary on the sound of the
recordings." In fact, he uses the analogy of a
'Rice Krispies' slogan, Taste 'em again
..... for the FIRST time as his way of
reminding listeners that even if you've heard
these songs thousands of times, you should
listen again as if it were your first
experience.
Agree or disagree with her politics, Christmas
just wouldn't be Christmas without
Barbra Streisand singing Silent
Night, Holy Night. You'll hear her along
with Elvis Presley and Blue
Christmas; Jose Feliciano
wishing you Feliz Navidad; Nat
'King' Cole's classic version of
The Christmas Song; the song that was
actually the creation of retail department store
chain "Montgomery Ward" though was made a hit by
Gene Autry, Rudolph, the
Red-Nosed Reindeer; The Chipmunks
singing The Chipmunk Song;
Bruce Springsteen's rocking rendition
of Santa Claus is Coming to Town;
lengendary country singer, Jim Reeves
with Silver Bells, not to mention an
ageless holiday tradition, the singing of "Hallelujia."
From Handel's Messiah, you'll enjoy it
as it's performed by Robert Shaw
conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and
Chorus.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 3. December 20, 2002. On
the Bright Side (Part 1 of 2). |
|
The year was 1997. It was the fourth of 5
years that Farr's Hallmark Stationers
in Fullerton, California was playing a 90 minute
tape of Christmas classics made by one of their
employees. They would also mix it up by playing
tapes of Hallmark brand holiday collections from
Anne Murray, Diana Ross and Trisha Yearwood.
Fullerton local, Ginny Carr, a
flute player had even supplied the store with
copies of a C.D.she recorded with sopranist,
Lynn Reid that features their
own Christmas carols. A regular customer also
added the Time-Life album of holiday
recordings. As a result, a new mix of sounds
started going through the musical mind of this
Farr's employee that would make him want to go
back into the studio and start segueing again.
Could he possibly match the success and sound of
the first tape that he assembled 3 years before?
For Vince Daniels it was all
about hitting the right notes. "It's a very fine
balance," says Vinnie. "It's hard work to make
it come out in a way that has that timeless
quality, but the minute I start over-thinking
it, the magic disappears. There comes that
moment when the sound has to flow out of my head
and begin eminating from the C.D. and finally to
the heart of the listener," as is
demonstrated in
the opening 2 songs. "Where else," asks our host
"can you hear Gene Autry (Here
Comes Santa Claus) and Neil Diamond(You
make it feel like Christmas) played back to
back but here on The Christmas
Collection of the Century? Then again,
they were both making great Christmas music in
the same century."
Among the artists and songs on display during
the uninterrupted 45 minute block will be the
beautiful voice of Trisha Yearwood
with Joy to the World; Sammy
Davis, Jr. singing It's Christmas
Time All Over the World; Mariah
Carey's happy tune All I Want for
Christmas; Willie Nelson
doing Jingle Bells; Kate Smith
with Silver Bells; Ray
Conniff's Here We Come a Caroling
and from the 1939 film classic, "Meet Me in St.
Louis," the immortal Judy Garland
and Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 4. December 20, 2002. On
the Bright Side (Part 2 of 2). |
|
"I unwrap another hour for you" says
Vince Daniels as he speaks of
his 10-hour holiday music special. He speaks of
it in terms of being a gift - one that keeps on
giving. Hearkening back to the first hour, it
was Daniels' original plan back in 2000 to offer
The Christmas Collection of the Century
free of charge to anyone who e-mailed him and
asked him to ship it. "I really thought that
businesses would eat something like this up.
Then I started factoring in duplication expenses
and what it would take to make it into a C.D.
boxed set, and it would have been very costly."
That's why at the end of each hour Vince will
start to give out an outdated e-mail address
that he subsequently had bleeped.
Back in 2000 podcasting was still a few years
away. In fact, internet radio was still in its
infancy. In those days the only way anybody
could enjoy something like this was to log-on
and listen at the appointed time when the
station was running it. At that time it made
sense to mass produce it and put it on the
market. Today, with podcasting as an option
available to anybody with the internet, what
Vinnie was originally hoping for is now a
reality and is freely available anytime on
demand, and all over the world too.
The great Johnny Mathis is
featured this hour crooning his classic
Silver Bells medley. Another icon of this
century is Sam the Snowman from TV's "Rudolph
the Red Nosed Reindeer," a.k.a. Burl
Ives. From that annual holiday show
Ives will sing Holly Jolly Christmas.
Charlie Rich will sing Vinnie's
favorite version of White Christmas;
you'll also hear a traditional carol, We
Wish You a Merry Christmas performed by
Eugene Ormandy conducting the
Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus. Also
included, Brenda Lee's
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree;
The Beach Boys and Little Saint
Nick; Roy Orbison with
Pretty Paper; contemporary gospel singer,
Evie Tornquist-Karlsson sings
Come on! Ring those Bells and
The Manheim Steamroller's Still
Nacht (Silent Night) with something
powerful added to it. The voice of the almighty
is heard in this special September 11th version
titled "In the Stairwell."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 5. December 20, 2002.
Letting it Snow, Keeping it
Christmas (Part 1 of 2). |
|
The 45 minutes of continuous yuletide
music featured during this hour was assembled by
Vince Daniels in 1997, but the
lead-off song covered by the A*Teens in
2001, "I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday"
(and penned by The WIZZARD's Roy Wood back in
1973) was added in 2002 especially for
The Christmas Collection of the Century,
which in 2000 and 2001 aired as an 8 hour
special. In 2002, two new hours were introduced
and some of the opening numbers were changed to
incorporate songs recorded in the new
millennium.
"I understand the message of that song," says
Vinnie of 'I Wish it Could be Christmas
Everyday.' He adds, "I purposely included it to
make a point. There is a particular FM station
in Los Angeles that at 11:59pm on December 25th
will stop playing thier holiday music and go
back to their regular format. The problem I have
is they start playing the holiday stuff on the
Monday before Thanksgiving. Well, two things are
wrong with that." Says Daniels, "first off, they
start it too early and by the time the week of
Christmas rolls around, you're sick of hearing
one more Christmas song. Secondly, they yank it
off right at the crack of December 26th. It
reminds me of how some people haul their tree to
the curb on that day, as if they want the
holidays to go away. It's really sad. The last
time that I checked, this thing we call 'The
Holidays' comprises Thanksgiving, Christmas ...
AND New Years."
Vince remembers how W.P.M.D. was the ideal
station to run his special century collective.
"They would always wait for the appropriate
time, usually a full week before Christmas
before they started playing their roster of
holiday programming, and more than that, I
always appreciated how faculty advisor,
Craig Breit and operations manager,
Dennis Clare would keep it
going till January 1st or 2nd and gradually ease
out of the season." This hour you'll enjoy
Glen Campbell and his great
rendition of Blue Christmas;
Diana Ross and the Modern Jazz Quartet
with Sleigh Ride/Jingle Bells;
Robert Goulet and then wife
Carol Lawrence singing The
Christmas Waltz. Another classic, "Little
Jesus, Sweetly Sleep" is done here by
Roger Whittaker in what he calls
Rocking along with Christmas in Dixie
from Alabama. You'll hear a
nice segue starting with Lena Horne's
version of Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it
Snow right into the skating scene from "A
Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack as performed
by The Vince Guaraldi Trio.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 6. December 20, 2002.
Letting it Snow, Keeping it
Christmas (Part 2 of 2). |
|
As he got ready to lay down tracks for the
second side of this second 90 minute tape which
he recorded in 1997, it occurred to
Vince Daniels that there were a lot of
versions of familiar Christmas songs that were
done by a lot of artists. "Even before W.P.M.D.
came into the picture, I was simply recording
all this music for family, friends and
co-workers to enjoy. There were no limitations
placed on me to keep it at a certain number of
hours. What I ended up doing was looking at all
my favorite songs of the season. My all-time
favorite is Jingle Bells." Through a
process of elimination, Vinnie went down all the
versions of that song. "I absolutely had to have
The Mills Brothers rendition. In my opinion, no
one did it better than Willie Nelson, and
someone else that had a unique arrangement was
Jim Reeves." Reeves rendering
will be featured during this hour of The
Christmas Collection of the Century.
"That's the beauty of producing a show like
this," says Daniels. "I can play the same song,
except that it becomes a different song when you
hear it from a different group or performer."
Examples of this are Santa Claus is Coming
To Town. During these 10 hours, Vinnie
features the contrasting versions of Perry Como,
Tony Bennett and Bruce Springsteen. Two versions
of Mary's Boy Child are also offered.
One by Evie Tornquist-Karllson and, this hour
the classic from Harry Belafonte.
"Another one I play a lot is Silent Night.
I have it from Manheim Steamroller and I know
that people go nuts for that. I also play
Streisand's version. I also play one from the
sausage king, Jimmy Dean, only because I love
how he tells the story of how that song came to
be." In this hour you'll hear a more updated
version belted out by Michael Bolton.
Speaking of Manheim Steamroller,
Vince will take you back to their first hit from
the mid-1980's, Deck The Hall. You'll
also be treated to Merry Christmas Darling
by The Carpenters; The Drifters
r&b classic White Christmas;
The Children of the Day and the
beautiful harmonizing they do on It Came
Upon the Midnight Clear. While the immortal
Bing Crosby's rendering of Do you hear what
I hear? is heard during these hours, our
host had to include a more traditional version
as performed (this hour) by The Mormon
Tabernacle Choir. In fact this song
will kick off the 45 minutes of continuous
music, but before that, and from the very
outset, is The Trans-Siberian Orchestra
and a very pretty carol called Christmas
Canon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 7. December 20, 2002. On
the Traditional Side (Part 1 of
2). |
|
"Mixed in to this hour is a really nice
song by Ray Conniff and the Singers
called The Real Meaning of Christmas
which essentially serves as the theme for not
only this but also the following hour,"
according to host, Vince Daniels
as he reflected on yet another visit to a
recording studio to produce his 4th in a series
of cassette tapes that he would play for the
customers of Farr's Hallmark Stationers
where he worked at the time. It was during the
holidays in 1998 when this compilation was at
long last assembled. It followed a frentic
search for an abandoned Christmas record that
once belonged to his brother.
"When my parents bought a new house in the fall
of '98 I thought I grabbed that album from a
storage shed at their old residence, but
apparantly not. Finally after a month of
searching at their new place, it had turned up."
What Daniels is referring to is one of many
vinyl albums that were part of the Columbia
(C.B.S.) Special Products label and were
distributed through the Goodyear Tire Company.
"My brother knew that I was a Christmas music
nut and a collector. One day in 1972 he walked
in the house after putting air in his bicycle
tire across the street at Caldwell's Goodyear
station in Garden Grove. In his hand was that
years latest release, an album called Chiristmas
is ...." It is also the title
track of that album and is sung by The
Hillside Singers which opens the 45
minutes of continuous music originating strictly
off of vinyl L.P.'s for this hours
Christmas Collection of the Century.
Says Vince, "what I really wanted to have with
this hour and the next was more of a traditional
collection including some of the more religious
or spiritual yuletide songs. In my estimation,
these are the hours that would be appropriate to
play on Christmas Eve." Included are such
standards as The 12 Days of Christmas
complete with an organ opening and sung by
Mitch Miller & The Gang. You'll
also hear Liberace on the piano
playing Jesu Bambino; Tony
Bennett with Santa Claus is Coming
to Town; Slim Whitman's
Let There Be Peace on Earth (Let it Begin
with Me); O Come All Ye Faithful
crooned by Jerry Vale and the
Dean Martin holiday classic as
only he can sing it, Let it Snow, Let it
Snow, Let it Snow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 8. December 20, 2002. On
the Traditional Side (Part 2 of
2). |
|
This hour of The Christmas
Collection of the Century is a
companion to the previous hour and is also a
collection of primarily traditional and
spiritual songs centering on what Vince
Daniels likes to call "The Real Meaning
of Christmas." He asked his listeners back in
2000, "how can I possibly put a price tag on the
real meaning of Christmas?" No one at that time
could foresee that any of this 10-hour holiday
music special might one day be accessable
on-demand through podcasting via the internet,
and at no charge.
"One of the things I enjoyed most about this
special is that while I offered a long block of
45 minutes of uninterrupted music, I also came
out of those 45 minutes by telling you the names
of all the songs you heard plus the artist or
group that performed the song, and in the order
that you heard it," says Daniels who dispenses
that information working backwards starting with
the song that closes out each set. Like its
companion, the songs featured this hour are also
from vinyl records and mostly come from two
albums: the Columbia Special Products L.P.
"Christmas is...," and a 1979 contemporary
christian music album released on MCA-Songbird
called "On This Christmas Night."
B.J. Thomas performs the title
track, On This Christmas Night and also
from that album are The Boones
(Debby Boone and her sisters) harmonizing on a
beautiful carol called Gift of Love and
Tennessee Ernie Ford singing
Born a Child in Bethlehem. Among the
artists from "Christmas is..." that are featured
this hour will be Jimmy Dean
providing spoken word and strumming the story of
how Silent Night was written for a
guitar. Also from that album are The
Mills Brothers with Jingle Bells
and the original version of Winter
Wonderland recorded by Jo Stafford.
From other albums you'll also enjoy
Andre Kostelanetz conducting the St.
Killians Boys Choir on O Tannenbaum;
Connie Francis with Have
yourself a Merry Little Christmas;
Frank Sinatra and his tender version of
White Christmas and a special holiday
edition of Hands sung by Jewel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 9. December 20, 2002. On
the Majestic Side.
|
|
By now he had sought other employment.
Farr's Hallmark Stationers wouldn't get a
chance to hear the 5th and final cassette tape
of Christmas music assembled by one of its
employees. Still, Vince Daniels
was back in the studio again beginning in
December, 1999. His latest (and final) tape
didn't get completed until February of 2000.
However it wouldn't be until 9 months later that
Vinnie presented his idea for The
Christmas Collection of the Century to
the powers that be at W.P.M.D.Internet Radio at
Cerritos College. In fact, this and next hour
weren't even considered to be part of the
original 8-hour package and would not be
included until they were added and streamed over
W.P.M.D.on the Net starting in 2002.
Daniels opens this hour with Faeries, a
new adaptation of "Nutcracker Suite" by
Manheim Steamroller and he comments
about a magical quality sound in this particular
version. He said that he only wished it were as
easy as waving a magic wand and making two extra
hours of golden holiday tunes appear from out of
nowhere. Because he understood the hard work
involved in the creative process, Vince was firm
in his resolve that this 5th compilation tape
would indeed be his last. It also made him even
more careful in his selections as he went
through hundreds of albums and compact discs. At
some point during these 10 hours, our host was
sure to mention and dedicate this series to the
loving memory of "Russ," his Grandfather who
also loved Christmas music and was instrumental
in turning him on to many of these artists.
Some of the artists you'll be treated to this
hour are Percy Faith wishing
you a Happy Holiday; Boston Pops
maestro Arthur Fiedler with
Dance of the Flutes; Wonderful
Christmastime from Paul McCartney;
Amy Grant doing a medley of
A Mighty Fortress and Angels We Have
Heard on High; Fred Waring & His
Pensylvanians doing the classic musical
version based on Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit
from St. Nicholas" called 'Twas the Night
Before Christmas; The Point of
Grace and When Love Comes Down;
Stacie Orrico with
Christmas Wish and closing out the set is
one that Vince calls "perhaps the most important
Christmas song for this or any century,"
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas sung
with a lot of heart and performed by The
Charlie Daniels Band.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hour # 10. December 20, 2002. On
the Contemporary Side. |
|
At the time Vince Daniels
was putting together the 2nd side of what he
knew would be his final cassette tape of
Christmas music, little did he realize back
during the holiday season of 1999 that this
would be a particularly good year for new
yuletide music that was coming out. One such
example was a special millennium mix of Auld
Lang Syne performed by Kenny G
from his "Faith" C.D. In fact this song became
an instant radio hit. It began at the very
beginning of the 20th century and Thomas Edison
speaking his voice into the first phonograph. As
this New Years song plays itself out, you'll
hear various sound bites and clips from famous
speeches made by noteworthy celebrities,
politicians and newsmakers.
When W.P.M.D.first began airing this special
collective back in 2000, Vince felt that the
music of hours 9 and 10 were a little too modern
for the sound he was going after. His main
reason for deciding to add these two hours in
2002 was because of the success of this Kenny G
song. He purposely wanted to plug it in at the
end. According to Daniels, "I couldn't think of
a better way to end a show with the title
Christmas Collection of the Century
than by playing the sounds of the century gone
by." Also, as 2 years had now passed since the
airing of the original 8 hours, lots of new air
talent had been walking through the doors of
W.P.M.D.radio. Vinnie wanted their voices to be
added to the collection by extending their
holiday greetings to listeners.
Just a brief list of the music talent that
you'll enjoy during this hour include
Vic Damone performing Deck the Hall;
The Stylistics soulful
rendition of The Little Drummer Boy;a
favorite from Harry Connick, Jr.
called It Must've Been ol' Santa Claus
(Happy Ho Ho Ho to you); a Barry
Manilow medley of Silent Night
and I Guess There Ain't No Santa Claus;
Jo Dee Messina's A Joyful
Noise and a group that says Daniels "is so
good that we featured them twice this hour,"
The Point of Grace who, like
Kenny G had also released a new holiday
C.D.during this time when Vince was listening to
hours of music and going through a lengthy
process of elimination. "These ladies are so
talented. Stations all over were constantly
playing their latest album, and I couldn't just
play one song, so for this final hour I featured
Jingle Bell Rock and Carol of The
Bells."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
