Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy
The festive period brings everyone together; the old and the
young, the cool and the ‘stuffy’. And whoever brought Bing Crosby, the Grandfather, and David Bowie, the Starman, together was equal parts crazy
and clever.
Little drummer boy
is a Christmas classic that was originally written in 1941 yet this version wasn’t recorded until 1977 for Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas show.
Reportedly Bowie hated singing Little
Drummer Boy, and requested something else to sing. This led to Larry
Grossman (A songwriter) and Buz Kohan (The show’s scriptwriter) to write the Peace On Earth segment. Bowie sings this
over Crosby’s Little Drummer Boy counterpoint
and both perfectly match each other, even if in a slightly strange and peculiar
way. Although more restrained than usual, Bowie ultimately makes this track, as
he soars over Crosby’s deep vocals. Both are accompanied by a simple drumming
beat and a very 70s band, intertwining their differing styles and songs
together brilliantly. Rather poignantly, Crosby passed away nearly five weeks
after recording this track closing with Bowie posing the question “Peace On Earth/Can It Be?”.
A Christmas classic from two very
different musical greats.
“Pa Ra Pum Pum Pum”
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