The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

24 December 2006

There's always one song that gets you

Artie Wayne has been in the music biz for close to 50 years, mostly as a producer and A&R guy, though he wrote a few tunes along the way: he's responsible for Joey Powers' 1963 hit "Midnight Mary," and he and Ben Raleigh wrote "4,003,221 Tears from Now," an Australian hit for Judy Stone that somehow found its way to my listening post.

In 1995, Wayne was ill, and wound up in USC Medical Center:

It's a policy of most hospitals to send as many patients home for the holidays to be with their family and friends. Soon, I was the only one left in the ward, since I had nowhere else to go. One lonely night, as I sat feeling sorry for myself, I heard a group down the hall, singing Christmas carols. I followed the voices to the the children's ward ... where I heard the joyous sounds of "Jingle Bells". It was the Salvation Army, passing out toys and candy, and singing to the kids, who were confined to their beds. I joined in on "Silent Night", "Jingle Bell Rock", and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", but when they started singing "White Christmas"… tears started running down my face, and I had to sit in another room to compose myself. This song, written by Irving Berlin, always brings back memories of family and friends in a snow covered New York City … flooding me with emotions.

Sometimes, though, it takes some serious emotions to recalibrate one's songwriting chops. Wayne dashed off a lyric that night; years later, he found the words, showed them to long-time friend Toni Wine, and this was the result: "I Lose It When I Hear 'White Christmas'."

Extra Muse points: Toni Wine's piano used to be Irving Berlin's piano.

And if there's one song that always gets you, now's the time to admit it.

Posted at 11:20 AM to Tongue and Groove


"Silent Night," particularly when sung by kids.

Posted by: Don Mecoy at 12:18 PM on 24 December 2006

I've always had a really soft spot for "Little Drummer Boy", since I was three years old or so.

Posted by: Ian at 10:32 PM on 24 December 2006

I couldn't really narrow it down to one Christmas carol that gets me more than any other. But I'd have to say "O Holy Night" seems the most inspirational.

Posted by: McGehee at 10:10 AM on 25 December 2006