A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs - XMAS BONUS: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Episode Date: December 28, 2022

As we’re in the period between Christmas and New Year, the gap between episodes is going to be longer than normal, and the podcast proper is going to be back on January the ninth. So nobody has to wait around for another fortnight for a new episode, I thought I’d upload some old Patreon bonus episodes to fill the gap. Every year around Christmas the bonus episodes I do tend to be on Christmas songs and so this week I’m uploading three of those. These are older episodes, so don’t have the same production values as more recent episodes, and are also shorter than more recent bonuses, but I hope they’re still worth listening to. (more…)

As we're in the period between Christmas and New Year, the gap between episodes is going to be longer than normal, and the podcast proper is going to be back on January 9th. So nobody has to wait around for another fortnight for a new episode. I thought I'd upload some old Patreon bonus episodes to fill the gap. Every year around Christmas, the bonus episodes I do tend to be on Christmas songs, and so this week I'm uploading three of those. These are older episodes, so don't have the same production

values as more recent episodes, and are also shorter than more recent bonuses, but I hope they're still worth listening to. It's the middle of December, as you have probably noticed, and that means it's a time when the airwaves in both the UK and the US are dominated by Christmas music. The music that's most prominent in the UK. We'll have to wait until we get to the 70s for a discussion. But this weekend next, in these bonus episodes, I'll be looking at a few American Christmas classics. Here come Santa Claus, here come Santa Claus right down Santa Claus Lane. Fixin and blixing and all his reindeer's pulling on the reins. Bells are ringing children singing all is merry and bright.

So hang your stockings and say your prayers called Santa Claus. If I'd been doing these Patreon bonus episodes from the beginning of the podcast, rather than waiting for the first six months or so to do them on a regular basis, I'd have covered Gene Autrium one by about the fourth episode. He's someone whose name you'll have heard a lot in the podcast. He was an influence on all sorts of musicians we've looked at

in all areas of music. Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cuck, Hank Ballard, Bo Diddley, Bill Haley, Fats Domino, and Les Paul, all acknowledged him as someone they were trying to imitate in one way or another, and that's just the ones where I've been able to find clear confirmation. Audrey was not, in any direct sense, a precursor to rock and roll. He didn't make records that included any of the elements that later became prominent in the new music, and he didn't have a rebellious image at all. But from the early 1930s to the early 1950s,

he was the single biggest star in country music. He starred in many films, had his own radio show, had a line of comics about him, and he was so popular that even his horse had his own radio and TV show. British people from my generation may well remember

champion the wonder horse still being repeated as kids' TV in the 80s. That's how big Gene Autry was, and so it's unsurprising that he influenced pretty much every singer of note in the rock and roll field. But he was also, along with Bing Crosby, one of the people who pioneered American secular Christmas music. You know Dasher and dancer and vixen,

comet and cupid and donner, and blitzin but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose and if you ever saw I specify American secular music here because one thing that differs between the US and the UK when it comes to Christmas is the music that's ubiquitous in the UK, Christmas music mostly means glam rock. You hear Slade and Wizard incessantly, and other 70s artists like mud. In the US though, it means primarily the music of the 40s and 50s, the music of people like Jean Autry. Ortry started

his career as just another country singer, who performed as Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy. His early recordings were very much in the style of Jimmy Rogers, and were very different from his later clean-cut image. But in 1932 he had a hit with a standard of country music, a rather mortal in ballad called That Silver Hair Daddy of Mine. Covered shack in the mountains bravely fighting the battle of time Is a dear one

Whose weathered life sorrows Tis that silver hair daddy of mine As a result of that hit Otrey started appearing in films The first film he appeared in was a serial The Phantom Empire in which he starred as a singing cowboy who is kidnapped by people from the underground super science kingdom Morania, descendants of the lost tribe of Mu, and has to help them defend themselves

from an evil scientist who wants to steal their radium. It may not surprise you that the writer of the film came up with the plot for it while on nitrous oxide, having a tooth extracted. Autry made another 44 films in the next five years, and every year, from 1937 through 1942 he was the top star of Western films in the US as well as having a whole series of hits with songs like

Blueberry Hill However in However in 1942 he Enlisted in the Army Against the wishes of Republic the film studio for whom he worked. They told him that if he was just going to go off and fight Nazis instead of making singing cowboy films, they were going to promote Roy Rogers instead. So from 1942 through 1945, Autry was off fighting in the Second World War. After he got back,

he was the second most successful singing cowboy film star, after Rogers. It was in 1947, but Autry got the inspiration for the song that would define his career. He was riding his horse in a Christmas parade known as the Santa Claus Lane Parade and he heard spectators saying Here comes Santa Claus. Here come Santa Claus right down Santa Claus Lane

Fixin and blixen and all his reindeer's pulling on the reins bells are ringing children singing all is merry and bride So hang your stockings and say your prayers Santa Claus comes tonight. Here comes Santa Claus, here come Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane.

He's got a bag that's filled with toys for boys and girls again. Hear those sleigh bells jingle, jangle, oh, what a beauty. Here comes Santa Claus, not only charted that Christmas, it charted the Christmas after as well. Given that Autry's recording career

was slowly fading, it seemed to make sense for him to record another Christmas song about Santa and see if he could repeat his success. The red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names.

They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games, Not only did that go to number one And become the first number one of the 50s But here comes Santa Claus Chartered for the third year in a row So of course the next year After an Easter single, Peter Cotton Tail Which also charted

But didn't have the same repeat success as the Christmas songs He recorded yet another Christmas single Frosty the Snowman Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul With a corncob pipe and a button nose And two eyes made out of cold Frosty the snowman made the children laugh and play Were they surprised before their eyes

He came to life that day There must have been some magic in the The next year, he didn't release a Christmas single at all and he seemed to lose momentum. In 1952, he released one final Christmas record, upon the housetop. Up on the housetop, reindeer paws, out jumps good old Santa Claus,

down through the chimney with lots of toys, all for the little one's Christmas joys. Ho, ho, ho! Who wouldn't go? Ho, ho, who wouldn't go? Up on the house top, click, click, click, Down through the chimney with old St. Nick. But that had nothing like the success his earlier Christmas records had. He carried on making films and TV shows until the mid-50s,

and finally retired in 1964. He died in 1998. His Christmas records still occasionally hit the charts in December and regularly feature in the special holiday charts Billboard Publish every year. Bo la-da-do-ro-and-roll Yeah Rock and roll And rogand-roll and rogol