The Holiday Music Fest
This is "All I Want for Christmas is You." But no, not that version, not the one by Mariah Carey. This is a totally different song that I might like even more. It's performed by Vince Vance and the Valiants, and was a big hit in its own right, though mostly on country music radio, so not as many people likely know it.
(How big a country hit was it? The recording had been sitting around for a few years before it was finally discovered and began to be played on country music radio. And it exploded SO much that I recall listening to the local station and they would literally announce when they would next be playing it! And it was usually some time during the next hour.)
What I particularly like about the recording, done in 1989, is not just that it's such a terrific song, but that the vocals performed by Lisa Layne are just so powerful and guttural. Just to be clear, that's not her seeming to sing on the video, but a model they got in to lip-sync. Still, the song remains wonderful.
But yes, the goofy guy with the hair is Vince Vance.
And hang around because there's a bonus.
Okay, that was the official video. But just because you're so special, and since it's the holiday season of good cheer, here's the bonus I mentioned. This is the original singer, Lisa Layne -- just because she's so wonderful and deserves her place n the spotlight -- performing the song on stage in Texas in 2010. It's missing the wailing saxophone in the arrangement, but most importantly it has her.
Comments