This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories,

and we love telling stories about songs and about music, because in the end,

music, while it bridges cultural divides, it bridges generational divides, ethnic and racial divides

as well.

This one is the story behind David Bowie and Bing Crosby's unlikely Hollywood duet.

There have been utter musical collaborations in the past.

In 2001, Elton John performed with M&M at the 2001 Grammys.

In 1984, Spanish pop singer Julio Inglacius and West Texan troubadour Willie Nelson

recorded to all the girls I've loved before.

But of all the unlikely duets, dotting pop music history, the one that brought together

73-year-old American crooner Bing Crosby and 30-year-old British glam rocker David Bowie

is the best. Their collaboration in the fall of 1977 proved to be one of the

most enduring recordings of either man's career and an instant Christmas classic. Indeed, the story of

how Peace on Earth Little Drummer Boy came to be is itself classic. The two men could not have been

more different. They came from different countries and different generations. And the two men had

radically different ideas about almost everything, including fashion, politics, sexuality, and music.

So how did the two come to make music history?

It turns out that Crosby was on tour in Great Britain at the time,

and his management team figured such a duet would be perfect

for his upcoming CBS TV special,

which would come to be known as Bing Crosby's Merry Old Christmas.

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