A Christmas Yuleblog

In a previous post , I talked about the great website that is FaLaLaLaLa.com and mentioned several of the people I've met there. In today's post, we get to look at not ah-one, but ah-two Christmas cardboard flexis that were submitted by two longtime FLLLL members. The first flexi was posted by Shemp at the Members Share forum of FLLLL. This was downloaded by me on November 28, 2006 at 3:25 PM. Recorded especially for GM employees by GM employees, The General Motors Chorus was established in 1933 as one of the earliest employee activities within General Motors. I'm assuming this flexi was given to file and rank employees as a Christmas bonus. Or perhaps they were played in the background throughout GM lunchrooms and UAW halls at Christmas time. In any case, you get a medley of standard Christmas carols on each side - all accompanied by a lone organ. The voices blend terrifically, the organ isn't too intrusive, and the end result is pleasing to the ear. I...

Here's another lost Christmas album that I found at FaLaLaLaLa.com posted by FLLLL member Shemp - thank you, good sir! Lorne Greene came to America from Canada in the 1950s and hit paydirt when he became Ben Cartwright on the long running TV western "Bonanza" (start humming the theme song now). In 1962, RCA-Victor decided to cash in on "Bonanza's" popularity and sent Lorne and the other cast members into the recording studio. The first Bonanza album was so popular that Greene was allowed to record his first album "Young At Heart" in 1963 (which didn't sell). At the end of that same year, the "Bonanza" cast recorded their infamous Christmas album "Christmas At The Ponderosa" that features Dan (Hoss) Blocker singing "Deck The Halls"! Again, it was a popular hit! RCA-Victor knew a successful formula when it saw it. So in 1964 Lorne was allowed to record another solo album entitled "Welcome To The Ponder...