Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Eleven: I'm Gonna Lasso Santa - Brenda Lee

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

Day Eleven:

I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus - Brenda Lee

Well, hogtie me and call me Phyllis...

Little Brenda Lee is all set to show Santa the ropes!

I don't know of a better way to end up on the 'naughty' list... but no worries - it's for a good cause. Turns out, she just wants to make sure that every boy and girl get something for Xmas. 

I'm Gonna Lasso Santa - Brenda Lee

I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus is an early recording by 'Little' Brenda Lee, three years prior to her first major national hit, Sweet Nothin’s. This single 9-30107 was released on Decca Records in November of 1956, several weeks prior to her twelfth birthday (even though the record claims she's only nine). Her big holiday hit, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree was a mere two years away.

'Little' Brenda Lee

One more day! Are you ready?

Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Ten: It's Christmas Time - The Five Keys

Wonderland Burlesque's

 The Twelve Days Before Xmas

 Day Ten:

 It's Christmas Time - The Five Keys

Today, we take a listen to this little known gem.

A great song sung by five fine-looking young men. Oh, yes, honey - sign me up!

Suddenly? I am all about the Christmas spirit!

 It's Christmas Time - The Five Keys

It's Christmas Time was The Five Keys' second single on Aladdin Records. Released in 1951 as single X-52 3113, it failed to chart.

The Five Keys were an American R&B and doo-wop group popular in the late 1950's. In 1949, brothers Rudy and Bernard West joined another set of singing brothers - Ripley and Raphael Ingram - to form The Sentimental Four, a gospel quartet. Inspired by the harmonies of The Mills Brothers and The Ink Spots, they soon began to shift toward R&B.

The young foursome toured briefly with Miller's Brown-Skinned Models, an all-black revue that played fairs and carnivals. And they started winning local talent contests. Those victories led to a chance to perform at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. The singers won a contest there, too. And soon after, Los Angeles-based Aladdin Records signed the group.

After a few lineup changes that included adding a fifth member, the combo renamed itself The Five Keys. Ling, Ting, Tong was a #28 pop hit in 1954. That was followed by the ballad Out of Sight, Out of Mind, which reached #23 in 1956, and Wisdom of a Fool, which hit #35 in 1957. But the group's influence was greater than the best-sellers would indicate.

Before black groups started crossing over onto pop charts, The Five Keys had a powerful effect on R&B music - especially among vocal harmony acts. "One of the most popular, influential and beautiful-sounding R&B singing groups of the 1950s, The Five Keys were not only a link between the gospel/pop units of the '40s and the later R&B and rock groups, they led by example, having hits in R&B, rock 'n' roll, and pop before the decade was through," wrote Jay Warner in the Billboard Book of American Singing Groups.

Say what? Two more days! Say it isn't so.

Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Nine: At The Christmas Ball - Bessie Smith

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

 Day Nine:

 At The Christmas Ball - Bessie Smith

"Christmas time comes once a year..."

And I, for one, wouldn't survive the season without a little Bessie Smith in the mix. Her sly, knowing vocals grace this song like black lace on a grieving widow. So cut the treacly sweetness of the season and lend your ears to this fine, fine tune.

 At The Christmas Ball - Bessie Smith

At The Christmas Ball  was written by Fred Longshaw and recorded on November 18, 1985 by Bessie Smith featuring: Buster Bailey on clarinet, Joe Smith on cornet, Fletcher Henderson on the piano, Charlie Green on trombone. It was released by Columbia Records as single 35842 in 1925. It has been reissued several times since.

Bessie Smith

Three more! That's all, folks!

Wonderland Burlesque's The Twelve Days Before Xmas - Day Eight: The Mistletoe Kiss Polka - Margaret Whiting

Wonderland Burlesque's

The Twelve Days Before Xmas

Day Eight:

The Mistletoe Kiss Polka - Margaret Whiting

Who doesn't love a little holiday romance? Meet me under the mistletoe!

Today's song is sung by a performer whose own love story melts my heart - the lovely, ever-classy Margaret Whiting.

You see, when Margaret Whiting was 70 years-old, she married the love of her life - 48 year-old former gay porn star Jack Wrangler. They made quite the couple. Together as a couple throughout the 1970's and 80's, they made it official in 1994. One would like to believe that during the holidays they spent plenty of time doing The Mistletoe Kiss Polka!

The Mistletoe Kiss Polka - Margaret Whiting

The Mistletoe Kiss Polka, written by Jimmy Kennedy and Constance Palmer is a 1949 song by Margaret Whiting with The Mellomen and Frank De Vol and His Orchestra. Recorded in Los Angeles September 2, 1949, it was released by Capitol Records as the B-side of a one-off single, 57-9033.

Jack Wrangler and Margaret Whiting

Day eight! Only four more, my dears.