Imagine receiving airplay and earning income from a song year after year and having that same song be recorded by multiple artists over a span of decades. That is what can happen with a holiday-themed song. For many songwriters and music publishers, landing a holiday recording that becomes the next… Read more...
Here at Broadcast Music, Inc., we love the holiday season, because we have an excuse to play some of our favorite festive tunes by BMI songwriters - from classics like Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” to Mariah Carey’s greatest gift to the world, “All I Want For Christmas… Read more...
John Lennon, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” The BMI holiday countdown concludes with John Lennon’s delicate, defiant “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” Released in December 1971, as Vietnam’s kaleidoscope of violence refracted the horrors of war around the world,… Read more...
Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Christmas Time is Here” Composed by Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson In its original, exquisite, instrumental form, the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s “Christmas Time is Here” communicates with an emotional language that transcends words. What began as… Read more...
Run-D.M.C., “Christmas in Hollis” Written by Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels and DJ Jason “Jam-Master Jay” Mizell By 1987, the year Run-D.M.C. released the single “Christmas in Hollis” on two different holiday compilations, they were undeniably… Read more...
James Brown, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” With its tightly intertwined rhythms, percussive horns and traditional jump-blues bridge, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” catches the incomparable James Brown during a period of transition—moving from the hard-hitting… Read more...
Clarence Carter, “Back Door Santa” Written by Clarence Carter and Marcus Daniel A slice of greasy blues soul that draws from the Willie Dixon classic “Back Door Man,” Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa,” co-written with Marcus… Read more...
Mariah Carey, “All I Want for Christmas is You” In the early 1990s, Mariah Carey was already well on her way to becoming the best-selling artist of the decade. With her powerful 5-octave vocal range and the finesse… Read more...
Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector In the early 1960s, Brooklyn natives Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich were barely in their early twenties when… Read more...
