Jewish Stereo Types

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...

Well. SOME snow. A dusting of snow. It was pretty, and then it was gone. THE BEST KIND OF SNOW! So in honor of the best kind of snow, here is Jason Mraz singing "Winter Wonderland" by Richard B. Smith and Felix Bernard: Video courtesy of wavester How's that for an acoustic version? (Yes, that's a Santa hat, and Jason mentions Chanukah, but the actual lyrics do not mention Christmas or Chanukah or any holiday at all. Just winter. It is still winter.) I also love the Eurythmics' very cool version, and since I don't feel like choosing, let's have that, too: Video posted by DreamsILive *** I can find very little about Richard B. Smith, the lyricist, but Wikipedia (which is never wrong) says he was Episcopalian. (He had a very short life, dying at age 34 of tuberculosis.) However, the composer, Felix Bernard (Felix William Bernhardt), was Jewish. [How do we--and Wikipedia--know this? Nate Bloom went and found Bernard's parents, Charles a...

...but here in New York City, although it is in fact snowing, we're just getting a pretty dusting. So, let's go on a little "Sleigh Ride," by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish, sung by The Ronettes: Video from PhilSpectorVEVO That's a 1963 recording, and a classic, but if you prefer something a little more contemporary, here's "Sleigh Ride" sung by Pentatonix (which also has the advantage of including the two verses--almost everyone else leaves them out): Video from PTXofficial Leroy Anderson composed "Sleigh Ride" as an orchestral piece first recorded by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops: Video posted by luckysmusic However, when the Boston Pops recording became a hit, Anderson got Mitchell Parish , who had already written lyrics for a number of Anderson's compositions, to fit lyrics to the melody. It's not the easiest thing in the world to fit lyrics to a melody that is already fixed in people's heads. As Leroy ...

"Baby, It's Cold Outside," by Frank Loesser, as sung by Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Video posted by Dragon Blast New York hasn't seen temps above freezing in almost two weeks and at this point it's cold inside, too! Alas, it is no longer possible to play this song without addressing the controversy that has arisen around it over the years because of the "wolf" and "mouse" aspects of the song, especially the "Say, what's in that drink?" lyric. And of course, if you look at the lyrics (or listen to some of the recorded duets), it certainly sounds like a man pressuring a woman to submit to sex. First, that line, which sounds suspiciously like it's referring to a date rape drug. TODAY. The song was written in 1944, before date rape drugs were a thing that people normally thought of, and I've definitely heard that line used (mostly by men) in several movies of that period--a slangy way of saying "I didn...