Aretha Franklin Ushers in the New Year

As only she can. Could any other performer have gotten that audience response?

Later,

Merry Christmas, Everyone

10 years ago, I was called in on very short notice (I was composing in the car on the way) to pinch-hit a keynote address to a conference on homelessness in Vermont. I’m recalling that day on this Christmas Eve. I closed with this:

“We’re about to begin the season where something like a billion people around the world are going to celebrate the birth of a man who said that we should treat others as we would like to be treated; that we should not judge, lest we be judged; that we should love those who don’t like us; and that we should comfort those who suffer. He was also the guy who brought the best wine to a wedding reception, but that’s another story.

“And on the night he was born, he and his mother and father didn’t have a place to stay. So they spent that night in a barn.

“Now, you may not be one of those who embrace the religious institutions that have grown up based on this man’s life and beliefs, but even so, those ideas are a pretty decent framework for a good life and a good society. They are the basis of our work, and I want to thank you for the work that you are doing.

“Let us go now in peace together to serve our sisters and brothers.”

Later,

Darlene Love’s Smokin’ Christmas Anthem

From Letterman, last year. Worth a re-listen, always.

Later,

Merry Christmas from The Drifters!

One of my all-time faves . . . .

Later,

Eartha Kitt Knows the Way to Santa’s Heart

Later,

Kick Out Your Christmas Jams with Joan Jett

Later,

My Christmas Isn’t Complete without Willem Lange Reading the Story of Favor Johnson

Later,

Merry Meet, and Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again!

Happy Yule, y’all! Dance around the fires! Break out the mead!

Later,

Feliz Navidad, Everyone!

Later,

The Roches Come A’Caroling . . .

Later,