Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Six: A Spaceman Came Travelling by Chris de Burgh

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

 Day Six: 

A Spaceman Came Travelling by Chris de Burgh

We're over half-way there, folks! Just five days to go until the big day.

Time to climb back into the Wonderland Burlesque time machine and countdown to the big day. This holiday season, the dial is set for the 1970's!

Oh, you are in for a treat, so grab a seat and buckle up.

The seventies was a decade of change, turbulence and sweetness. Nowhere is this more felt than in the breadth and depth of the music of the time. There were so many different genres being developed, evolving and seeking validation on the radio and the industry music charts, it was a virtual musical cornucopia.

So, get ready for another song of the season by one of our biggest (and not so big) stars, here, stateside, and across the pond, who made the seventies truly magical.

Next up... storyteller Chris de Burgh's other-worldly take on the nativity, A Spaceman Came Travelling.  

A Spaceman Came Travelling first appeared on Chris de Burgh's second studio album, Spanish Train and Other Stories, which was released in 1975. Since that time it has been released numerous times as a single. After its first release in 1975, the song saw minimal success in the UK. However, it eventually hit #1 in Ireland, staying on the charts for 15 total weeks and climbed to #22 on the Canadian AC charts in 1978. Following de Burgh's inescapable hit The Lady in Red in 1986, A Spaceman Came Travelling was reworked with a re-recorded vocal and reissued as a double A-side with the song The Ballroom of Romance. The new version charted for the first time in the UK, reaching #40 and staying on the British charts for five weeks.

Regarding the song's inception, De Burgh, who had just signed his first recording contract with A&M Records, was broke and "staying at a friend's flat" when he read Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken. The book made him think "what if the star of Bethlehem was a space craft and what if there is a benevolent being or entity in the universe keeping an eye on the world and our foolish things that we do to each other?" And though the song failed to chart when first released as a single, de Burgh says it's been "much better to have a regular recurring song than a hit for three weeks" - referring to the song's regular airplay on UK radio during the holiday season.

 

A Spaceman Came Travelling - Chris de Burgh

Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Seven: It's Gonna Be a Cold, Cold Christmas by Dana

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

 Day Seven: 

It's Gonna Be a Cold, Cold Christmas by Dana  

Time to climb back into the Wonderland Burlesque time machine and countdown to the big day. This holiday season, the dial is set for the 1970's!

Oh, you are in for a treat, so grab a seat and buckle up.

The seventies was a decade of change, turbulence and sweetness. Nowhere is this more felt than in the breadth and depth of the music of the time. There were so many different genres being developed, evolving and seeking validation on the radio and the industry music charts, it was a virtual musical cornucopia.

So, get ready for another song of the season by one of our biggest (and not so big) stars, here, stateside, and across the pond, who made the seventies truly magical.

Next up... the plaintive, gentle sweetness of the positively lovely Dana with her holiday hit, It's Gonna Be a Cold, Cold Christmas.

Dana Rosemary Scallon, known professionally as Dana, is an Irish singer, songwriter and politician. Her career as a singer took off when she won the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest with All Kinds of Everything, which became a worldwide million-seller. After enjoying a string of hits, including six Top 40 hits in the UK and twelve in her native Ireland, she entered politics, eventually serving as an MEP for Connacht–Ulster in 1999.  She went on to serve as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004.

In 1975, she had three Top 40 hits in the UK, one of them being It's Gonna Be a Cold, Cold Christmas which peaked at #4 in the UK and #3 in Ireland. With it's lively lilting melody and sparkling vocals, the song serves up a perfect slice of pop for the holiday season.

It's Gonna Be a Cold, Cold Christmas - Dana  

Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Eight: Beautiful Christmas by Harpo

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

 Day Eight: 

Beautiful Christmas by Harpo

Time to climb back into the Wonderland Burlesque time machine and countdown to the big day. This holiday season, the dial is set for the 1970's!

Oh, you are in for a treat, so grab a seat and buckle up. 

The seventies was a decade of change, turbulence and sweetness. Nowhere is this more felt than in the breadth and depth of the music of the time. There were so many different genres being developed, evolving and seeking validation on the radio and the industry music charts, it was a virtual musical cornucopia.  

So, get ready for another song of the season by one of our biggest (and not so big) stars, here, stateside, and across the pond, who made the seventies truly magical. 

Next up... the oddly psychedelic poetic sounds of Sweden's Harpo, sharing his holiday offering, Beautiful Christmas. 

Jan Torsten Svensson, known professionally as Harpo, is a Swedish pop singer who was popular in Sweden and around Europe in the 1970s. He is best known for his worldwide hits Moviestar (1975) and Horoscope (1976). Originally signed by the management team behind ABBA, Harpo eventually moved to EMI, where he enjoyed a string of hits from 1973-1977. In 1975, he released Beautiful Christmas as the B-side to his hit Motorcycle Mama. His career hit a snag in 1977, when he served one month in prison for refusing to take part in the Swedish Military Service. After serving his sentence, he resumed his career, eventually signing with Mickey Most's RAK Records, but never attained the same level of success he'd previously experienced. 

Harpo perfectly captures the innocence and sweetness of both the era and the season during an appearance on Top Of The Pops. Amidst a trippy, fabric-covered landscape, wearing a crocheted vest and velveteen pants with matching cap, while handling a walking stick, he waxes on about all the things he would give his love (moon, spoon, etc.), accompanied by  harpsichord and strings. It all makes Beautiful Christmas an idiosyncratic way to ring in the holidays. 

Beautiful Christmas - Harpo

Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Nine: Hey, Mr. Christmas by Showaddywaddy

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

 Day Nine: 

Hey, Mr. Christmas by Showaddywaddy

Time to climb back into the Wonderland Burlesque time machine and countdown to the big day. This holiday season, the dial is set for the 1970's!

Oh, you are in for a treat, so grab a seat and buckle up. 

The seventies was a decade of change, turbulence and sweetness. Nowhere is this more felt than in the breadth and depth of the music of the time. There were so many different genres being developed, evolving and seeking validation on the radio and the industry music charts, it was a virtual musical cornucopia.  

So, get ready for another song of the season by one of our biggest (and not so big) stars, here, stateside, and across the pond, who made the seventies truly magical. 

Next up... the homegrown, blue collar sounds of the UK's Showaddywaddy with 1974's Hey Mr. Christmas.

 

From Wikipedia:

 

Showaddywaddy was a six-member meat 'n potatoes rock 'n roll band out of Leicester, England who enjoyed numerous Top 40 singles in the UK between 1974 and 1982. Hey, Mr. Christmas (a nod to their first hit, Hey, Rock And Roll), a one-off single, was their third song to hit the Top 40, peaking at #13 in the UK and #15 in Ireland. The band's singles were primarily covers of tunes from the 1950's. Dressed in their trademark multi-colored Teddy boy drape jackets, the group first entered the UK's living rooms via the talent show New Faces in 1973. Signed to Bell Records, the group went on to enjoy 23 Top 40 hits, ten of which hit the Top 10, with one snagging the #1 spot.

 

Resplendent, accompanied by a children's choir with a stage decked out for the season, the group manages more than a bit of cheer while performing on Lift Off. Bubbly and joyous, with a solid beat and an every-man sensibility, the song serves as the perfect accompaniment for the holiday season.

Hey, Mr. Christmas - Showaddywaddy