Day: December 18, 2021

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“White Christmas” is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. The song was written by Berlin for the musical film Holiday Inn, released in 1942. The composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards.

Since its release, “White Christmas” has been covered by multiple artists, with the version sung by Bing Crosby being the world’s best-selling single (in terms of sales of physical media) with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide. When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby’s, sales of the song exceed 100 million.

In 1952, Mantovani and his orchestra reached No. 23 on Billboard‘s pop singles chart while The Drifters showcased the talents of lead singer Clyde McPhatter and the bass vocals of Bill Pinkney in 1954, peaking at No. 2 (one week) on Billboard‘s Rhythm & Blues Records chart on December 18 that year. It returned to the same chart in the next two years. The Drifters rendition of this song can be heard in the films Home Alone and The Santa Clause.

Sources: Wikipedia; Billboard’s Christmas in the Charts 1920-2004

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