Thursday, December 5, 2019

Scrooge's Rock N' Roll Christmas



Today's Christmas find is just bizarre.

Today I present Scrooge's Rock N' Roll Christmas, a TV special that aired in 1984 by most accounts, but the copyright on the special is 1983. In this special, Ebeneezer Scrooge, played by Jack Elam, is visited in his counting house in 19th century England by a modern-day young woman who just so happens to have a magic snow globe. This globe allows her to show Scrooge 20th century rock acts performing famous Christmas songs. Acts include Three Dog Night, The Association, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Bobby Goldsboro, and others. His mean heart is warmed somewhat by the end of the special.

I can't find any indication as to what network showed this special; none of the sources I've come across mention it. What's also weird is that:

a) these acts were well past their prime by 1983/84
b) the performances are lackluster to say the least
c) the special had an accompanying album release about the same time
d) the special was available on VHS for a brief time in the early 90s

I can't honestly say this is a good special, but it's definitely interesting from a pop culture perspective. I don't think I'll watch it again anytime soon, but I'm glad I gave it a try just to see Jack Elam grunt after every song.

Enjoy!



2 comments:

Bob Johns said...

WWWWHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTT! Ok, this is a must for me the question now wait until next Christmas or just do it now? Hmmm

Phillyradiogeek said...

Do it now!