Bing Crosby 60s/70s Christmas Specials on GetTV

I watched the Dean Martin ones - all of these are on YouTube. One that is kinda interesting is the Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra one. Kids, wives, a loooong part where they list cripple kids charities with clunky names. You see how elderly the Sinatra kids are compared to the swinging Martin kids. Seeing Dean jr next to Frank jr is funny af.

Dear Bingles X-Mas specials were to showcase the young second wife and to show his children were well trained. It looked like the Springtime for Hitler number would have fit right in.

Der. Not Dear!

"Bing looks frail and disinterested."

He supposedly wasn't a big drunk anymore yet Crosby had issues with looking disinterested. Like he did what he had to do to collect the check. Not Christmas, but you'll see it here.

Oh God....in the 60s and 70s every kid in America begged their parents to change the channel when Bing Crosby appeared.

He was so dated, a relic from another time but seen in a 1930s context you can understand his appeal and popularity.

Here he is with Olive Oil look-alike Kitty Carlisle.

R4 Dean and Lena consummate professionals. Crosby seems like an uninvited guest.

[quote]Bing looks frail and disinterested.

UNinterested, not disinterested.

You too, R4.

r7 If you say so, that that's not possible; foreign words not your strength, ehh? phh

I have been watching all day.

That bitch daughter of his KILLED J.R!

Hey, there's always Lawrence Welk.

Mac Davis so hawt.😋

Crosby's crooning was sublime.

Bing Crosby was a huge star in his day, but is practically forgotten now.

There was something a little off about Der Bingle.

The youngest child did not age well.

Aw, he's kinda cute.

He was super cute when he was young. He could have benefited from a chin implant, though.

Kathryn Crosby turned into a New York Social Diary gargoyle.

I actually enjoy Perry Como's Christmas specials.

Don't forget Andy Williams. Cute elf riding on the side. Also starring Dead-eye Longet.

[quote]Bing Crosby was a huge star in his day, but is practically forgotten now.

Same with Fred. I'm amazed. Us kids of the 60s and 70s were force fed these old people. I thought they'd never go away.I guess it was nostalgia for our parents.

Fred who?

I watched the one with Fred Astaire, who maintained his poise and polish for decades.

This month i watched Astaire over 20 year intervals: in the early 30s (Flying Down to Rio, Top Hat and Follow the Fleet), in the early 50s (The Band Wagon) and the early 70s (the Bing Crosby special) and in all three incarnations he was dapper, self-effacing and immensely talented.

Crosby beat his first sons. Abusive parent. I can't stand watching the bastard.

No one has a bad word to say about Fred.

Bing was a fucking abusive cunt of the highest order. A taste:

Six years later, Bing’s son Gary wrote the book Going my Own Way. It shocked the world. Gary detailed the years of physical and emotional abuse from his father, from his nickname of “Bucket Butt”, weekly weigh-ins, and beatings that drew blood. Gary said in his book that to endure the pain, he would dream up ways to kill his father. Gary’s brother Lindsay supported the charges in the book, stating, “I hope it clears up a lot of the old lies.” Bing’s second family was outraged at the book, but Gary said he wanted the truth to be told. It was a completely different view of Father O’Malley. It is a great book, if you are able to find a copy. I do not intend to disrespect Bing’s memory, but I am going by what the book said. (Very kind of you Kevin, but I will. Bing was a nasty, mean man. There, I said it.) Bing left money for all of his children, with a catch. It was left in a blind trust, until they turned 65. Reminds me of an old joke. How do you know Bing Crosby was uncircumcised? There was just no end to that prick.

Gary Crosby died of lung cancer at 62, on August 24th, 1995. Dennis and Lindsay both died by suicide from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Lindsay in 1989, and Dennis in 1991. Phillip is a nightclub owner, living in Woodland Hills now, and vehemently denies that Bing was a bad man. I don’t believe him.

More at the link:

Aloha on the slide trombone.

WHO???

"Bing’s son Gary wrote the book Going my Own Way. It shocked the world."

Not such a shock. The gory details may have been shocking, but most people knew Bing was an SOB with his first set of children, including me because it had been in print before.

We can't all be you, r31

Thankfully.

Bing went from superstardom to forgotten except at Christmas in no time. He is as painful to listen to as that other superstar Al Jolson.

Fred is a very great talent who is timeless. Quite a few of the greatest musical numbers ever put on film star him.

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R33, Bing is not painful to listen to. He was a bastard but he had a great voice, which is why his Christmas songs are still played all the time

Why does nobody listen to him at any other time of year? His comfy corny style fits in very well with the holiday. But outside of that he is only listened to by 95 year old women with ear trumpets.

I do though enjoy his dry comedy style in the old road pictures, and High Society and Going My Way are favorites. His Well Did You Evah with Sinatra is a classic moment in a movie musical.

At the peak of Crosby's career he was listened to by everyone. As he went hopelessly out of style, Christmas became his thing - it also worked for Andy Williams and Perry Como. The difference is that Crosby had been an Oscar winning movie actor, introduced the song White Christmas, and his 1940s Christmas LP was a decades long best seller. Don't underestimate how big a star Crosby was.

I'm definitely not. That's why I called him a superstar of his era as was Jolson before him. However they both considerably dimmed surprisingly quickly.

He always negotiated himself getting the smallest billing of his costars so the film's success or failure didn't fall on his shoulders.

Before he sold out to Hollywood Big Bucks, Bing was a good jazz singer, believe it or not.

" However they both considerably dimmed surprisingly quickly."

He was a big star for 30 years, R38. Saying Crosby's career "dimmed surprisingly quickly" is incorrect.

Poor Grace Kelly. Bing Crosby was the only suitor her father approved of for marriage. Grace wanted nothing to do with him.

R5 I don't know where you get that idea. As kids in the 60's and 70's, we loved the big Christmas celebrity shows. Many big stars, many of whom were more famous from the 1940s were still big names. Some I never could explain - like the King Family Christmas Specials and why the Lennon Sisters were a thing, only at Christmas.

But all the networks did big holiday specials. For perspective, these stars may have been 20-25 years passed their hit years, but that's no different than the endless tours of performers from the 80s and 90s (Madonna, Blondie, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister).

[quote]As kids in the 60's and 70's, we loved the big Christmas celebrity shows.

Do you know how to read?

I was specifically talking about Bing Crosby.

We all enjoyed Christmas specials. And some stars from the 1940s did hold up well into the the 60s and remained contemporary: Dinah Shore, Perry Como still had Billboard chart hits in the early 70s, Jack Benny could still be funny...but Bing Crosby hauling out his dull as dishwater family...and with his dated way of singing, he was excruciating.

[quote]For perspective, these stars may have been 20-25 years passed their hit years, but that's no different than the endless tours of performers from the 80s and 90s (Madonna, Blondie, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister).

Wrong.

Popular music from 30 years ago doesn't sound alien when compared to contemporary pop.

But in 1965, popular music from 30 years in the past sounded as if it were from a different world. In 1965 no young person wanted to go to a Bing Crosby concert. Are you nuts?

R38, people still listen to Bing, no one listens to Jolson

What are you talking about R41? Nobody but nobody listens to Bing anymore outside of 1 holiday. After he died he died. That's my point. There was Jolson then there was Bing and then there was Sinatra. Sinatra is the only one who is timeless the only one anyone cares about. Who the hell does tributes to Al or Bing?

No one. And I'm the only person I know who likes Going My Way. Others would rather take a bullet to the head.

"Sinatra is the only one who is timeless the only one anyone cares about"

That's because Sinatra is more modern and imitated more that the others, or any others. But it's mainly because Sinatra has been endlessly promoted since his death, similar to the way Elvis was promoted after his death - the younger Sinatra and the younger Elvis. Today we don't think of fat old Elvis who flubbed his lyrics, or senile old Sinatra who couldn't remember them. However, we do think of frail old Crosby from those damned Christmas special of the 70s. It's about promotion or lack of it, darling.

It's hardly simply promotion. Sinatra is an uncanny master of timing and phrasing. He is like Ella. Never overplaying(well the good stuff anyway not junk like New York New York.)

In all the video/clips and interviews I've seen on him Bowie always comes across as a pretentious knob head. I don't know why. I used to be neutral on him, but now, the more I see of him the more I dislike him.

"No one. And I'm the only person I know who likes Going My Way. Others would rather take a bullet to the head."

You're dumb. Going My Way and White Christmas are still liked by a lot of people

Then why isn't Ella Fitzgerald an icon like Sinatra, R48? And the fact is, most people love kitschy crap that they can sing along with like New York, New York. 99.9% of the public is not thinking of timing and phrasing, they think "oh he has a nice voice," and "I love that tune."

[quote]Nobody but nobody listens to Bing anymore outside of 1 holiday. After he died he died.

Crosby never had a hit in the 60s or beyond. Never recorded an album that any young person ever wanted. Never recorded anything contemporary that anyone cared about.

Sinatra's success had nothing to do with promotion. It had to do with his genuine talent and ability to remain contemporary.

Name the Sinatra albums you ran to the record store to buy in the 1980s, R52.

[quote]Then why isn't Ella Fitzgerald an icon like Sinatra, [R48]? And the fact is, most people love kitschy crap that they can sing along with like New York, New York. 99.9% of the public is not thinking of timing and phrasing, they think "oh he has a nice voice," and "I love that tune."

" New York, New York." does not define Sinatra's career.

I wouldn't even know who Bing Crosby was if it hadn't been for my now-deceased grandmother. She used to play his music. I can name a dozen Frank Sinatra songs off the top of my head. Sinatra is still very much a part of popular culture. Bing Crosby is a relic.

r51, part of the reason she isn't an icon like Sinatra is that heterosexual men rarely listen to female artists. It's a big reason why female artists have struggled for respect.

DL is such a twilight world sometimes. You actually have posters who think Bing Crosby is still relevant and not forgotten, and is still being listened to by people in this day and age. Frank Sinatra still has a lot of presence in our culture.

[quote]Name the Sinatra albums you ran to the record store to buy in the 1980s, [R52].

What's your point?

Sinatra was already 70 years old in 1985. He had already had a long and illustrious career behind him.

Even so, the greats of the business lined up to do his Duets albums.

R54, to the masses, that song does define his career.

[quote]Then why isn't Ella Fitzgerald an icon like Sinatra

Because Sinatra was a mythic figure.

He was a teen idol with screaming fans "Sinatramania", he was an Oscar winning actor in From here to Eternity , nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in "Man with a Golden Arm, danced with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh , Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and On the Town, married Ava Gardner, affairs with most beautiful women in the world, the Rat Pack, the Mafia, Mia Farrow...etc and etc.

He had a huge wild career and that is alluring in a way Fitzgerald's could never be.

[quote]to the masses, that song does define his career.

Perhaps to people like you.

They still play Sinatra's New York, New York at midnight, New Year's Eve, Time Square. It probably will for a very long time.

[quote] " New York, New York." does not define Sinatra's career.

Before he recorded it, he was doing Tony Orlando and Dawn covers and disco versions of Cole Porter songs.

This must be what made Ethel Merman think she could do it.

Even before his three-year retirement period, there was this:

Sinatra and Jobim

Pure class.

A pop masterpiece.

R44 Are you just an asshole? Are you off your meds? Probably both are true.

You can't write for shit. So, go back to you rum you old drunk.

R68 = Kathryn Crosby

R69 has had a very busy day in this thread. Very insecure about anyone criticizing his beloved idol - the bald alcoholic, and DEAD Frank Sinatra.

R69 You're being ridiculous. If I were Kathryn Crosby, I'd tell you to drop and eat my snatch.

Frank Sinatra is still relevant in American culture. Bing Crosby is a half-forgotten relic and very much of his time.

Sorry but Sinatra is still relevant and so is Ella. Their best recordings are masterworks of popular art. Ella is still one of the most beloved vocalists.

And heterosexual men DO listen to female vocalists. Very much so. Where did you ever get the cockamamie idea they don't? Sheesh.

r73 needs to get out more. Maybe sophisticated ones do, but average joes do NOT listen to female singers, or if they do they don't admit it. Go to a bar and ask some beer-drinkin' straight guy who his favorite female singer is, he'll just stare at you blankly.

R73 Is right, R74. I suspect maybe you're just a bit less musically diverse. Most of my straight male friends have pretty large music collections: everything from Sarah Vaughan to Ella Fitzgerald.

The Sinatra album(s) you'd've bought during the '90s were Duets and Duets II, his biggest selling albums ever, which also finally gave Barbara Sinatra her own piece of FS's recording legacy. The first Duets is the only FS album to go triple platinum, the second sold over 1M copies and won him his last competitive Grammy.

Did Kathryn Crosby recover from that awful car crash she was in a while back that killed her second husband?

She always wears those headbands--are they to hold up her face, her wig, or both? Patrice Munsel used to do the same thing.

I saw Kathryn Crosby do her nightclub act, which used clips from those specials as a curtain warmer. Man, she must have been proud of this one moment where she is wearing a white long 70s dress. She and Bing are dancing together. He twirls her in, then he twirls her out, and the funny part is she takes a bunch of steps to (rather clumsily) do something that a real dancer could've done in a step or two. In the clips they kept showing that one again and again.

I also saw her in State Fair on Broadway with John Davidson.

Have any of the Bing fans here bought her self-published My Life With Bing scrapbooks?

'He was a teen idol with screaming fans "Sinatramania"'

Screaming fans were also around later for Johnnie Ray and Paul Anka and dozens of others. Teenagers will scream for just about anything, did you know they yelled and swooned for Crosby in his time? Additionally, there was no such term as Sinatramania. "Mania" in this context started with The Beatles in 1964. If you want to make a point, in this case that being a teen idol is important, get some of you facts right.

[quote]Screaming fans were also around later for Johnnie Ray and Paul Anka and dozens of others. Teenagers will scream for just about anything, did you know they yelled and swooned for Crosby in his time? Additionally, there was no such term as Sinatramania. "Mania" in this context started with The Beatles in 1964.

Wrong.

The term "Sinatramania" was coined in the 1940s. Look it up. Do your homework.

[quote]Did you know they yelled and swooned for Crosby in his time?

And they yelled and swooned for Rudy Vallee before him. But nothing, nothing on the level of Sinatra.

Sinatra was the first teen idol. A sensation among crazed fans The frenzy he caused among young girls for a singer had never been seen before. It wasn't until Elvis that it would be repeated.

Post a source link for "Sinatramania" know-it-all.

R79 They don't have Google over there by you?

Wikipedia is not a reliable source, dimwit.

How did this thread go from a simple discussion about Crosby's Christmas specials to an all-out war between Sinatra fans and Crosby fans?

Anyway, what I wondered is why didn't Bing ever have his first four boys on his Christmas specials in the 60s and 70s?

For the idiot at R81:

"Even 17 years after his death, the phenomenon then called "Sinatramania" or "Swoonatra" has persevered to a startling extent with the singer still enjoying a hold on the public imagination."

"Before teenage girls went crazy for One Direction or even the Beatles, there was Sinatramania".

For you youngsters, not interested in joining this stupid and insane discussion of Crosby vs Sinatra, think of it this way:

It's like Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. In the 1960s, Streisand was new, unique and exciting,. Same with Sinatra in the 1940s. Crosby knew this, Garland was a Babs fan, but may not have lived long enough (lucid) to understand it. Likewise, Alice Faye made way for the new kid Betty Grable and so forth. It happens, no need to have a conniption fit over it - THEY didn't.

R85 your post is stupid and insane.

Judy is still relevant to a lot of people as is Sinatra. Crosby is relevant to no one outside of Dec 25th. And Alice Faye and Betty Grable have no currency either and I like them both a lot. Some people have staying power. Jolson, Crosby, Faye, Grable? Nope. Not one. Rita Hayworth I would say yes. Like Monroe she's still electrifying.

R86, there are probably more young people who know Crosby than Hayworth

You sound stupid and insane

R86 = still a busy dipshit. I see another month before he's tagged and banned :(

R86 I agree.

Outside of "White Christmas" once a year, no one cares about Crosby or is interested in discovering his recordings.

Jolson, Crosby, Faye, Bob Hope...HUGE stars but few are interested in them today.

Grable at least lives on for her famous WWII pinup photo...but that's about it.

Sinatra, Monroe, Elvis, Lucy, James Dean are icons that are still part of our culture. Judy's role in "Wizard of Oz" will ensure her place in pop history forever.

Hayworth to a much lesser degree but her "Put the Blame on Mame" was iconic and will keep her memory alive, at least for that.

But Crosby? Old hat by the mid 1960s.

Only a moron would rather hear Crosby sing than watch Hayworth dance. R87 and R88 died 70 years ago and just came back from the grave. Go back, you can't survive being deaf and blind.

Bing Crosby was also a big movie star and won an Best Actor Oscar. His movie career is mostly forgotten.