HOT: Holiday Music Icons in the Making
Compared to the holidays that bookend it — Halloween and Christmas — Thanksgiving doesn’t seem to lend itself to “holiday songs.” But the purely American holiday does have a few big boosters besides Adam Sandler, whose “The Thanksgiving Song” has cornered the underserved market ever since it was unveiled in the early ’90s. Indie Rock stars The National seem to gradually be compiling their own Thanksgiving Holiday Classics album; this past Thanksgiving saw the release of the group’s fourth Turkey Day chestnut, “Save the Bird” (the T-giving series began with 2012’s “Kill the Turkey”). It’s The National’s latest collaboration with the makers of the Thanksgiving-crazed animated show Bob’s Burgers, who turned the band members into cartoons again for this year’s accompanying music video.
WARM: No Fines For Rock
Last year’s “Kid Rock for Senate” campaign sure seemed like a promotional stunt from the start, but after Donald Trump’s promotional stunt got him into the White House, everyone was hedging their bets. Though he finally admitted it was just new album promo, the Federal Elections Commission was asked to weigh in on whether the fake campaign violated any laws, after it was reported for failing to register or report contributions. More than a year later, the FEC cleared Rock of any violations, though — weirdly — it was a 3-1 decision. The board said Rock didn’t take “even the most basic steps” to get a real campaign rolling. Rock told Howard Stern last year that the joke was “the most creative thing I’ve ever done.”
COLD: Lip-Syncing Controversy?
Apparently, it’s a big revelation that singers lip-sync during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? The scam came crashing down this year after some technical glitches during the annual free commercial on NBC for Macy’s and other sellable entities made the performers look dumb. People took to social media to critique singer Rita Ora’s bad lip-syncing effort (she says it’s because she’s used to performing live), while John Legend took to social media to critique the parade for not having the “capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance.” So not only do some watch the parade expecting top-of-the-line performances by their favorite Pop stars, but the Pop stars themselves are caught off guard when told they can’t sing live? The parade has been televised nationally since 1952.
This article appears in Nov 21-28, 2018.