"You've got to remember that the Phil Spector Christmas album did much better insubsequent years than it did initially, because it came out on the day President Kennedy was assassinated," says Tiven. "Wehad a parallel thing. The day Feed theChildren gave us a full half-hour to feature the record on BET, they ran it opposite the first installment of The Beatles Anthology."
Stellar Christmas recordings, like The Little Drummer Boy by the Harry Simeone Chorale, do return year after year, gaining in stature as indispensable holiday staples.
As evidence of this reality, Johnny Colla points to the delayed success of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon. And, he says, the public eventually came around to Paul McCartney's 1979 effort, "Wonderful Christmastime."
"Although I don't like that one. You can hear his bubblegum snapping on it," Tiven comments.
Of course, other less notable holiday efforts, like the fad-driven "What Can YouGet a Wookiee for Christmas" by the StarWars Intergalactic Droid Choir, or thedepressing "I Won't Be Home for Christmas" by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, mercifully never made it to a second pressing. Ditto for the insufferable "Christmas Blues" by Canned Heat and the Chipmunks, which paired two Liberty recording artists for no apparent reason other than to try the world's patience.
Everyone involved with Holiday Heroes is determined to make the album a standard issue. "My only regret is that all these great artists weren't able to do it all together in one place," says Cavaliere.
Step 11: The Tree-Trimming Test
My way of gauging a Christmas album's staying power? I pop it on while decorating O Tannenbaum. And if grumpy ol' you-know-who doesn't get in the holiday spirit, it's outta here. Alongside my usual holiday playlist--William Bell's "Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday," Elvis' Christmas Album and, yep, even that sugary Partridge Family concoction--Holiday Heroes passed the test with flying colors. I smiled a lot, and even got goofy once or twice (just like I do when George Bailey finds out what a wonderful life he has).
It's to Tiven's credit that he and Tucker broke virtually every standard marketing procedure and still managed to get Holiday Heroes out in time for Christmas. They've given us a great gift this year, reintroducing some well-loved voices that have been missing in action for far too long and providing a temporary respite from "The Twelve Days of Christmas"--certainly the most interminable, loathsome Christmas carol known to man and beast.
For that alone, these heroes deserve a medal with holly cluster.
Holiday Heroes is in stores now; it is also available for order through Soul Purpose Records. Call 312-922-9378.
