If you're of a certain age, you probably recognize the horn intro to Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis". MTV played the shit out of it back in the day, using it for holiday commercials and bumper music a thousand times a day. It might have been a year or two but it seems like much longer because it's so ingrained. Run DMC's choice of a sample from Clarence Carter's "Backdoor Santa" was somewhat of a deep pick, particularly because the sample itself, without being from a well recognized Christmas song, was still from a Christmas song. It's the most dominant sample in a song that also includes pieces of "Frosty the Snowman", "Jingle Bells", and "Joy to the World". For as little known as Carter's song was, they could have used a sample from any song and most people wouldn't have noticed one way or another. But had they done that, I wouldn't have been able to ramble on about their sample choice thirty years later. You gotta hand it to them, that blast of horns makes the song.
Listen:
Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis mp3 at AM Then FM
Clarence Carter - Backdoor Santa mp3 at AM Than FM
2 comments:
Ho-ho-ho and all that crap, Tom! We're halfway out the door, goin' "off-grid" to our summer cabin this year. Will catch up on your posts when we're back!
Happy Slackfest! e+family
PS. Here's a link to a video (yeah, that's my YT channel) me and a friend at work slapped together for our schools annual X-mas calender: https://youtu.be/0CHjdaFVcbA ... You might find our contribution from last year there too – Joy Division's "Isolation" :)
Happy Slackfest back at you espen! Give my best to the Mrs and the rodents! Hope your holidays are filled with whatever the hell it is they fill holidays with!
I checked out both videos. The one from this year is pretty intense. With a most apropos message, I gotta say. The other one is great too. I should have guessed that a person with your talent and all around musical taste could deliver something that wasn't garage related.
Have a great New Years Eve as well!
T
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