Speaker 1: The Quest Love Show is a production of iHeartRadio. Some
Speaker 1: of y'all this is Quest Quest Love Show. It's the holidays,
Speaker 1: and if you know me, I love curating music. I'm
Speaker 1: the guy that will, you know, sit for five hours
Speaker 1: and do deep dives and looking for the perfect song
Speaker 1: to capture the mood. Even though I've taken a year
Speaker 1: off from CQLS, wasn't the only thing that I needed
Speaker 1: time away from. I once had the dawning task of
Speaker 1: curating four hundred playlists a month for people two times over. Actually,
Speaker 1: you know, I would do slow songs in fast songs.
Speaker 1: So there are a bunch of people sort of tugging
Speaker 1: all my cotails for Christmas music recommendation, So I guess
Speaker 1: I'll share some of my favorite ones with you. Of course,
Speaker 1: you know what the all time classic Christmas time is here,
Speaker 1: Vince Garaldi and Charlie Brown. I recently found out how
Speaker 1: unsupportive the CBS network was to the Charlie Brown Christmas Special,
Speaker 1: which I believe that special is now sixty years old.
Speaker 1: Actually I heard that because they rejected it so late,
Speaker 1: they actually never wanted to air it at all. It
Speaker 1: was jarring for them to see a Christmas special, you know,
Speaker 1: with a manically depressive kid as the lead, and even
Speaker 1: the fact that they said that, you know, jazz music's
Speaker 1: going to turn off their viewers, like everything is wrong
Speaker 1: about this, and so they kind of were forced to
Speaker 1: air it because they had nothing else to put in
Speaker 1: this place into Much to their surprise and chagrin, it
Speaker 1: wound up being a hit. I know that one of
Speaker 1: the things that they insisted on was that one of
Speaker 1: those jazz songs had to have vocals on it. So
Speaker 1: at the very last minute, I believe one of the
Speaker 1: execs at CBS, who was sort of in charge of
Speaker 1: the project, had their kid and his classmates go into
Speaker 1: the studio at the last minute to sing Christmas time
Speaker 1: is here. So it's kind of like an eleventh hour decision.
Speaker 1: But you know, they kind of accidentally stumbled onto a classic.
Speaker 1: So that's for that. There's a song that I feel
Speaker 1: is Philadelphia to its core whenever I hear it. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I like listening to the song even on non holiday timelines,
Speaker 1: and that is a song called Merry Christmas All not
Speaker 1: too original of a title, but this is by the
Speaker 1: Sassol Orchestra, led by remixer and editor and producer Tom Moulton,
Speaker 1: It's just a very jazzy Philadelphia song. I was under
Speaker 1: the impression that anything that came out of Sigma Sound
Speaker 1: Recording Studios, the same studio that all those disco classics
Speaker 1: came from in the seventies, The Sound of Philadelphia, and
Speaker 1: also five roots albums came out of there as well.
Speaker 1: I was under the impression that they were all kind
Speaker 1: of like one giant organization, only for me to realize
Speaker 1: that various Philadelphia producers had no choice but to use
Speaker 1: the same musicians. So yes, even though this is the
Speaker 1: sound of Philadelphia and this sounds very much like something
Speaker 1: Gamble and Huff would do for their artists, the only
Speaker 1: common ground is that after Gamble and Huff is done,
Speaker 1: therefore our session, another producer's coming in to use the
Speaker 1: same musicians, and he hands out the sheets and they
Speaker 1: play the same thing, same engineering, same texture, the same sound.
Speaker 1: So I was kind of the impression that this was
Speaker 1: a Gambled and Huff song, But no, it was recording
Speaker 1: the same studio, same musicians, but totally different production. But
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas all one of the jazziest, coolest Philadelphia songs ever.
Speaker 1: Third up Okay, So James Brown. I will say that
Speaker 1: his Christmas album was probably the very first James Brown
Speaker 1: album I ever heard. I remember listening to that record
Speaker 1: at my aunt's house, my aunt Barbara, that would be
Speaker 1: the destination for Christmas time every year from my childhood
Speaker 1: on up to maybe stop going when I was twenty something.
Speaker 1: But she used to always play the Soulful Christmas Album
Speaker 1: by James Brown and the opening cut go Power. At
Speaker 1: Christmas time when you're three years old, I have no
Speaker 1: idea what James Brown is singing, so I thought he
Speaker 1: was talking about gold power, like gold metal flower, give
Speaker 1: me some gold Power. Never understood why James. I thought
Speaker 1: he was frying chicken or something. I don't know, but
Speaker 1: I now realized. I guess go Power was kind of
Speaker 1: his motivational give me some excitement for Christmas. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's one of those old timey terms like elbow grease,
Speaker 1: like something you don't hear anymore. Also, the title cut
Speaker 1: Soulful Christmas. It's probably the first time I heard Clyde
Speaker 1: Stubblefield drum before I discovered Funky drummer. Like. Honestly, it's
Speaker 1: weird that James Brown's most popular boutique song was the
Speaker 1: one flop in his otherwise flawless top ten run between
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five and nineteen seventy five. Most of the
Speaker 1: singles that he released between sixty five and seventy five
Speaker 1: were at the very least top twenty singles on the
Speaker 1: Soul chart. Eighty percent of them were top ten songs.
Speaker 1: A line share were top five and number one songs.
Speaker 1: But the one single that he released that didn't farewell
Speaker 1: on the Black charts was an instrumental called Funky Drummer
Speaker 1: and the irony of that. But that drum pattern that's
Speaker 1: done on Funky Drummer is also done on Soulful Christmas Time,
Speaker 1: and so that holds dear to my heart. So I
Speaker 1: will say that even as a kid, I used to
Speaker 1: practice Soulful Christmas just to get that left handed kind
Speaker 1: of a ghost note thing that Clyde Stubblefield does with
Speaker 1: the snare drum. As an album, if you are into
Speaker 1: psychedelic pop, psychedelic soul, or just psychedelics, I highly recommend
Speaker 1: the Rotary Connection album called Pa Rotary Connection. Of course,
Speaker 1: the Chicago outfit that includes Maya Rudolph's mother Minnie Riperton,
Speaker 1: also produced by Charles Stephanie, who later produce an amazing
Speaker 1: band called Earth Wind and Fire, to whom I just
Speaker 1: finished directing. Their documentary will be out on HBO soon.
Speaker 1: But that entire Peace Album is just weird. It might
Speaker 1: be like the Dark Side of the Moon of Christmas albums,
Speaker 1: and it's less about the holidays and more about peace.
Speaker 1: Because of course they are all hippies, so stamn hippies
Speaker 1: want piece all the time. But yeah, for a cohesive
Speaker 1: listening experience from start to finish that you could put
Speaker 1: on at any time period, I would highly recommend the
Speaker 1: Peace Album by the Rotary Connection you know on QLs.
Speaker 1: Of course, if you listen to who Are Very First
Speaker 1: or was it Our Second Christmas Special? When Fante talks
Speaker 1: about the magic of hearing Silent Night by the Temptations, Yes,
Speaker 1: that is definitely one of the classics. But I will
Speaker 1: say that Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer by the Temptations, which,
Speaker 1: of course, if you are familiar with DMX's kind of
Speaker 1: rendition of it the beginning, he's basing it on the Temptations.
Speaker 1: There's Dancer and parents and Vixen. Like when you listen
Speaker 1: to that intro that DMX does. He's basing it on
Speaker 1: the Temptations version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I
Speaker 1: only pick it because, you know, I know motown acts
Speaker 1: of the sixties, they had to sort of straddle, just
Speaker 1: ride that line between sophisticated pop and just enough blackness
Speaker 1: to not scare Middle America. But this version of Rudolph
Speaker 1: the Red Nose Reindeer, like, there's so many correct incorrect notes.
Speaker 1: If you're a real musician, you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: When I mean incorrect notes, I don't mean like they
Speaker 1: played something wrong, but there's just a soulful way that
Speaker 1: black keys are used. Sometimes when you're taking pop songs
Speaker 1: that are Christine and major key and you put it
Speaker 1: in a minor key from Eddie Kendricks is singing to
Speaker 1: James Jamerson's baseline delivery. This is probably the blackest thing
Speaker 1: that pre Psychedelic Temptations has ever done. So I recommend
Speaker 1: that I've recently discovered that on the Earth, Wind and
Speaker 1: Fire Christmas album, which I think came out in the
Speaker 1: last ten years, that they've also remade September into December.
Speaker 1: Genius ideas. So when you're tired of listening to, you
Speaker 1: can also listen to December and it's Christmas apropos lyrics
Speaker 1: for that, So of course shout out to Earth Wind
Speaker 1: and Fire. I think the Jackson five Christmas album should
Speaker 1: be also in every household. This is probably their last
Speaker 1: album of that kid innocence era before they all turn
Speaker 1: to teenagers. You know, a year later they're going to
Speaker 1: do like Dance Machine. But there's two songs on that
Speaker 1: record that I always wondered about, because again I encountered
Speaker 1: this record when I was like two or three, and
Speaker 1: of course I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus is a
Speaker 1: song in which the child does know that daddy's really
Speaker 1: Santa Claus and why is Mommy kissing the stranger? But
Speaker 1: the way that Michael and the bridge will yell out
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna tell my daddy. I didn't know about
Speaker 1: the legend of Joe Jackson back when I was three,
Speaker 1: But you know, just just transferring and paralleling it to
Speaker 1: my own household, I wouldn't want to snitch on my
Speaker 1: mom like that, Are you crazy? Dish is thrown everywhere. No,
Speaker 1: so Mike, stop snitching. But also the monologue, while most
Speaker 1: of America would ask their kids to come down. Like
Speaker 1: I lived in the seventies and when the seventies was
Speaker 1: the last decade where the adults would have a gathering,
Speaker 1: and it was pretty much expected once a month that
Speaker 1: you would be awaken out of your sleep to come
Speaker 1: downstairs in front of the poker table or the drinking table,
Speaker 1: wherever the adults are, and then you provide entertainment a
Speaker 1: mere sing a dream the impossible dream. Watch he can
Speaker 1: sing this, and you know, or Amir, do the robot
Speaker 1: by the Jackson five, and then you know, just be
Speaker 1: one in the morning. I'm like sleep dancing, but I
Speaker 1: would often my family would get tickled by my rendition
Speaker 1: of the monologue of Remaine Jackson crying after getting dumped
Speaker 1: by his girlfriend on Christmas. Won't be the same this year.
Speaker 1: So literally, Amir, do the speech. Do the speech. Oh
Speaker 1: he's crying, you know, and now we have to listen,
Speaker 1: just listen to Christmas won't be the same this year,
Speaker 1: by the Jackson five and that whole monologue where Jermaine
Speaker 1: gets dumped and whatever. Like I somehow committed. That's the
Speaker 1: first Jackson five song I committed to memory. So that's
Speaker 1: that I'm rounded out with, of course Otis Reddings Merry
Speaker 1: Christmas Baby, weirdly enough sampled by Prince Paul in Queen
Speaker 1: Antifa's Mamma gave birth to the Soul Children, which is
Speaker 1: how I came to know it. But I will actually
Speaker 1: say that now that I'm familiar with the entire Stax
Speaker 1: vault cannon for the early part of the MG's and
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the legendary booker t Al Jackson, of course,
Speaker 1: the late Steve Cropper on guitar, I will say that's probably,
Speaker 1: and you know, of course, like everyone knows Soul Man,
Speaker 1: and like just all these other iconic Steve Cropper guitar performances.
Speaker 1: But for me, his guitar performance on Merry Christmas Baby,
Speaker 1: for Otis Writing to me, is one of the most flawless,
Speaker 1: awesome examples of his kind of gut bucket down South
Speaker 1: Quartec gospel sliding on a guitar. That's one of my
Speaker 1: favorite songs ever. I'm gonna close this out with a
Speaker 1: Christmas song that I wish I made, The Dap Kings.
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan, so big I stole two of
Speaker 1: their members for the roots. Shout out to Dave guy
Speaker 1: and Uncle Chief Ian Hendrickson of the Dap Kings and
Speaker 1: their version of God Resci Marry Gentlemen. There is somewhere
Speaker 1: on the shelf a roots Christmas song using Matt Music
Speaker 1: as the backdrop that we created that we never release.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of songs on the shelf. So the
Speaker 1: Dap Kings got Rescy Marry Gentleman is definitely a favorite.
Speaker 1: The last two, I will say. Fishbone released two EPs
Speaker 1: in early in their career. The second one is called
Speaker 1: We're going to Have a Wonderful Life, which is kind
Speaker 1: of a Christmas EP, and there's a song called slick
Speaker 1: nick You, Devil You, which Angelo, the lead singer Fishbone,
Speaker 1: sort of expresses his disdain for Santa Claus and the
Speaker 1: fact that he's been neglectful and delivering the wrong gifts,
Speaker 1: that his health is you know that he has poor health,
Speaker 1: and basically it's an eleven year old telling him about himself,
Speaker 1: which you know. It's called slick nick You doub you.
Speaker 1: And I will close it out by giving my man
Speaker 1: drum I haven't heard from a long time. Drum you
Speaker 1: need to, you know, come with it, all right, So
Speaker 1: I will say that drum his Christmas EP, he does
Speaker 1: a duet with his mother, Big Baby Mom, and they're
Speaker 1: rendition of silver Bells is one of my favorites. It's
Speaker 1: so good, I can't believe. I actually talked Jimmy and
Speaker 1: the staff of the Tonight Show of having them do
Speaker 1: it on the show. So those are kind of my
Speaker 1: off the top. Go to Christmas Choices and you have
Speaker 1: a great Christmas