CHRISTMAS SONG SPECIAL

On the Saturday December 23, 2023 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we have look at some of the greatest Christmas songs of all time. First we meet Moe Berg, one forth of the Trans-Canada Highwaymen, a new band that consists of four of this country’s best rock singer-songwriters, Sloan’s Chris Murphy, Odds’ Craig Nothey and former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page. The album, “Explosive Hits Vol. 1,” is covers of Canadian AM rock radio hits from the 1960s and 70’s and it’s super fun. Moe Berg and I talk about the new album, and then get into the spirit of the season as Moe talks about a Christmas song he wrote with the Pursuit of Happiness and a tune he loves so much, he has a plaque with the lyrics. “Furious Devotion” author Richard Balls joins me to talk about “Fairytale of New York,” a song that is an Irish folk-style ballad and was written as a duet, with the Pogues' singer Shane MacGowan and Kristy MacColl as bickering former lovers on Christmas Eve. A song about their youthful hopes crushed by alcohol and drug addiction doesn’t sound like a Christmas cracker, but in the UK it was the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century and re-enters the music charts every December. We’ll also get to know Larry Weinstein, director of the documentary “Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas,” a musical documentary about the amazing story of a group of Jewish songwriters who wrote the soundtrack to Christmas, and we’ll learn how the Cuban Missile Crisis inspired one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time. Finally we wrap with Brent Butt, the star, writer and/or producer of TV shows such as “Corner Gas,” “Hiccups” and “Corner Gas Animated,” and the author of the best-selling thriller “Huge,” and home designer, television host and producer, best-selling author, sought-after public speaker, and host of her own special Tuscan getaways Debbie Travis on their favorite Christmas songs and stories.