18: Christmas Portrait

Support the Official Release You can listen to Carpenters’ Christmas Portrait on: Apple MusicSpotify Or purchase Christmas Portrait on: Amazon Music Links Carpenters’ “Superstar”, featured in this classic car ride karaoke scene from Tommy Boy.Episode 3: “The Christmas Draft”, where Marc drafts “Merry Christmas Darling” & discusses at length with Michael & Aimee. Check it out for a more thorough discussion on the track.Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys Brian Wilson (self-titled, 1988). Certain segments and tracks on this record strongly resemble Richard’s on tracks like “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”.That’s Why God Made the Radio (2012), which Michael felt too strongly resembled Richard’s vocal style (and not in a good way). We listened to Christmas Portrait (Special Edition) from 1984, which is a compilation of select tracks from… Christmas Portrait (original 1978 release)An Old-Fashioned Christmas (1984) Karen’s voice type is contralto, which is a somewhat rare vocal range you might recognize from artists like… NikoBeach House’s Victoria Legrand May Crowning, you know, where songs like “Ave Maria” actually belong.“Is ‘Ave Maria’ really a Christmas song?” by Marc Minter, a senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Diana, TX. The correct answer is, “it’s not.”Michael’s “A Christmas Song” judgements S Tier: Nat “King” ColeSo close! Amy Grant (see Episode 3 for the context behind Michael’s “branded by an iron” joke)Honorable Mention: Bing CrosbyClunker: Christina AguileraSurprisingly Good, But Blows It: Shawn MendesJust No: PentatonixSelf Important Rubbish: Michael Bublé More on the history behind Merry Christmas DarlingThe app Michael mentioned is Marvis Pro, one of the finest music players available today“It’s Over 9000!”HBO’s The Last of Us Trailer (Marc was confusing it with the HBO 2023 Lineup trailer) ♫︎