Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Christmas Wishes

Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" broke a 60-year chart record this week when it returned to the #1 spot for the THIRD time, thus eclipsing Chubby Checker's long-standing record for "The Twist," which topped Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart in both 1960 and then again 1962.


(Of course, a cynic like me is going to take all of this with a grain of salt, based on the way the charts are calculated today.  Add this to the fact that for YEARS Billboard didn't even chart Christmas music alongside the biggest pop hits of the day and we have, once again, a distorted piece of history to devour ... but hey, it still is quite an accomplishment after all!)


Congrats to Mariah on creating an absolute modern day classic ... and a song that will likely live on for hundreds of years to come.  (Considering that the song was first released in 1994, some 27 years ago, and that it has only hit the #1 spot for the last three consecutive years running, this really is quite amazing.  Even more amazing is that THIS many people continue to download the song each and every year!  I mean at this point who doesn't already own it?!?!)


She may have been banned in Texas (well, before December 1st anyway) but she's got the hottest thing happening on the chart right now ... and Brenda Lee's 1960 hit "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" is right behind her!)  kk


From Chuck Buell ~~~

 

There are Home Holiday Light Shows and then there are HOME HOLIDAY LIGHT SHOWS!!

 

This house’s Lights Program is just too cool!  ( imhho* )

 

A Brightly Colored, Pulsating, Rockin’ Queen Musical Medley!


CB!  ( which stands for “Carolin’(?!) Boy!” )

*imhho = in my humble holiday opinion  {:~}

 

A "White Christmas" is possible for parts of Colorado!

But, from what I'm seein', not so much at MY house!

 

 



















While the Little Boy in me must be disappointed, the Grown Up Guy that's actually me in reality says, "Great!  The last thing I want to do on Christmas Day is Blow Snow Off my Driveway and Front Walk!!

 

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Margarita Sunny Christmas!"

CB

 

And from Tom Cuddy …

 

Why Brenda Lee is still rockin’ the charts with her Christmas classic

By Chuck Arnold, NY POST

Sixty-three years after Brenda Lee released "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," the song is still lighting up the holidays.

(Laura Roberts / Invision / AP)

Forget Adele and Mariah Carey. There’s another legendary pop diva topping the charts this holiday season.

That would be Brenda Lee, whose 1958 holiday classic Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree is at No. 3 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 — right behind Adele’s “Easy on Me and Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” — 63 years after its original release.

Lee, who is the only woman to be inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, recorded the Christmas chestnut in 1958. She was just 13 at the time. Thirty-two years later, the song had a cinematic revival after being featured in 1990’s “Home Alone.”

“It was a Christmas miracle,” Lee, 77, told The Post over the phone from her Nashville home. “When I went to the movie, I knew right then that it was gonna be a standard.”


Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” -- Wikipedia Commons

Now, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is having yet another moment thanks to a seasonal surge that has also led to Top 10 positions for Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” and Andy Williams’ It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

Here, Lee shares the secrets behind her holiday classic, what she thinks about being back at the top of the pop charts, and how she decorates her own Christmas tree.

Congratulations on “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” still going strong 63 years later.

Isn’t that amazing? It has just been a gift to me, written by a wonderful man named Johnny Marks, who was Jewish and didn’t even believe in Christmas, but the only thing that would come out of him was Christmas songs. He wrote some of the great standards for Christmas [including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and A Holly Jolly Christmas]. And I asked him, “How did you write ‘Rockin’?” And he said he wrote it on the beach in New York [while watching] the pine trees swaying in the summer.

How does it feel to be No. 3 on the charts this week, right behind Adele and Mariah Carey?

Well, you know what, if I’ve got to be behind anybody, that’s pretty good company. I love Adele, and I love Mariah. I love All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Once again, it’s an original song. And for that and “Rockin’” and the other originals to compete with “Silent Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and all the wonderful standards that have been around for years and years and years, it’s pretty darn good.

What did you think of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” when you first heard it? 

I really loved it because, unlike the [traditional] carols, it was a rocking kind of a song. I just had a ball doing it. It took us probably two takes. It was in the summer, and Owen [Bradley, the producer] had it all decorated up like Christmas, and it was just precious.

Well, I’m retired now. But we sing it at Christmas [family gatherings]. People will say, “Come on, sing a little bit of ‘Rockin’.” And I go caroling, believe it or not. I love to carol every year.

Do you have any special way you usually decorate your Christmas tree?

My Christmas tree is a lot of lights and a lot of ornaments that I’ve had since I can’t even remember. I’ve kept them all. Some of them are pretty raggedy-looking, but I wouldn’t replace them for anything.

Wishing all of you a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season!

We'll be back on the 26th with The Sunday Survey ... 

Which will take us into 1972!

And then later in the week, a final look back at the biggest hits, tv shows and movies of 1971 as our 50th Anniversary salute draws to a close.  (We'll also have another Sneak Peek at one of our brand new 2022 features!)

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Another 2022 Sneak Peek!

One of the things you can look forward to next year is the return of the weekly surveys from coast to coast ... 

That's right ...

Every week we'll be featuring a Top 40 Chart from a different radio station from all over the country, representing the Biggest Hits of 1972 ... until we've covered all 50 states (assuming we can EVER find the chart we need for a Vermont station!!!  An exhaustive search still hasn't produced anything for the desired week of August 14th ... so right now we'll take just about ANYTHING as long as it represents a Top 40 station in Vermont from 1972!  Anybody able to help???)

Here's an example of what you can expect to see each week ...

This particular chart comes from WHB in Kansas City, Missouri ... 
for the week of April 14th, 1972 ... 


 

Teeny-Bop Pop rules this WHB Kansas City, Missouri Chart from April 14th, 1972 ...

Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson sit at the top of the heap with their remakes of "Puppy Love" and "Rockin' Robin" (flip-flopping those same #1 and #2 positions from the previous week.)

And then right behind these at #4 is Frank Mills with "Love Me, Love Me Love" (huh ???) ... a record that peaked at #46 in Billboard (and yet another track that I'm not familiar with due to it never making our Chicagoland charts.)

Badfinger makes a big jump this week with their latest, "Baby Blue," up eight points from #17 to #9.  "Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All" by The Fifth Dimension and "Suavecito" by Malo did even better than that ... they're both up TEN points from their previous week's position.  And Ringo's up thirteen with "Back Off Boogaloo!!!"

In addition to Ringo, there's "Paul and Linda" (aka Wings) in The Top 20 again with "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" ... certainly not the way I remember history!

And how about "One Good Woman" by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds and "Step Out" by The Mamas and The Papas (in 1972?!?!)  I had to download both of these tracks just to hear what they sounded like as neither ever made the charts (or the airwaves) here in Chicago.  ("Step Out" peaked at #81 in Billboard during its three weeks on the chart ... incredibly it bubbled under for SEVEN weeks in Cash Box, ultimately peaking at #103.  "One Good Woman" didn't fare any better, peaking at #99 in Record World, #110 in Cash Box and #113 in Billboard ... so I'm guessing that I'm not the only one hearing these tracks for the very first time today!)  kk

Again, you've just gotta love a time when Andy Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Osmonds, The Jackson Five, Cat Stevens, Jackson Browne and Grand Funk Railroad can all share in the bottom ten positions on the chart!!!

Monday, December 20, 2021

A Monday Morning Quickie!

For decades now we’ve been hearing about how Elvis Presley was offered the lead role, playing opposite Barbra Streisand, in her production of the remake of “A Star Is Born” … but that Colonel Parker nixed the deal (primarily because he feared that Elvis would always be seen as receiving “second billing” due to the fact that this was a Streisand-produced film ... and he just couldn't allow that to happen to "his boy.")

Others have debated for years how a film of this stature may have turned Presley’s career around.  (Elvis’ last big hits came in 1972 and 1973 with “Burning Love” reaching #1 and “Steamroller Blues” hitting #10.)  Quite honestly, by the time the film finally got made in 1976 … (he was first approached about it in 1974) … Elvis was in deteriorating health and having substance abuse issues.  A year after its release, he would be dead.

But had he made the film (ironically, playing a washed-up rock star strung out on drugs!!!), what might a major role like this have done to resurrect his failing career?  (Look what the ’68 Comeback Special did … and “Aloha From Hawaii,” both of which showed Elvis looking at his very best.)

A recent edition of Ultimate Classic Rock offers up some “Behind The Scenes” information that spell out why this union was never meant to be.  (In the end, Kris Kristofferson took the role.)  kk

Why Elvis Presley Didn't Wind Up in 'A Star Is Born' (ultimateclassicrock.com)

Ultimate Classic Rock also takes a brief look at the 50th Anniversary “Let It Be” box set, which we could not endorse because of the wealth of material left in the vaults from these January, 1969, sessions.  (Instead, we get 4-7 versions of the same songs that were already on the original LP!!!)

Here is their take:

The Beatles' final release is expanded to five discs, including a remix of the original 1970 LP, two discs of rehearsals and sessions and, best of all, Glyn Johns' fabled 1969 mix of the Get Back album that was shelved and eventually replaced by Let It Be. This isn't the deep dive of previous Beatles boxes; it barely skims the surface of material recorded in January 1969 as the band tried to salvage fracturing relationships. But it pieces together some of the best parts for a new look at history.
(Makes me wonder if Garry Berman unsubscribed from THEIR service, too!!!  Lol)  kk

SNL got in their dig regarding the film on the last new episode of 2021 …

In an episode that once again eliminated the live audience due to a surge in Covid activity (several cast members apparently tested positive this past week as well ... and several others declined to appear), Guest Host Paul Rudd said that they would fill their 90-minute time slot by airing new sketches that had already been taped earlier in the week as well as classic sketches (such as Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake’s “Dick In A Box”) that had previously aired.

“It’s gonna be a little like that new Beatles documentary. A lot of old footage, but enough new stuff that you’re like, ‘OK, mmm - yeah, I’ll watch that.’”

--Paul Rudd

Chuck Buell is back with a new set of lyrics to the hit song “Signs,” (updated to the state of affairs, circa 2022)

A Follow up from Chuck Buell ~~~

 

This is not meant to be political or to take a stand on one side or the other. It’s just an observation on a Current Fact of Life, sung to the tune of the song “Signs,” which has been going through my head the last few days bordering on being an earworm!

 

So here now, come sing along with me with these updated “Signs” lyrics for the 2020s ~~~

 

“Now, hey you, mister, can't you read?

You got to have a shirt and Mask to get a seat.

You can't even drink, no, you can't eat

You ain't supposed to be here …

 

The sign said, "You've got to have a Vaccination Card

To get inside …

 

Sign, sign, everywhere that sign.”

 

CB ( which stands for “Chorus Boy!” )

 

(Reference: Original Lyrics) …

 

“Now, hey you, mister, can't you read?

You got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat.

You can't even watch, no, you can't eat

You ain't supposed to be here …

The sign said, "You've got to have a membership card

To get inside …”

 

Sign, sign

Everywhere a sign”

With Covid numbers spiking again … and new strands taking over every month … I think we’ll be wearing masks for the rest of our lives … we just can’t seem to get ahead of this thing.  Honestly, if getting a new vaccination shot every six months helps ward off every new migration of this virus, count me in.  Having a sore arm for a couple of days still beats pushing up daisies!!!

Sorry if this comes across as negative, but SO many events are being cancelled again … sports teams are having 40% of their players unable to play because of positive Covid testing … it all really makes you want to play it safe and stay indoors, binging all the great television series you’ve missed over the year!!!  We’re closing in on Episode 100 of “Boston Legal” right now … and that’s after watching all eight seasons of “The Practice,” which launched the show!!!  (I’m still not quite ready yet to take on 17 years of “Dallas,” however!!!)

By the way, I have come to the conclusion that any visitors deemed NOT crazy enough to become Crane, Poole and Schmidt clients most likely just walked across the parking lot to see if they could earn a spot on either "The Price Is Right" or "Let's Make A Deal!"  (kk)

UPDATE:  Brian May of Queen is the latest rock celebrity to contract the Covid-19 virus.  Warnings on the news about the rapid spread of the new strand (Omicron) throughout the world is downright scary … it’s escalating at a rate faster than the original strand of CoronaVirus that first hit us in May of 2020.  Concerts, Sporting Events, Broadway Shows, television filming … even the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve have all been affected.  It has once again become a scary time … and it doesn’t seem to matter where in the world you live.

Doctors worldwide need to pool their efforts to nail this thing down, contain it and eliminate it … but it is spreading so fast that I don’t know just how we get a handle on it.  May says he went through seven days of hell before he started to feel relief, two days of which he described as two horrendous days” — likening his illness to “the worst flu you can imagine.”  Even being, as he described it, “Triple-Jabbed” didn’t help against this new strand.  But he also admitted that, feeling safe, he and his wife attended a birthday event without a mask … and that within two days, eight other people at the party tested positive for Covid.

May is convinced that without the “triple jab,” he might not have made it …

“I can’t emphasize to you enough: This is not the response my body would have made on its own.  It’s making this response because I’ve had three Pfizer jabs. And I beg you and implore you to go get jabbed if you’re not already — ‘cause you need the help. I lost one of my very best friends to COVID very early on — in six days, it killed him. It could have done me the last six days, but it didn’t because of the jabs.  And I despair seeing these people protesting against the vaccine, protesting against their rights being violated because they might have to wear a mask.  Jesus Christ, guys. Our parents fought through wars and had their civil rights kind of knocked away. All anyone’s asking is for you to play your part to try and unite against this invader — and it’s a nasty thing, and it isn’t finished yet.”

I see the New Colony 6's "Long Time to Be Alone" lurking under the Super Chart this week, 50 years ago, at #103.  Although it would peak in January of 1972, in Billboard and the like, it was in week four on top of my personal chart and would be the #1 song of 1971 for my charts.  It would also rank as the #14 song on WCFL this coming week ... and still be moving up.  Sadly, WLS chose not chart the song, likely causing much lost sales, as WLS covered so much of the national airwaves.  Bad move for my fave station.

WLS Clark

It remains my all-time favorite New Colony Six track …

And DEFINITELY worth another spin here today!  (kk)


 


kk –

Micky Dolenz Still Wasn't Able To Talk To Cousin Brucie Last Night.

On December 25th, WABC 77 AM bill be presenting "COUSIN BRUCIE's TOP 50 CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN" FROM 6 to 10 PM.

FB

See, now I don’t feel so bad …

Micky’s blown ME off for interviews in the past, too!

(And I’m no Cousin Brucie!!!)  kk


From Frank B …  


kk …

You want to hear author David McGrath say something bad about a Gene Pitney Hit? Turn to page #179 / chapter #24 ... 

Gene tries R&B. Art Talmadge, co-owner of Musicor Records, tells two R&B writers that they're not allowed to talk to Gene Pitney. 

This time Gene approached them.

You won't believe me …

As I write this, WABC-77AM is playing "TOWN WITHOUT PITY."

FB

I finally had a chance to check page 179 - and let me tell you that is one of my all-time favorite Gene Pitney songs!

(Author David McGrath prefaces the chapter with the line:  "Worst Gene Pitney Hit Ever!")

Not in MY book!!!

In fact, that's the one that finally convinced me to listen to some of his older stuff.

If I had to pick my Top Five Favorites, they'd have to be:

#1 - A Town Without Pity

#2 - It Hurts To Be In Love

#3 - (I Wanna) Love My Life Away

#4 - She's A Heartbreaker

#5 - Only Love Can Break A Heart

As you can see, I never went for his over-the-top dramatic stuff!

But a good pop song is a good pop song ... period!  (kk)

 

I should also probably mention my All-Time Favorite NOT Gene Pitney Song …

 

Gene’s voice was SO distinctive and so unlike any other that you’d hear on the radio … he truly did have a unique style that was all his very own …

 

So the first time I ever heard “Black Is Black” (not knowing who it was, of course), I was completely knocked out by this great new Gene Pitney record!  I looked everywhere to buy it, but could only find it by an artist called “Los Bravos.”  I was totally bummed out … I wanted the Gene Pitney record I was hearing on the radio!!!

 

But, of course, it WASN’T Gene Pitney at all … and the Los Bravos record (my favorite at the time) went all the way to #2 on the national charts in 1966.  To this day, I still say it sounds EXACTLY like Gene Pitney singing.  (What a GREAT follow-up to “Backstage” this would have been!  Lol)  kk

 

Also from Frank B., is more proof that this great music is being passed down and discovered by new generations …

Check out this 18 year old kid named Chris Ruggiero, singing “You Belong To Me” with The Duprees …

FH Reader Mike Wolstein sent in these photos …

Ran across these online today ... never saw them before.
Mike


Harvey Kubernik tells us …

According to Deadline, filmmaker Martin Scorsese is slated to direct and produce a biopic about the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, starring Jonah Hill — who is also attached as a producer.

Writing the film are Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, a longtime writing duo who also wrote Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flynt. Other producers of the film include Grateful Dead founding members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann, drummer Mickey Hart, and Garcia’s daughter Trixie Garcia.

Thanks to this cooperation between the band and production, Apple / Scorsese will be able to use the Dead’s entire music catalogue in the movie.

Though there’s no word yet on what exactly the film will include, it’s impossible to deny that the band has a very rich history, and any part of it would make for a fascinating film. From their role in the counterculture of the 1960s to their iconic appearance at Woodstock, the band has no shortage of great stories. It’s also fitting for Apple, which has been building up its library of originals with music documentaries — and Scorsese’s next film, Killers of the Flower Moon.”

In 2017 Scorsese produced the Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip.

Scorsese has a longtime history with the Grateful Dead.

For more on this whole deal (including Harvey’s hands-on dealings with Garcia and Allan Arkush), drop me an email and I’ll forward you Harvey’s piece. (Too long to run here.)  kk

 

By the way, Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s brand new Jimi Hendrix book, “Voodoo Child,” made The Year-End Top Ten List on Richard Williams’ list.  (Williams is one of England's legendary music journalists and an acclaimed author.)  You can read some of the best bits on his well-read and respected site, thebluemoment.com.

   

But I CAN tell you about this!!!

 

In 2014, I interviewed guitarist / arranger / record producer Don Peake about his studio life with the Monkees. I asked about his endeavors with the group. It was Mike Nesmith who asked Don to meet the Monkees.


“Mike Nesmith hired me to be ‘his guy,’ because he was kind of misunderstood and ignored. I had evidently some meetings with him. He came to me and said, ‘Look ... We’ve got the Boyce and Hart thing going, but I’ve got some songs I want to express myself and I need solid musicians and good arrangements.’ And so I became his arranger. Mike Nesmith was a good musician. I just did my thing. I’m like a worker bee.

"Mike said, 'Don, I want you to write these charts.’ So I get out a big book of paper and start writing arrangements for the band ... ‘cause I know how they are going to play, because I know these kinds of musicians. And I absolutely make these songs so that they sound like Mike’s songs. My job was to communicate to these musicians how I wanted it to sound so it would be perfect for Mike.

“I had my experience (as lead guitarist) with the Everly Brothers from 1961 - 1963, and was very conversant with small combo. I was a band player. And the Everly Brothers were those fabulous Bordeaux Bryant songs, amazing songs. I had played on Rick Nelson records in the old days with James Burton. Proto-type country rock. He was the first.

“I remember ‘Mary, Mary.’ I remember ‘Sweet Young Thing.” I remember ‘Gonna Buy Me a Dog,’ and ‘You May Just Be The One.’

“And I hired Mike Deasy and I hired Glen Campbell. I’m the guy who hired Glen to come in. I’m still not sure, and it’s as little foggy for me as to who played the beginning of ‘Mary, Mary.’  I don’t know if it was Glen or Mike Deasy.  I think Jim Gordon was playing on some of those sessions. 

“On the Monkees’ dates I would sometime pick up a guitar and sometimes I would not. But I was always the guy standing up on the podium. I was the leader. And Mike depended upon me to communicate in musical terms and on paper what he could not.  He had some B-sides, you know, we busted him out.  I was thrilled to be doing it with him. 

“I remember Mike actually brought us out on stage with them one time.  They put up a curtain so we were behind on what is called a scrim. And the audience could not see us. It was probably an early promotional event to for the TV show. It was me and Mike Deasy. Maybe Jim Gordon. We were playing and they were lip-syncing to us.  There was a big audience. Clearly, I was not going to stay behind the curtain like that.

“But we made some good records and he was a wonderful guy. We made some great records and he got to express his music his way. All the Monkees were all more than able singers. And they could play. But as I have said, my relationship was with Mike. And so I didn’t hang with the other guys. We made our records. And they made their records. By the third LP, they played every instrument.  Their voices were good and they had to learn how to play. I loved Hank Cicolo, the engineer. RCA was a great room. I had known Lester Sill from years earlier, including playing on Phil Spector sessions. I believe that’s the way it is in this industry, you know. There’s a kind of a continuum and it’s we’re all on this kind of string. And we’re the best of string that keeps the pearls that makes the necklace.  

“My life as an arranger and player is easier when the tune is good. And there were a lot of good tunes.  The Monkees’ catalog continues and they can go out because it’s the songs. Yes, there was good singing, but longevity has to do with the song. Yes, there are good performances and yes there are certain records where performance means a lot, but truly the thing that makes something memorable is the song. I had great fun on those sessions.”   


Congrats to FH Reader/Contributor Paul Evans, who’s having a GREAT Holiday Season … 

Hi guys and gals, 

Amazon is using my "Happy Go Lucky Me” on their ad for their new Amazon Photo on the internet and on Amazon Prime.  If you’d like to check it out, click on this link:  https://youtu.be/gtL0B_--sLI 

So now my book, Happy Go Lucky Me, is getting terrific reviews and my song, "Happy Go Lucky Me” is back on the air - as a commercial.  

I’m having a great Christmas season and I wish you all the same.

Another Christmas Tune, this time from our FH Buddy James Holvay.  (We recently featured his GREAT new track “Sweet Soul Song” and got a great reaction to it … man, I LOVE this song!)

Here he is doing a couple of traditional tunes that I think you’ll like …

And from our British Bud Geoff Lambert …

Sunday, December 19, 2021

THE 1971 SUPER CHARTS: Week Ending December 25th

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Today's Super Chart reflects The Top 100 Songs for the Week Ending December 25th ... which just happens to be Christmas Day!

(We're going to run one more chart next week to wrap up the year ... this will cover the final six days of 1971.) 


Taking over the top spot (as expected) is Melanie with "A Brand New Key."  (I don't imagine she'll be there long, however ... "American Pie climbs from #10 to #3 this week ... and seems poised to be the next #1 Record on the country.  The buzz for this song was UNBELIEVABLE at the time!)

"Family Affair" slips to #2 ... and there are two new entries into The Top Ten this week:  "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey (#9) and "Respect Yourself" by The Staple Singers  (#10)

"Sugar Daddy" by The Jackson Five continues to climb, moving from #34 to #18, a jump of sixteen places ... while The Partridge Family climb thirteen notches from #48 to #35 with their latest, "It's One Of Those Nights (Yes Love)".

Playing Favorites:
I STILL really like "Never Been To Spain" by Three Dog Night ... it premiers at #68 this week, making it the highest debut on the chart. 



Down at the bottom end of the chart, I really like "Precious And Few" by Climax, too.  (That's Sonny Geraci from The Outsiders singing the lead on that one.)  And I always felt that "Under My Wheels" by Alice Cooper should have been a bigger hit than it was ... it just has a real commercial sound to it for me.





This Week in 1971:   
December 19th – The film “A Clockwork Orange” (directed by Stanley Kubrick) is released in New York City.  

December 24th – Singer Ricky Martin was born.  (He’s been livin’ la vida loca ever since!)

December 25th – In the longest game in NFL History, The Miami Dolphins defeat The Kansas City Chiefs 27-24.  The game ended halfway through the second overtime and lasted 82 minutes and 40 seconds.   
An incredible 16 future Hall Of Famers took part in this game:  
Nick Buoniconti (LB), Larry Csonka (RB), Bob Griese, (QB), Jim Langer (C), Larry Little (RG), Don Shula (coach), Paul Warfield (WR), Bobby Bell (LOLB), Buck Buchanan (RDT), Curley Culp (DT), Len Dawson (QB), Lamar Hunt (owner), Willie Lanier (MLB), Jan Stenerud (K), Hank Stram (coach), Emmitt Thomas (CB) 
More here: https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/the-longest-day/  

Also on this date, a fire at a 22-story hotel in Seoul, South Korea, kills 158 people.