Brian the Blogger!

As the holidays draw near, the seasonal Christmas music is played EVERYWHERE.  It just seems that every year, the songs start playing on the radio earlier and earlier.  As soon as Halloween is barely over, the songs make their debut on the airwaves.  But I digress.  Everyone seems to have their favorite songs sung by their favorite artists.  Of course, I am no exception.  There has been one album that had landed in the fore of my mind when it comes to Christmas albums:  The Great Songs of Christmas on the Columbia Records label.  In the coming paragraphs, I will discuss each track, and maybe give a little tidbit of the artist that record the song on this album. Side One: O Holy Night/ Andy Williams:  Jesus is the reason we celebrate this season.  If the season needed a singer to be the spokesperson, it was would be Mr Andy Williams.  I grew up watching the Andy Williams Christmas Specials in reruns, and I am a huge fan of Andy and his renditions of songs.  This LP kicks off with

Thanks to the stratospheric success of the album Break Out , The Pointer Sisters were the hottest female R&B band in the US, and were on an undeniable roll.  It goes without saying that when a group had a mega hit with an album, the public and record label executives expect a major followup.  The Pointers were more then capable and ready to deliver just that. Even as Ruth Pointer's lead vocals saturated the radio airwaves with Neutron Dance , she joined her sisters Anita and June to start recording songs for the next album.  The Pointers had an ace in the hole with their record producer Richard Perry.  Perry, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to replicate the success of Break Out .  The best way to do it was to invite back the writers that turned out such hits as Automatic , Jump (For My Love) , and Neutron Dance .  In addition, Richard had heard that a new group of guys that had recently formed Mr. Mister and liked some of their demos that they had recorded and reserv