Recording 'White Christmas'

It had a budget of just $1 million, a lead actor wearing a toupee, and the baddie in the first draft of the script was a monkey. But the first James Bond film, ‘Dr. No’, which began shooting in Jamaica on 16th January, 1962, kicked off a phenomenally successful franchise that’s s ...  Show more

A roaring wave of syrup swept through the North End of Boston on 15th January, 1919, in an event that claimed 21 lives, including 2 children, and came to be known as the “Great Molasses Flood”. At the heart of the disaster was a rushed, badly built industrial tank: the steel was ...  Show more

American entertainer Bing Crosby made 'White Christmas' by Irving Berlin, one of the defining songs of World War Two. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to his nephew Howard Crosby about the song and its importance to his uncle.Photo: Bing Crosby in London in 1944 recording a perfor ...  Show more

Holiday album releases sometimes have a sense of pandering to them. "I'm a pop star. Here's me singing the nineteen-millionth cover of 'Jingle Bell Rock.' Please give me money." The comedian and singer Matt Rogers understands this dichotomy of the holiday hit—part grotesque cash- ...  Show more

The studio plays a game of "Who Sang this Version of White Christmas?" The competition of gift giving. Should you have food in your bed? Plus, Mariah Carey calls in to discuss her new Christmas album and the impact her iconic song "All I Want for Christmas is You" has had on her ...  Show more

In case you missed it, Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out to record a holiday album, “A Very Chilly Christmas,” most of the selections were over a half century old. Th ...  Show more