Wham! Op. 84 “Last Christmas” with Chilly Gonzales - ICYMI

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In case you missed it, Wham’s 1984 contribution to the holiday cannon, “Last Christmas,” has surprising staying power. When Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales set out to record a holiday album, “A Very Chilly Christmas,” most of the selections were over a half century old. That’s because most of our favorite seasonal songs come from the 1960s and earlier. But in addition to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas,” Wham’s “Last Christmas” reliably returns each winter. Despite the cheesy 80s synths and drum machines, the song’s harmonies are remarkable resilient, a testament to George Michael’s auteur songwriting method. Celebrated artist known for his solo piano works, collaborations with Feist and Daft Punk, and his musical masterclasses series, Chilly Gonzales—musical genius—AKA “Gonzo,” sits down at the piano to share in the beauty of this nu-classical Christmas love song, as well as a few selections from his new album “A Very Chilly Christmas.” Originally aired Dec 2020 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for this show comes from Noom.
0:04.0	Fads come and go.
0:06.0	That's especially true in the world of weight loss.
0:08.0	That's why Noom's weight management programs are made to last.
0:13.0	Noom uses science and personalization to help you manage your weight for the long term.
0:18.0	Their psychology-based approach helps you build better habits and behaviors that are easier to maintain.
0:24.0	The best part, you decide how Noom fits into your life, not the other way around.
0:30.0	Sign up for your trial today at Noom.com.
0:33.0	That's NOOM.com to sign up for your trial today. Which Don Pop?
0:47.0	Pop.
0:52.0	Welcome to Switch down Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding and today I am joined by a very special guest,
0:56.2	Chilly Gonzalez, musical genius. Ganso, welcome to the show.
0:59.8	Thanks for having me. This is long overdue. We've been planning this for years.
1:03.5	And what's fun is we get to break down some material which is truly old and also somewhat new.
1:09.9	You have put out a holiday album called a very chilly Christmas.
1:16.0	A show.
1:18.0	It's no-wha-a-o-a-o-a-o-a-o. You describe it as from feudal oldies to new holiday pop cannon. A very truly Christmas has
1:34.8	grandeur and solemnity an original featuring Fice and covers featuring Jarvis
1:39.3	Cocker and of course there's Moriah Carey which is very important but today I'm particularly interested
1:46.2	in zooming into one song because there's one track on here that frankly comes
1:51.8	as a bit of surprise to me and it's Wham's last Christmas, what does it make you think of?
2:08.0	Probably what everyone else thinks of, the video, the sweaters, the sort of playful faces
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.