White Christmas.

WHITE CHRISTMAS!
Every month, Steve Barkhurst drops in, with his keyboard, and entertains us with songs, for an hour. He is really talented and has a special program each month. He sings, along with his playing, and invites all of us to join him. He makes it especially interesting by reciting the history of each tune - the names of those that wrote the words and music and the year written, and additional background.
Today, was his Christmas program. He will present it 56 different places during December. He played many of the popular Christmas songs, and described how they ranked in popularity each year, as determined by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The Society determined this ranking by recapping the annual royalties for the music that they collected, and distributed to the authors. The Society makes the distinction between Christmas songs (which are not overly religious) and Christmas carols. The most performed “Holiday” songs, for the first five years of the 21st century, in rank-order, follow:
1. “The Christmas Song”
2. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
3.”Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
4. “Winter Wonderland”
5. “White Christmas”.
Note: Most years, prior to year 2000, Bing Crosby’s rendition of White Christmas was the favorite. Irving Berlin wrote the song in early 1940. “White Christmas” was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1942 musical-film - “Holiday Inn”. He sung it in a duet with Marjorie Reynolds.
“White Christmas” is emotional for me every time that I hear it. My mind goes back to Christmas eve - 1942, when I first heard it at midnight mass. I was “homesick!” - my first Christmas spent away from home. I was stationed in Cutbank, Montana with the 2nd Bomb Group flying B-17’s. We were involved with operational training, prior to going overseas.
December is a busy month for Steve, as he will present his music 56 times before Christmas. Next month he will present songs written by women. .