Hey – I was just on A Corporate Time with Tom and Dan on 104.1 FM Real Radio WTKS – and we talked about some of my favorite underplayed Christmas songs – along with a few for Hanukkah. Thanks to the guys for letting me share some good music you rarely hear on the radio! Here’s my full list, including a bunch that we didn’t get to play. I’d also suggest going over to the search bar here and typing in “Christmas” for a bunch of songs that I’ve written about in the past.

Merry merry!

Here’s a great example of what an editor can do. Do you know the ’70s classic rock standard “Black Betty” by Ram Jam? A producer took a rambling jam of a 4:25 single, credited to Starstruck, and pared it down, looped some bits, and came up with a 2:33 classic.

Sometimes, you turn on the radio and hear a familiar song but it doesn’t quite sound right. Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” is one of those records – because, over the years, it’s been released to radio and streaming services in so many versions.

Best known is the take that you saw on MTV and heard on most radio stations in 1987. It’s the version with the picture up top, where they didn’t bother to take the price tag off Tawny Kitaen’s new shoes. Today, it exists on YouTube as a blurry “official” clip from Rhino Records.

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Thanks again to The Daily Flash for having me on to talk about what’s new in the supermarket!  We went through all three new flavors of Lay’s potato chips for the Do Us a Flavor Promotion – Valentina & Lime, Bacon Grilled Cheese, and Wavy Korean-Style Fried Chicken.  We also tried out 7UP Tropical, Old El Paso ramen noodles that taste like birria, and both the grape and strawberry versions of Reese’s PB&J cups. What do we think of the beard?

Just a year before Huey Lewis and the News first released music under the name we all know, five-sixths of the band put out a 1979 disco single as Huey Lewis and (the) American Express. Yes, it’s a terrible name.

Disco covers of songs from movies and TV soundtracks were a mini trend.  Meco hit #1 in 1977 with “Theme from Star Wars.” At about the same time, studio musicians Wilton Place Street Band had a smaller hit (#24) with “Disco Lucy,” a cover of the “I Love Lucy” theme.

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