Except for a hit in 1978, songwriter and perfomer Chris Rea is virtually unknown in the US (having never toured here). Despite long term medical problems, he’s enjoyed a successful career in the UK.
Have a Merry Christmas if I don’t see you, stay safe in your travels, and we’ll be back here tomorrow to trash talk you.
Haworth, West Yorkshire, UK, 27 November 2023, Dave Z PhotographyHaworth, West Yorkshire, UK, 14 December 2023, Dave Z PhotographyHaworth, West Yorkshire, UK, 14 December 2023, Dave Z PhotographyHaworth, West Yorkshire, UK, 03 December 2023, Dave Z PhotographyThe Shambles, York, North Yorkshire, UK 07 December 2023, Dave Z Photography
From the Utoobage: This collaboration by Los Angeles Blues-Rock band Canned Heat and Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr. was released in November 1968 as the A-side of Liberty 56079 in time for the holiday shopping season. Though some pressings credit Canned Heat & The Chipmunks on both sides of the disc, the 30 i.p.s. rodents are not present on the reverse, “Christmas Blues”.
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, The Harmony Grits (1959) When The Drifters were fired by their manager after an incident at the Apollo Theater, they were immediately replaced by members of The 5 Crowns. Clyde McPhatter had begun a solo career, so the others, Gerhard and Andrew Thrasher with Bill Pinkney and Little David Baughan(?) formed The Harmony Grits, as their former manager owned rights to The Drifters name. They recorded two songs before renaming themselves The Original Drifters. [More on the story here.]
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991.
[…] During the battle, shells and rockets were fired into the town at a rate of up to 12,000 a day. At the time, it was the fiercest and most protracted battle seen in Europe since 1945, and Vukovar was the first major European town to be entirely destroyed since the Second World War.
A 2013 discussion on Reddit includes analyses of this and other photos found in this collection, and suggests that the Santa photo may have been Yugoslav staged propaganda.