The Breakfast Show – Happy New Year 2022 – Music to get the party started – hosts William Price King and Sally Cronin – Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, ABBA, Swing

Welcome to the New Year’s party… as we say goodbye to 2021… and welcome 2022..

I think it is fair to say that after 2020, the expectation for 2021 was that it could only get better… In some respects there have been some good things to celebrate this year, but here we are again with a new variant, and headlines promising doom and gloom.

Billions of us have been vaccinated, and boosted but many millions remain without this preventative measure, and it appears that Covid is going to be with us for at least the  foreseeable future in one form or another.

However, today as we watch the New Year celebrations around the world unfold across social media, we thought we would share some music and our good wishes for a Happy New Year and 2022.

To kick off the music, William Price King shares an iconic song that has been ushering in the new year for over seventy years.

Nancy Wilson – What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve

“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” was written in 1947 by Frank Loesser and unusually for the time was not associated with a movie or musical. Frank Loesser was well known for his lyrics for Guys and Dolls and his Oscar winning song Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

In December 1949 the song reached No 9 in the charts for The Orioles. It has been a hit for many artists in the last 65 years including Lena Horne, Johnny Mathis, The Carpenters, Harry Connick Jr, Barbra Streisand and Diana Krall.

This lovely version is by Nancy Wilson.

 For many Christmas and New Year comes with snow and the next song is a celebration of the fun to be had

Ella Fitzgerald – Sleigh Ride

“Sleigh Ride” was composed by Leroy Anderson as a light orchestral piece and was inspired by a particularly hot heat wave in July of 1946. By the time Leroy had finished the work it was in fact winter of 1948. The lyrics for the song were written in 1950 by Mitchell Parish.

Leroy Anderson recorded his own version in 1950 for Decca and it continued to be popular through the early part of the 50s.There were a number of versions that benefited from the addition of sound effects such as the clopping of horses hooves and even the sound of a horse whinnying.

There have been some notable versions of the song released over the years of this Christmas song including Johnny Mathis in 1958 and The Ronettes in 1963.

According to ASCAP, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Sleigh Ride consistently ranks in the top 10 list of most performed songs during the Christmas season worldwide.

Here is a wonderful version by the incomparable Miss Ella Fitzgerald – Amazon

Time for my selections for the party.. and the first is a song by ABBA – Happy New Year

“Happy New Year” is a song by Swedish group ABBA from their 1980 album Super Trouper. The lead vocals are by Agnetha Fältskog.  As a single, the English version originally had a only very limited release in December 1980.

The Spanish-language version of the song, “Felicidad” was released in 1980 in Spanish-language territories.The single reportedly charted in the top 5 in Argentina and was included on the South American versions of the Super Trouper album

In 1999, the English version of the song was re-released for the new millennium, and charted at no. 27 in Sweden, no. 15 in the Netherlands and no. 75 in Germany. In 2008, it was released again in several countries, and charted at no. 4 in Sweden, no. 11 in Norway and no. 25 in Denmark. ABBA 

And for my second choice… some swing and wonderful dancers to get you in the mood to take to the floor…thanks to Tallinn Swing 

 

We both wish you a wonderful New Year’s Eve and 2022 and hope you will tune in on Tuesday January 4th for chart hits 1985 part two..William and Sally.

Your Hosts for The Breakfast Show

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

Sally Cronin is an author, blogger and broadcaster who enjoyed four years as part of the team on Onda Cero International’s English speaking morning show in Marbella and then for two years as a presenter on Expressfm the local radio station in Portsmouth. She co-presented two ‘Drive Time’ shows a week with Adrian Knight, hosted the live Thursday Afternoon Show and The Sunday Morning Show guests including musicians and authors. Following this she became Station Director for a local internet television station for two years, producing and presenting the daily news segment, outside broadcasts and co-presenting the Adrian and Sally chat show live on Friday evenings.

She and her husband David have now returned to Ireland where they live on the Wexford Coast where she blogs and continues to write books.

Books :Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – blog: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin