I’m sitting by the fireside, the Yule log burning brightly and typing this on my phone. I usually use my laptop, but leaving the fire unattended might be asking for a disaster.
The smell of the pinion logs is fragrant and heavenly, although there was quite a bit of trash in the bottom of my chimnea, so I’m probably inhaling plastic fumes as well. Ah well. The scent takes me back in time, 1978, or so, when my parents and I spent Christmas in Santa Fe. This particular road trip is a post unto itself so I’ll tell that story some other time.
This story is about my dad. He purchased from Dowling’s, one of the first boom boxes ever made. He probably paid a lot of money for it. It had Dolby sound and the ability to record cassette tapes. One of the first things he did was to slip a 30 minute TDK blank cassette into the recorder on Christmas morning
He recorded the now infamous tape, labeled Christmas 1978. All it was, was a collection of Christmas music from KKNG King Stereo 92. KKNG at that time was a classical station. Every Christmas, they did a 72 hour program of classical or close to classical Christmas music.
For years, I listened to this tape, as it was my go to Christmas music. Dad recorded a couple more through the years, before KKNG changed it’s format. But, I have every part of it mostly memorized, even if I did not know the names of the artists. I can even remember a station break that the announcer made. He said, “Merry Christmas from King Stereo 92. It’s 36 degrees at 8:30.” That was 8:30 am by the way.
When we moved across the country, I thought I brought the tape with me, but it disappeared. My husband managed to locate Christmas 86 but the music on it was more modern as it was the last Christmas KKNG did a Christmas program. So, I was sad. My dad died in 97, the year I got married. It was a memory of my dad, wrapped in jazz guitar and orchestral music.
However, on occasion, I would hear one of those songs somewhere. I can remember the guitar one played up at a cafe in Winter Park. I tried to find out the artist then with little success.
Jump to the present and the magic of YouTube content creators who took their old LP’s and uploaded the audio to their platform. Thanks to them, the version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town played by a finger picking jazz artist is none other than Tony Mottola, who recorded it in 1975.
This success led me to search for other songs I knew were on the tape. One such discovery led to a medley by the Hollywood Pops Orchestra who played Up on the House Top and several others combined.
I kept looking and listening. I remembered a beautiful choral piece that begins “When blossoms fall into snow upon a winter night… I first found the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s version but a more in depth search finally turned up the older recording.
I remember the version of Carol of the Bells was a bit scary. The French horns carry the middle of the song until the strings come blasting in with the “gayly they ring while people sing songs of good cheer Christmas is here.”
Because I am writing this outside tonight, next to my little fire, I don’t really have access to my playlist but I think I’ve found the majority of them. I know there is one that eludes me, as I can hear a fragment of it in my head but not enough to identify it. It is frustrating to have my memory crap out like that, but one day, in the shower probably, it will come to me.
The tape was only about fifteen minutes on each side, which means three to five songs on each side. Plus, there were station breaks but no advertising. So, there were pauses that took up space on the tape.
I am proud of myself for remembering what I have. Being able to put a name to the artist after all these years is satisfying. I admit crying when I found Tony Mottola. That jazz guitar has haunted me for years.
It is a wonderful Christmas memory and if I can, I will link some of them to this post.
Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🎄
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siriusmoonlight 