This week we pit musical legends against upstarts and imitators, in a duel to the death. You be the judge and jury.Let’s start with the best selling single of all time, Christmas or not … 50 million copies of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” have been sold. Here’s the crooner from the musical Holiday Inn from 1942:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXcNfA4qebQ
Crosby was dismissive of his role in the song's success, saying later that "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully."
Lady Gaga couldn’t resist the challenge. Here’s her “White Christmas”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm0nyU3P_kg
One of the most loved seasonal songs is this chestnut (sorry) from Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Song”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbjqU76PU8Y
Who but a teenage upstart would dare to challenge the supremacy of Nat Cole? Why none other than young human Justin Bieber:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlvFgf1LKY0
To hear more shocking audio, listen to the episode through the above audio link. We pit Burl Ives against Michael Buble, The Harry Simeone Chorale against The 3 Tenors, and Frank Sinatra against Frankie Valli. No contest!
Every week on “Record bin Roulette,” KPLU’s John Kessler and John Maynard put an insightful and fun spin on a century's worth of discarded vinyl. The feature is published here and airs on KPLU 88.5 every Thursday during Morning Edition, All Things Considered and on Weekend Saturday Edition.
