Tag: #KristinChenoweth

Tomorrow’s Top 40: Christmas Edition

In this edition of Tomorrow’s Top 40, I am going to take a look at some of the many new Christmas releases that are flooding the marketplace at the moment. With the tremendous success experienced by Mariah Carey a few decades ago with “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, the market for the next great original Holiday song is wide open. It seems to me that almost everyone who’s anyone has jumped into the Holiday music scene with a new album this season. For me, what sets a Holiday album apart is when an artist or band includes songs that go beyond the usual Christmas suspects heard ad nauseam in shopping malls, on our car radio, in restaurants and so on as November winds down and December gears up. So, with that in mind, here are ten new Holiday releases that are all hoping to be the one to put you in that festive mood. Enjoy.

Happiness (Is Christmas) by Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth is well known from her work on a variety of Broadway musicals such as Wicked. Needless to say, the lady can sing and has charm to boot. This Christmas album is filled with many original tunes that are sung with the dramatic flair of a seasoned professional singer who appears to be having the time of her life. I am not sure that there is a Carey-calibre hit on this album but that is ok. Happiness (Is Christmas) is packed with energy and sounds like a Broadway cast recording which should appeal to many listeners who are seeking something different from the usual Holiday fare like Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”. If you are a Kristin Chenoweth fan during the non-Holiday portion of the year, then you’ll be a fan of this album, too. Here is “Happiness (Is Christmas)?Christmas Time Is Here”. ***There is no lyrics video for this song as of yet.

The Season by Steve Perry

That Steve Perry, former lead singer of the 1980s rock band Journey, has one of the best sets of pipes of any male singer around, is a hill that I am willing to die on. So, imagine my delight when I found out that he had re-emerged onto the music scene with a new Christmas album entitled The Season. However, the press release that accompanied this album spoke of Perry’s yearning to sing some “timeless classics” which is a code for singing the usual Christmas fare. There are no new songs written by Mr. Perry on this album. Instead, we have a stripped down, jazzed up, smoking-jacket-by-the-fire style of singing by Perry of Holiday standards such as Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”. If you think that an album of Steve Perry channeling his best Michael Bublé is your cup of tea, then you will like this album. I predict that fans of the band Journey will not. Here is “Silver Bells”. ***The lyric video is here.

Happy Holidays by Billy Idol

It was Billy Idol’s 67th birthday yesterday (as I type these words). One of the things that I always liked about Billy Idol is that he never seemed to take himself too seriously on stage. He always seemed to be in on the joke and, as such, he was a great entertainer all throughout his career. This was especially true once the big hits dried up in the 80s and 90s and he became more of a nostalgia act. It takes a certain type of singer to successfully transition from stadium rocker to Vegas-style lounge act, but Billy Idol has managed to make it seem effortless. His hit music always had great sound quality. Part of the reason for this was because of his deep singing voice. The combination of a rich singing voice and his comfort with being a lounge singer means that Billy Idol, unlike Steve Perry above, seems perfectly suited to croon out the “timeless classic” Christmas songs that we all know. Happy Holidays is a great album to listen to, especially if you visualize him curling his upper lip into a sneer with each mention of Santa. Here is “White Christmas”. ***The lyrics video is here. This video makes me laugh.

A Very Backstreet Christmas by The Backstreet Boys

When I think of the boy band craze of the 1980s and 90s, I remember a lot of singing that featured harmonies and a lot of choreographed dancing. Even though I cannot see the members of the Backstreet Boys while listening to this album to know if they are dancing or not, the harmonies certainly remain and shine through. This may sound like an obvious statement to make, but even though these guys are singing “timeless classic” tunes that we all are familiar with, they are doing so in a way that makes this album sound just like any other Backstreet Boys album. This is the very first Christmas album that they have released in the thirty years that they have been singing as a group. But, believe me when I tell you that their style of singing makes each song on this album instantly recognizable as a Backstreet Boys song, even if they are covering a song like “Last Christmas”, for instance. If you are a Backstreet Boys fan then you will love A Very Backstreet Christmas. Here is their cover of “Last Christmas”. ***The lyrics video is here.

Everybody Knows It’s Christmas by Chris Isaak

Mr. “Wicked Games” himself, Chris Isaak delivers a Christmas album that features almost all original music. On the standards such as “O Holy Night”, one could easily mistake him for Elvis, such is the rich timbre of his voice. Many of the original tunes on this album were written by Isaak and strike more of a rockabilly tone. His entry into the Carey-calibre derby is a song entitled “Almost Christmas”, which takes us through an afternoon of frantic Christmas shopping on December 24th. This song is whimsical and will make you smile. I am sure it will become a popular new entry into the modern day Christmas seasonal canon for years to come. All in all, Chris Isaak has delivered an album that is fresh and filled with great energy and superb singing. Don’t wait until Christmas Eve to download this terrific Christmas album. Here is “Almost Christmas”. ***There is no lyrics video for this song yet.

Pickin’ On Christmas by Davis Causey and Jay Smith

Pickin’ On Christmas is an instrumental Bluegrass Christmas album. For those of you who are not familiar with Davis Causey, he is a Bluegrass performer who has been making music for over sixty years! He was a session player extraordinaire for much of that time and over the course of his career has backed up a bevy of stars such as Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, Bonnie Raitt and many more. The story behind this album is that it began two decades ago as a project that was never meant to be an album. Instead, Causey, along with his friend, Jay Smith, recorded these songs and created cds as gifts for their friends. Causey and Smith were good friends for many years, so when Smith passed away recently, Causey was asked how he would remember his friend. He answered by playing some of the tunes that they had recorded together. It was decided to make those informal gift cds into a polished professional record. The result is Pickin’ On Christmas. If you are fine with instrumental music then this album would be a great addition to your own collection of Holiday music. The musicianship on display is at a high level. Their take on these “timeless classics” is lovely and is done in a way that makes these familiar tunes uniquely their own. Excellent album. For what it is worth, it is my favourite album on this entire list. Here is “The Little Drummer Boy”. ***Remember, this is an instrumental album so there is no lyrics video for this song.

A Family Christmas by Andrea, Matteo and Virginia Bocelli

In order to appreciate what this album adds to the Holiday music canon, I want you to imagine what it must have been like to grow up in a family where your father is an internationally famous tenor. When I imagine this scenario in my mind, I see images of growing up in a home filled with music and warmth. If that is what you see then we will both enjoy this Bocelli Family Christmas album. Matteo Bocelli is Andrea’s son and Virginia Bocelli is his daughter. Needless to say, the musical apple has not fallen far from the tree. Both Matteo (who is twenty years old) and Virginia (who is entering her teens) possess beautiful singing voices, just like their father. There seems to be an easy rapport between them all as they sing their way through the “timeless classics”, and somehow they manage to cover familiar musical ground in a manner that demonstrates the affection that they have for one another. If you are a fan of Tenor-style singing, then this album is a must-have for your collection. The music is simply gorgeous. Here is “The Greatest Gift”. ***The lyrics video is here. ***Both videos are excellent. Well worth checking out.

Santa Baby by Alicia Keys

I have been an Alicia Keys fan right from the release of her very first single, “Falling”, way back in the 1990s. Over the course of her career, she has sold over 66 million records. Santa Baby is her very first album of Christmas music. Of all the performers seeking to replicate Mariah Carey’s success, Alicia Keys stands the best chance simply because her original Christmas song, “December Back 2 June”, sounds the most like a Mariah Carey song. It is soulful, jazzy, bluesy and filled with soaring moments that seem to thrill listeners. Not only does this song sound like a song that Mariah Carey could be singing, but Alicia Keys even followed Carey’s writing formula by creating the lyrics and recording the song in the middle of the summer, just as Mariah Carey did for her hit song. While it remains to be seen if “December Back 2 June” reaches the same dizzying heights that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” did back in the day, don’t be surprised if it does. This song strikes me as one that was written with being a hit in mind. If you give it a listen and like it then the rest of the album will sit well with you, too. Here is “December Back 2 June”. ***Lyrics version is here.

Louis Armstrong Wishes You a Cool Yule by Louis Armstrong

The music industry is known for many things but one of the most suspect ones is the “posthumous release”. Many artists sign contracts with record labels that promise the label x-number of albums during a certain period of time. However, real life being what it is, sometimes an artist dies before fulfilling their contractual obligations. When that happens, record labels will often insist on having the terms of the contract met, which is why after an artist dies we often see the release of “Greatest Hits” albums and/or albums that were recorded live somewhere. The downside of this for the artist is that the artist has no control over what is released in their name. As a result, sometimes a record label will release an album of outtakes, b-sides and rarities that the artists would never have released if they had been alive. So, I always view posthumous releases with a wary eye. With Louis Armstrong Wishes You a Cool Yule I needn’t have worried. This album is a collection of Holiday recordings from over the course of his career. It includes duets with Ella Fitzgerald and a spoken word rendition by Satchmo, himself, of “The Night Before Christmas”. In short, as posthumous releases go, Louis Armstrong Wishes You a Cool Yule defies convention and is actually wonderful in all regards. It would make an excellent soundtrack to a Holiday dinner I would imagine. Here is “Twas the Night Before Christmas” as read by Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. ***The lyrics version is here.

A Neil Diamond Christmas by Neil Diamond

Our tenth and final Christmas album under review is A Neil Diamond Christmas by the man, himself, Neil Diamond. Over the course of his career, Neil Diamond has released four albums of Christmas music. This latest album cherry picks from those four albums to create an album that is not quite a “Greatest Hits” album but one that purports to be Neil’s favourite songs from those four albums. Needless to say, the music is very orchestral, soaring often on the strength of Diamond’s rich voice. In the same way that the Backstreet Boys Christmas album still sounded like a Backstreet Boys album even though they were covering familiar holiday songs, Neil Diamond’s Christmas album sounds like a Neil Diamond album, too. If you are a fan of the man, then you will enjoy this album of his favourite Christmas classics. Here is “The Christmas Song” from this album. ***There is no lyrics version for this song.

I hope that you enjoyed this post and that you were able to find something from this list that might find its way into your home during the holiday season. If not, then I know that there is no shortage of “timeless classics” playing everywhere you go. One way or another, may your holidays be filled with joy and love and, of course, with good music, too.

***As an editorial note, this is the final Tomorrow’s Top 40 post for 2022. For the next few Thursdays, I am going to use this space to talk about the stories behind some of those very same “timeless classic” songs that make up the soundtrack to our holidays. See you all then. Take care. Thanks for tuning in and reading my words. I appreciate your presence here on my blog. Bye for now. Happy Holidays.

The links to the official websites for Kristin Chenoweth, Steve Perry, Billy Idol, the Backstreet Boys, Davis Causey, Alicia Keys, Chris Isaak, Andrea Bocelli, Louis Armstrong and Neil Diamond can be found by clicking on their names above.

***As always, all original content contained within this blog post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2022 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com

Defying Gravity from the musical, Wicked…Song #14/250: The Stars of Stage and Screen.

The stories behind the most memorable songs from Hollywood movies and Broadway musicals.

The classic children’s novel, The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum.

In 1900, Frank Baum published a children’s novel entitled, The Wizard of Oz. In the century and a bit that has followed, The Wizard of Oz has gone on to become one of the most highly regarded and bestselling children’s novels of all time. By now, the characters are all fairly familiar with Dorothy and her dog, Toto arriving in Oz because of a tornado only to encounter munchkins, a scarecrow, a cowardly lion and a tin man, along with several witches and the Wizard of Oz, himself. The ruby red slippers that Dorothy finds and that the Wicked Witch of the West covets have taken their places among the most iconic movie props in Hollywood history. When Frank Baum published his book, his story was built upon a foundation of advice for children. This advice centered upon such fundamental things as always believing in yourself and staying true to your friends. But, as time has progressed, The Wizard of Oz book came to symbolize something else…something more grown up in nature. In time, adults came to realize that Frank Baum was also making a political statement with his book. That statement had to do with the nature of politics and of governing and how, as citizens, you shouldn’t always believe what you are being told by your leaders because what you are being told is not always the truth. The Wizard of Oz became a bestselling book. Then, it became an award-winning movie starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the story of Oz became a musical. This post is about that musical, which came to be called Wicked and how the appearance of truth can be deceptive, as Frank Baum had postulated over a century ago.

The musical, Wicked, is based upon a 1995 book by author Gregory Maguire called, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In his book, Maguire tells the familiar Oz story from the perspective of Elphaba (the real name of the Wicked Witch of the West). Maguire’s ability to present the story from the point of view of one of literature’s most famous villains is an important one because it allows us to understand the need for critical thinking with regard to our history and the stories about our lives that we all believe to be true. One of the great truisms regarding our civilization is that its history is written by the victors. A simple example of this in Canada is how, for so many high school students, Canadian history has come to be stories of how people like Champlain and Cartier sailed across the ocean from Europe and conquered the land now known as Canada. Not much is ever said about the perspective of the Indigenous Peoples of this land who would, not surprisingly, take a much different and dimmer view of Champlain and these other explorers and colonizers. So, it has come to be accepted that those in power get to create the narrative by which we view ourselves and those around us who share our stories. Believe me when I tell you that there are whole libraries filled with books about the impact of our cultural stories on the lives of marginalized groups in our society. For the sake of a specific example, I present the story of Wicked.

Wicked’s storyline begins before the arrival of Dorothy and Toto in the Land of Oz. It starts out with the story of a woman who has an affair during which she gleefully drinks a green elixir. Out of this romantic tryst a baby girl is born. However, she was born with green skin. Needless to say, the colour of her skin has a big impact on how she is viewed by others and how she comes to view herself. The baby girl is named Elphaba. As she grows up, she comes in contact with another girl named Galinda. Galinda is everything that Elphaba feels she is not: she is cute, she is socially popular and all of the adults seem to dote upon her. As Elphaba and Galinda grow up together, the world of politics enters their lives in the form of an organized campaign to cage and imprison animals. In the Land of Oz, many animals are endowed with human-like qualities. In Wicked, one of Elphaba’s favourite professors is a goat who, one day, informs the class that his time as their teacher is drawing to a close because of new laws being passed against animals who can speak aloud. Not long after hearing this news, Elphaba’s teacher is replaced. This new teacher starts her first lesson by parading a caged lion cub in front of the class. The lesson being given is all about power and superiority but, to Elphaba, what she sees horrifies her. In her anger, she discovers that she has the ability to cast a spell. In doing so, she is able to put everyone in her class to sleep while she frees the lion cub. But, by doing so, Elphaba comes to the attention of the headmistress of her school who agrees to instruct her in the art of sorcery. Not long after, Elphaba asks that Galinda also be given the same lessons. Elphaba does this in the hope that she and Galinda can become true friends. Galinda agrees but does not view Elphaba with gratitude. Instead, as a “thank you”, she gifts Elphaba with a pointy black hat for her to wear at a party they are all going to. When Elphaba shows up wearing her stylish new hat, she finds herself mocked and ridiculed…which is the first step toward creating her identity as a black-hatted wicked witch. In time, the headmistress tells Elphaba that she believes in her and thinks she is ready to take her concerns about animal rights to the great Wizard of Oz, himself. Elphaba is thrilled and nervous, at the same time. Upon arrival in the Wizard’s palace, Elphaba and Galinda (who has accompanied her) discover what we all know about the Wizard of Oz and that he is just a puffed up phony with no real magical powers nor legal authority. This disillusionment causes Elphaba and Galinda both to see their world differently. Elphaba dedicates herself to opposing the Wizard’s regime and becoming someone who refuses to “play by the rules” that govern her and society. Thus, she becomes a rebel.

Idina Menzel, as Elphaba, sings, “Defying Gravity”.

At this stage in the musical, Idina Menzel (who played Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (who plays Galinda) sing the song, “Defying Gravity”. This song is designed to be a show-stopper and is packed with many moments in which Menzel, in particular, gets to show off her vocal range. The song depicts a pivotal moment in the lives of both characters. In it, Elphaba declares herself a free person and promises to go out into the world on her own terms. She offers a seat on her broom to her “friend” Galinda but Galinda turns her down and allows Elphaba to defy gravity and fly away. This song ends Act #1. As Act #2 unfolds, we see that Glinda, the Good Witch, as she is now called, has become the public face of those in charge of the Land of Oz. Meanwhile, Elphaba has fled to the west to Munchkinland and is being called The Wicked Witch of the West by those in charge. There are love stories interwoven within this storyline and other plot developments, too. But, everything else that happens in Act #2 leads us to the climax of the story. Because you know the book, you know what happens in the end. Wicked does not alter the ending. But now, because the story of Oz has been told from a different perspective, we are left to wonder if the death of Elphaba is actually the cause for celebration that it has always been portrayed. Wicked asks us, as an audience, to revisit our preconceived ideas about what we believe to be true and re-examine if, in fact, the truth is real. Wicked leads us to question whether Elphaba was actually ever really wicked in the first place and whether her characterization as such was simply a political move by those in power to cause public opinion to sway against someone that they may have viewed as a threat. Conversely, was Glinda the Good Witch actually the good person she was always portrayed as being?

When I was still a teacher, I often led the children through a unit on Fairy Tales. I always found Fairy Tales to be a great way to introduce the elements of story writing to young children. Most Fairy Tales have well-defined beginnings, middles and ends. Most Fairy Tales have well-defined “good” and “evil” characters, too. However, a great thing used to happen as this unit moved along. As we made lists of the various characters who populated these stories, we would divide them up into charts of “good” and “evil” characters. At that point, I would help the kids describe the character traits that helped to make a character “good” or “evil”. If I did my job properly, at some point during this discussion, the kids would realize that most fairy tales are sexist as all get out. Almost all of the heroic characters are Princes and Kings. Almost all the helpless characters in need of being saved are beautiful females. Almost all of the truly nasty characters are strong women. Again, if I played my cards correctly, without having to say anything myself, one of the girls in the class would raise her hand and say, “Hey! Wait a minute!” because she was seeing these stories for what they were for the first time in her life. Because I took the kids through this unit, I always went out of my way to have books in the classroom in which some of the heroes were female (such as Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch or even Hansel and Gretel) or were Black-skinned or that had male characters in non-masculine roles and so on. Unfortunately, our world is far more complex and nuanced than many wish for it to be. But, our discomfort at having our life stories revealed to be false is no reason not to become critical thinkers. Whether it is school curriculum or the leadlines in our local newspapers, on TV or online, it behooves us to question what we are being told by those in positions of authority. As Frank Baum stated over a century ago, be a good friend to others, believe in the strength of your own character and always be willing to pull back the curtain on those in power. That’s what the Wizard of Oz was about. That’s what the musical, Wicked is about. Like it or not, that is what life is about, too.

The link to the video for the song, “Defying Gravity” from the musical, Wicked can be found here.

The link to the official website for the musical, Wicked can be found here.

***As always, all original content found in this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post may be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2022 tommacinneswriter.com