Music Monday

And since I am on vacation, [an edited] re-run from 2021.  

So today I play songs about Christmas in NYC.

 

"Silver Bells" was introduced in a movie called The Lemon Drop Kid, based on a Damon Runyan story.  It's a comedy, a tale about the gamblers who inhabited NYC.  (Yes, Runyon is also responsible for the characters who inhabit Guys and Dolls.) And Bob Hope was the person chosen to sing the song.

You have to include the Rockettes, of course. NYC without the Rockettes is unthinkable.

Though I dare say the unthinkable happened …no performance in 2020 of course, and last year the Rockettes canceled half of their season because of COVID.

 

Lea Michelle has a great take on Christmas in the city.  

  

And of course there's Rob Thomas.  A song that he first recorded almost 20 years ago, when the city was recovering from 9/11, but now addresses a different kind of pain.

  

And let’s not forget Darlene Love.  She does a Christmas concert in NYC every year.  Her appearances on Letterman were legendary.  (In 2022 she’s doing concerts in NYC suburbs but not in Manhattan.)

Given that we’ve lost so many of our stars from the 60’s recently,  Drew and I are determined to see our favorites whenever we can.  So of course we bought tickets for Darlene Love’s concert at Town Hall December 18, 2021.  Though after she canceled her performance on The View earlier in the week due to COVID, we were concerned the concert would be shut down, too.

Fortunately it was not canceled.

  

 We were among the fortunate ones who got to do the (socially distanced) meet and greet before the show.

She looks great for an 80 year old, and can still put on a great show.

  

So let’s play a few of her hits.

  

  

And bonus hit, fan video from Town Hall…