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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show for those interested in the big and small

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Speaker 1: moments of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode,

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Speaker 1: we're remembering the day when a former Beatle first told

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Speaker 1: us that he was simply having a wonderful Christmas Time.

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Speaker 1: The day was November six, seventy nine, Paul McCartney released

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Speaker 1: his quirky seasonal classic, Wonderful Christmas Time. It's prog rock

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Speaker 1: sound made it an instant stand out in the pantheon

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Speaker 1: of Christmas songs, loaded as it was, with synthesizer's sleigh

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Speaker 1: bells and all sorts of special effects who the Spirits

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Speaker 1: shaft Christmas. McCartney wrote the song one boiling hot day

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Speaker 1: in July, as he put it, and it took him

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Speaker 1: just ten minutes to get the job done. The lyrics

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Speaker 1: are a little basic, so that's not exactly hard to believe,

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Speaker 1: but ten minutes is still impressive, especially when you consider

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Speaker 1: how popular the song became. Wonderful Christmas Time was released

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Speaker 1: as a standalone single in the United Kingdom, and the

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Speaker 1: Brits loved it from the start. The song peaked at

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Speaker 1: number six on the UK Singles Chart, but it was

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Speaker 1: less of a hit in the US, where it made

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Speaker 1: it's a number ninety four on the Record World Singles Chart,

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Speaker 1: but never even cracked the Billboard Hot one hundred. It

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Speaker 1: still the song's a certified earworm, so plenty of stand

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Speaker 1: offish listeners warmed up to it eventually. To this day,

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Speaker 1: it gets plenty of play each year at shopping malls

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Speaker 1: and Christmas parties, and of course on the radio. It's

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Speaker 1: even popped back onto certain charts from time to time,

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Speaker 1: including a few of the Billboards. As you might imagine,

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Speaker 1: all that airplay has translated to a Wonderful Christmas Time

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Speaker 1: for Paul McCartney's bank account. According to Forbes, when you

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Speaker 1: factor in cover versions, the song earns the singer anywhere

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Speaker 1: from four hundred thousand to six hundred thousand dollars each year.

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Speaker 1: That adds up to roughly seventeen million dollars since its

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Speaker 1: release in nineteen seventy nine. Truly a gift that keeps

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Speaker 1: on giving. In most cases, those profits would be shared

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Speaker 1: between the other musicians featured on the track, but that's

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Speaker 1: not the case with wonder Full Christmas Time because Paul

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Speaker 1: McCartney made the whole thing himself. Not only did he

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Speaker 1: write and produce the song, he also played every single

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Speaker 1: instrument and sang every line, and yes, that includes when

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Speaker 1: the choir of children start to sing the song they've

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Speaker 1: practiced all year long. True, that song amounts to nothing

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Speaker 1: but ding dong, ding dong, but it's still just McCartney

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Speaker 1: singing it. He recorded the song on his own during

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Speaker 1: the sessions for his McCartney Too solo project, though he

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Speaker 1: wound up releasing it as a non album single. The

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Speaker 1: members of his then current band Wings had no part

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Speaker 1: in the song's creation, but they did appear in the

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Speaker 1: music video promoting it, which was shot at the Fountain

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Speaker 1: Inn in West Sussex. Wings also played the song during

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Speaker 1: their nine tour of the UK, which ended up being

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Speaker 1: the band's last one. Today, many people love the song,

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Speaker 1: while others despise it and try to exit the room

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Speaker 1: as soon as it starts playing. Some music critics have

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Speaker 1: called it the worst composition of McCartney's career, but I

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Speaker 1: don't even think it's his worst Christmas song that dishonor

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Speaker 1: has to go to the B side of Wonderful Christmas Time,

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Speaker 1: A little tune called Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae which

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Speaker 1: makes no sense, has no lyrics and definitely is in reggae.

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Speaker 1: It sounds more Irish or Scottish. As CBC Radio put it,

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Speaker 1: that song quote makes wonderful Christmas Time sound like let

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Speaker 1: it be in comparison. In speaking of other Christmas songs,

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Speaker 1: Paul McCartney recorded one with the Beatles called Christmas Time

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Speaker 1: Is Here Again, which was sent to the band's fan

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Speaker 1: club members in nineteen sixty seven. Paul was the third

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Speaker 1: former Beatle to return to the Christmas well in the

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventies. John Lennon got there first in nineteen seventy

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Speaker 1: one when he and Yoko Ono released Happy Xmas, War

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Speaker 1: Is Over and Happy. Three years later, George Harrison threw

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Speaker 1: his hat in the holiday ring with Ding Dong Ding Dong,

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Speaker 1: a New Year's Eve sing along that McCartney obviously cribbed

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Speaker 1: without Shane for his own Christmas song, Asper Ringo star

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Speaker 1: He bided his time until nineteen nine, when he released

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Speaker 1: an entire album of Christmas songs called I Want to

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Speaker 1: Be Santa Claus. Ringo's album included his take on a

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Speaker 1: number of popular Christmas songs, and while Wonderful Christmas Time

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Speaker 1: isn't one of them, plenty of other artists have covered

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Speaker 1: it over the years. The roster of notable covers includes

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Speaker 1: versions by Diana Ross, The Bear Naked Ladies, Kelly Rowland,

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Speaker 1: Demilovado Hansen, and a sixteen duet between Kylie Minogue and

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Speaker 1: Mika Paul McCartney is said to be a little tired

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Speaker 1: of the song himself, but he's still performed it at

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Speaker 1: live shows in recent years, at least the ones in

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Speaker 1: the Winter. He also performed it on sn L back

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Speaker 1: in and again with Jimmy Fallon in the Roots In.

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Speaker 1: That's a lot of staying power for a song that's

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Speaker 1: been quite divisive with the public in the years since

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Speaker 1: its release, but where whether you love it or hate it,

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Speaker 1: there's no denying the song has become a new Christmas standard.

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Speaker 1: It's bouncy and upbeat enough then most people can help

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Speaker 1: but hum along as the song goes. The parties on

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Speaker 1: the feelings here that only comes this time of year.

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Speaker 1: Of course, whether that feeling is good or bad depends

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Speaker 1: entirely on who's listening. I'm Gabelusier and hopefully you now

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Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday.

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Speaker 1: If you enjoyed the show, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I HC Show. And if

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Speaker 1: you want to go into lengthy detail about why I'm

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Speaker 1: wrong and how Rudolf the Red Nosed Reggae is actually

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Speaker 1: the best Christmas song ever, well, you can send your

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Speaker 1: argument to Chandler Maze at I heart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: Speaking of which, thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show,

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Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here

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Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more

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Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,

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