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This Is Christmas (Anthony Callea Album)
''This Is Christmas'' is the fourth studio and first Christmas album by Australian recording artist Anthony Callea. It was released on 8 November 2013 by ABC Music. The album mostly consists of Christmas classics such as "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night", but also includes cover versions of recent Christmas pop songs by such as " Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" by Céline Dion and "Note to God" by JoJo. Review Ben Ryan of ''Renowned for Sound'' gave the album 4 of out 5, saying; "If you pick this album up, expect vocal gymnastics, and expect lead-footed vibrato. Callea is obviously an accomplished vocalist, but for the greater part of the record there is just one level he sings at – there is the occasional dynamic variation, but for the most part the tunes are sung with incessant vigour." He added, "The choir is a particularly appealing feature of this record; there is great poignancy inherent in any well-organised raft of young voices, and employing them in a moving piec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Callea
Anthony Cosmo Callea (born 13 December 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter and stage actor who rose to prominence as the runner-up in the 2004 season of '' Australian Idol''. Callea's debut single, a cover of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's song " The Prayer" is the fastest-selling single by an Australian artist, held the No.1 spot on the ARIA Singles Chart for five weeks, a record for the debut single of an ''Australian Idol'' contestant, and was the second-highest selling Australian single of the last decade.ARIA’s End Of Decade Charts* (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010. Callea has accumulated a string of awards including an |
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by his two trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. Spector developed the Wall of Sound, a production style that is characterized for its diffusion of tone colors and dense orchestral sound, which he described as a "Wagnerian" approach to rock and roll. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s. Born in the Bronx, Spector moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and began his career in 1958 as a founding member of the Teddy Bears, for whom he penned "To Know Him Is to Love Him", a U.S. number-one hit. In 1960, after working as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller, Spector co-founded Philles Records, and at the age of 21 became the youngest ever U.S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 – November 13, 1995) was an American composer, lyricist, and performer. Life and career Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He attended Tulsa Central High School. He studied singing with Estelle Liebling in New York City. He began his career as a radio singer for NBC in the 1930s before turning to Broadway, where he was featured in ''New Faces of 1936'' (1936), ''Hooray for What!'' (1937), and ''Louisiana Purchase'' (1940). In 1940 he formed a vocal quartet ("The Martins") with his friend Hugh Martin which performed on radio and in nightclubs. Martin and Blane formed a songwriting partnership. Together they wrote music and lyrics to '' Best Foot Forward'' (1941) and ''Three Wishes for Jamie'' (1952). The duo penned many American standards for the stage and MGM musicals. The team's best-known songs include " The Boy Next Door", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song", all written for the 1944 film m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland sang three Martin songs, "The Boy Next Door (song), The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The last of these has become a Christmas season standard in the United States and around the English-speaking world. Martin became a close friend of Garland and was her accompanist at many of her concert performances in the 1950s, including her appearances at the Palace Theater (Broadway), Palace Theater. Early life Martin was born in Birmingham, Alabama, the son of Ellie Gordon (Robinson) and Hugh Martin Sr., an architect. He attended Birmingham-Southern College where he studied music. He was a member of the Beta Beta Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Career Martin wrote the music, and in so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. In 2007, ASCAP ranked it the third most performed Christmas song during the preceding five years that had been written by ASCAP members. In 2004 it finished at No. 76 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs rankings of the top tunes in American cinema. ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' The song was written in 1943 for the then-upcoming film ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', for which MGM had hired Martin and Blane to write several songs. Martin was vacationing in a house in the neighborhood of Southside in Birmingham, Alabama that his father Hugh Martin had designed for his mother as a honeymoon cottage, located just down the street from his birthplace, and which later became the home of Martin and his family in 1923. The song first appeared in a scene in which a fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Greene
Buddy Greene (born October 30, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, guitar player and harmonica player. Most of his recordings consist of gospel music with a distinctly Southern gospel flavor. Much of his music is influenced by country music and bluegrass music. Greene grew up in Macon, Georgia. He has written the music for many songs and also co-wrote the Christmas song "Mary, Did You Know?" with Mark Lowry; Greene also wrote "Recovering Pharisee" recorded by Del McCoury, and "He Is" recorded by Ashley Cleveland. He is considered a harmonica legend by many, and once played a classical harmonica medley at Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta .... Discography *''Praise You, Lord'' (Fortress) - 1986 *''Praise Harmonica'' (Fortress) - 1987 *''Slice of Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Lowry
Mark Alan Lowry (born June 24, 1958) is an American singer, comedian, minister and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing the song "Mary, Did You Know?" and being a member of the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988 to 2001, and 2009 to 2013, along with Michael English, Guy Penrod, David Phelps and Bill Gaither. Lowry has recorded twelve albums, both music and comedy. Early life Lowry was born in Houston, Texas, to Charles, an attorney, and Beverly Lowry. He often uses anecdotes of his young life in his comedy, as well as speaking of his experience with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder in his performances. He is a self-described "Poster Boy for Hyperactivity". Early career While attending Liberty Baptist College (now known as Liberty University), Lowry joined a college evangelistic team made of Charles Hughes and David Musselman and began singing. His comedy career inadvertently began from here. There would be an elongated pause in his singing performance while h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary, Did You Know?
"Mary, Did You Know?" is a Christmas song addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, with lyrics written by Mark Lowry in 1984, and music written by Buddy Greene in 1991. It was originally recorded by Christian recording artist Michael English on his self-titled debut solo album in 1991. At the time, English and Lowry were members of the Gaither Vocal Band, and Greene was touring with them. The song reached Number 6 on CCM Magazine's Adult Contemporary Chart. Lowry would record the song several times himself, most notably with the Gaither Vocal Band on their 1998 Christmas album, ''Still the Greatest Story Ever Told''. The song has since gone on to become a modern Christmas classic, recorded by hundreds of artists over the years, across multiple genres. Several recordings have reached the top ten in the ''Billboard'' R&B and Holiday charts. The song encourages contemplation of the relationship between Mary and her son, although some religious commentators have criticized the lyrics for down ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloria Shayne Baker
Gloria Shayne Baker (September 4, 1923 – March 6, 2008) was an American composer and songwriter best known for composing the "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Christmas carol in 1962 with her then husband, Noël Regney. Early life Baker was born as Gloria Adele Shain to a Jewish family in Brookline, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1923, daughter of Attorney Mark Shain and Professor Rose Wies Shain, she grew up next door to Joseph and Rose Kennedy and their children, including John F. Kennedy. She began her music career as part of a singing trio, The Shain Sisters, alongside her older sisters, Esther and Thelma. She changed the spelling of her last name from Shain to Shayne early on in her career for professional reasons. She earned her bachelor's degree from the Boston University School of Music. She moved to New York City during the 1940s, where she worked as a pianist performing on demos and in front of live audiences. She also arranged music for composers such as Stephen Sondheim a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noël Regney
Noël Regney (born Léon Schlienger; 19 August 1922 – 22 November 2002), was a French World War II veteran and songwriter who is best known for composing the Christmas standard "Do You Hear What I Hear?" with his then-wife Gloria Shayne Baker in 1962. Originally from Alsace, France, he moved to New York City and then eventually Connecticut. Life and career He was born Léon Schlienger in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Léon Schlienger, written backwards, is Noël Regnei (-lhcS). He grew up Catholic, but later became a Unitarian Universalist. He was drafted into the Nazi army despite being a Frenchman like many other "''Malgré-nous''". As an Alsatian, he spoke the German dialect Alsatian as fluently as French. It is said that he soon deserted, joined a group of French Resistance fighters, and became a double agent working for the French. He led a party of Nazis into an ambush, was shot in the arm, but survived. Eventually, while touring the United States, accompanying Lucienne Boyer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Do You Hear What I Hear?
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song, but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of Christmas. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists. Synopsis "Do You Hear What I Hear?" tells a story loosely based upon the story of the Nativity of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew, incorporating fragments of the annunciation to the shepherds from the Gospel of Luke, though Jesus is never mentioned by name or explicitly identified. A "night wind" tells a lamb of a star, following which the lamb tells his young shepherd that he also hears a loud song. They are each led to a "mighty king," whom they tell of a child in the cold and ask to bring the child silver and gold (much as the Biblical Magi, which in tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haven Gillespie
James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breezin' Along With The Breeze", " Right or Wrong," " Beautiful Love", "Drifting and Dreaming", and "Louisiana Fairy Tale" (Fats Waller's recording of which was used as the first theme song in the PBS Production of ''This Old House''), each song in collaboration with other people such as Beasley Smith, Ervin R. Schmidt, Richard A. Whiting, Wayne King, and Loyal Curtis. He also wrote the seasonal standard "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town". Life and career Gillespie was one of nine children of Anna (Reilley) and William F. Gillespie. The family was poor and lived in the basement of a house on Third Street between Madison Avenue and Russell Street in Covington, Kentucky. Gillespie dropped out of school in grade four and could not find a job. His ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
