The Little Drummer Boy

I try to avoid Christmas music as much as possible. Somehow, though, I have heard the Bing Crosby / David Bowie version of "The Little Drummer Boy" twice in the last week.

It's difficult to believe this version has become traditional. It seems just as weird to me, and roughly contemporary with, as the Elvis - Nixon handshake. Proof that the 1970s were way cooler than anything that followed. Sometimes I wonder if time didn't actually stop and that everything since then isn't some kind of bad dream.

Certainly the world is worse off without Bing Crosby. I had an eye-opening experience the first time I saw High Society. At the time, I was under the spell of Frank Sinatra and was working my way through his films.* But Bing steals the show. (Even with the "Now You Has Jazz", which is well-intentioned but painful. Crosby really was a huge fan of jazz - and the reefer.)


* Memo to self: time to re-read The Way You Wear Your Hat and watch From Here To Eternity.