David Bowie Croons With Bing Crosby!
Talk about one of the most unusual musical duos of all time! At a time when the message of this song is more important than ever, I want to look at the story behind how visionary Musical Artist David Bowie sang a holiday duet with one of Hollywood’s legendary crooners – Bing Crosby!
Bing Crosby is a holiday favorite – due to his classic films “Holiday Inn” and “White Christmas” – two of my favorites…see more of my top holiday classics here:
As for “Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth”, before I share some secrets about this song, it’s time to watch the incredible video, which begins with a nice conversation between the two before it heads into musical magic…it’s the 45th anniversary of this magical moment – let’s go!
The Secrets Behind The Magic!
As I researched this story, I came across a couple of fascinating stories about the recording of this song. First, this took place in September 1977 – when Bowie was at the top of the charts for songs such as his smash hit “Fame”, written with John Lennon in 1975!
Bowie had already wowed the music world with “Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars”, “Diamond Dogs” and “Young Americans”, so he was a popular as a modern musical Artist could be.
Bing Crosby, on the other hand, was best known for the classic holiday film “White Christmas”, his hit movies with Comedian Bob Hope – and his annual Christmas specials that aired on TV.
Cue Their Date With Musical History!
Here’s how it happened: Bowie agreed to sing a song with Crosby for his upcoming television special, “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas.” They shot the scene in September of 1977. As you saw on the video, they first chatted about what they each do on their family holiday, before singing the classic song “The Little Drummer Boy”…but here is where it gets even more interesting!
Bowie Sang For His Mom!
Here is how wikipedia describes the events surrounding the taping of the song – and Bowie’s reluctance to perform!
“Bowie’s appearance has been described as a ‘surreal’ event, undertaken at a time that he was ‘actively trying to normalise his career’. He later admitted to having only appeared on the show because ‘I just knew my mother liked him’. Buz Kohan was not sure that Crosby knew who Bowie was, but Ian Fraser claimed, ‘I’m pretty sure he did. Bing was no idiot. If he didn’t, his kids sure did.’
“Peace On Earth” Was Written On The Spot!
The last bit of trivia involved the song “Peace On Earth” – which was written because Bowie didn’t want to sing “Drummer Boy!”
According to co-writer Ian Fraser, Bowie balked at singing “Little Drummer Boy”: “I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?”, Fraser recalls Bowie telling him. Fraser, along with songwriter Larry Grossman and the special’s scriptwriter, Buz Kohan, then wrote “Peace on Earth” as a counterpoint to “Little Drummer Boy”. Crosby performed “Little Drummer Boy”, while Bowie sang the new tune “Peace on Earth”, which they reportedly performed after less than an hour of rehearsal!”
Crosby Compliments The Thin White Duke!
Here is what Bing Crosby said about Bowie after filming – he called him:
“A clean-cut kid and a real fine asset to the show. He sings well, has a great voice and reads lines well.”
Sadly, Crosby died a month after recording with Bowie, and the show aired just over a month after that, on November 30, 1977, on CBS.
The song was released as a single several years later in 1982, and climbed to #3 on the charts, one of David Bowie’s fastest selling singles ever!
Going modern, what about this incredible duet from Kelly Clarkson and Atriana Grande?
Their performance of “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me” is gorgeous, and you can see it by clicking on the video here!
This was from Kelly’s primetime NBC special – and is on her holiday album as well!
And what about this classic song in honor of an iconic holiday film:
Yes, Jessi Collins joined Kelly Clarkson for a gorgeous version of “Sister” from the great holiday film “White Christmas”. See the clip here!
I love when modern Artists take on holiday songs, like this classic:
The Eagles had a huge hit with “Please Come Home For Christmas”…check out the song – and their “Funky New Year” – by clicking on my story here:
Among the more famous holiday classics is this one by John Lennon and Yoko Ono:
You can hear this iconic music video here:
If all of this makes you want to hear more great holiday music, check out Hall & Oates:
H&O made a terrific holiday album, see some of the music videos here:
If you like these stories, why not sign up to receive emails whenever I post? It’s easy to do, I do NOT collect any information about you at all, there are absolutely NO ads of any kind, just stories about movies, music, books, food, travel and pop culture…
You can sign up by clicking on my blog here and see the note on the right!
Enjoy the holidays, and if you like this story, please share on your favorite social media!
Categories: 70's Music, Art, Classic Rock, kelly clarkson, Music, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, TV Show
johnrieber 
A great post, John. I do love the Bing Crosby / David Bowie song. I think I learned about it from you.
LikeLike
I loved this post, John. The story behind David and Bing is interesting; thank goodness they combined their two songs- what a wow! White Christmas is one of my favorite movies. Merry Christmas to you and Alex!
LikeLike
An unexpected collaboration, but terrific, and it is so timely now. Happy holidays to you and yours, John!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Timely indeed…thank you for your comment and happy holidays to you and yours as well! Cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much, John. Cheers! 🥂😻
LikeLike
such an unexpected pairing but it all turned out well in the end
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right? Bowie was #1 artist at the time and “super hip” so the fact he did it, and did it so beautifully, is something else indeed1. Happy holidays!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always thought that Crosby/Bowie combination was so weird, it made me feel uncomfortable watching them.
Have a marvellous Christmas, John!
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the song, but when I found out that Bowie hated “Drummer boy”: so he co-wrote a new song with his collaborator to take in and add to it…love that! Happy holidays to you Pete! We are back in LA and have plans to open some very nice wine with our Gigot d’Agneau!
LikeLiked by 1 person