Jewish Stereo Types

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," sung by a 13-year-old Brenda Lee: Video posted by Christmas Music "A Holly Jolly Christmas," sung by Lady Antebellum: Video posted by ChristmasEve12345 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," sung by Ben Rector (in a slightly less familiar fashion than other covers): Video posted by Ben Rector Although he wrote 175 published songs , these three massive hits--and the over twenty other Christmas songs he wrote--led songwriter Johnny Marks to name his music publishing company "St. Nicholas Music." Despite this very public acknowledgment of the importance of Christmas to his career, Marks was Jewish . Here's a little from the man himself--Ian Whitcomb Interviews Johnny Marks: Video posted by adamgswanson I'm afraid that Mr. Marks was being just a wee bit disingenuous there about the inspiration for the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," since it came from a booklet writt...

I bet you thought this was going to be about "Baby, It's Cold Outside," but no. Not tonight. Tonight we're spotlighting "Santa Baby," written by Philip Springer and Joan Javits, which was controversial enough when it came out in 1953 to be banned by some stations, because--*gasp!*--it was too sexy. (One wonders what those stations would have made of, oh, say, "WAP"...ah, well, autre temps and all that.) Here's a cover by Kelly Clarkson singing "Santa Baby," full dressed and doing nothing untoward to her mike: Video posted by The Kelly Clarkson Vault "Santa Baby" was another of the Christmas classics written to order --in this case, it was a record company wanting a Christmas number for Eartha Kitt, who surprised absolutely no one when she later titled her memoir Confessions of a Sex Kitten . Philip Springer, who had written a few hits by then, and Joan Javits, a Brill Building staff writer, came up with a list for S...

"The Christmas Waltz," by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, sung by She and Him (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward): Video posted by SheandHimOfficial According to Sammy Cahn, it was written during a hot California summer, because Frank Sinatra called and asked for a Christmas song . Wanting to at least not compete directly with Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," they wrote a waltz. And since Sinatra used it as the B side to "White Christmas," it was just as well. As I have mentioned before (and as is strongly suggested by their names), both Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (pronounced "Julie Stine") were Jewish, with Styne writing mostly for Broadway, Cahn writing mostly for movies, and both writing SO MANY SONGS, both with each other and with others. Lyricist Sammy Cahn was born on the Lower East Side of New York to Jewish immigrants. He started writing lyrics at about age 16 , which (spoiler alert!) ended well: He won four Oscars for Best Song ...

Here's the thing: In a proper book musical, all the songs have to be part of the story. And yet, if the song is TOO much part of the story, it stays in the show, rather than becoming a classic. And if the New Deal is in your lyrics, let alone the title, your song is really quite solidly embedded your play. So, not a holiday staple. But it is also stuck in my head, thanks to one of those live-on-TV productions 10 days ago, so..."A New Deal for Christmas" from Annie , by Strouse and Charnin: Video posted by BroadwayTVArchive As I've mentioned before, both Charles Strouse (music) and Martin Charnin (lyrics) are Jewish. "Tomorrow" notwithstanding, the show won seven Tony Awards, two Broadway revivals (so far), three movies (not counting sequels), and the aforementioned live-on-TV production, starring Harry Connick, Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, so it's doing pretty well without spawning a Christmas standard. (But I confess to being a bit sorry that FDR'...

...the OTHER dreidel song! Remember how I ever-so-subtly implied that dreidel is not the most, um, complicated of games? Well, this song does not have the most complicated of lyrics. If you live outside Israel the lyrics translate to: Dreidel spin, spin, spin Chanukah is a good holiday Chanukah is a good holiday Dreidel spin, spin, spin A happy holiday it is for the nation A great miracle happened there A great miracle happened there A happy holiday it is for the nation And if you live in Israel, the second paragraph translates to: Spin, please, spin like this and that A great miracle happened here A great miracle happened here Spin, please, spin like this and that ...because if you happen to live in Israel, the miracle of the oil happened "HERE" rather than "THERE," and both the dreidel and the song reflect that. Now, you'd think that the only way to sing this song written for children would be to have children sing it, like this: Vide...