"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song performed by English singer-songwriter

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and American singer Bing Crosby. Recorded on 11 September 1977 at

ATV Elstree Studios The BBC Elstree Centre, sometimes referred to as the BBC Elstree Studios, is a television production facility, currently owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The complex is located between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road in Boreh ...

near London for Crosby's television special '' Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas'', the song features Crosby singing 1941 standard " The Little Drummer Boy" while Bowie sings the counterpoint tune "Peace on Earth", written by the special's musical supervisors Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, and scriptwriter

Buz Kohan Alan "Buz" Kohan (born August 9, 1933) is an American television writer, producer and composer. Early life Kohan was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City,RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in November 1982 and was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It was Crosby's final popular hit. It became one of the best-selling singles of Bowie's career, with total estimated sales over 400,000 in the UK alone. The song has since become a Christmas classic in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom and has been referred to by ''

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'' as "one of the most successful duets in Christmas music history".

Background and recording

Although

had done little to promote his 11th studio album '' Low'', released in January 1977, he decided to promote his 12th studio album '' "Heroes"'', released in October 1977, extensively. In September 1977, Bowie appeared on

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted in ...

's television series ''

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

'' and performed "

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

". Two days later on 11 September, Bowie traveled to the

near London to record an appearance on Bing Crosby's television special '' Merrie Old Christmas''. Bowie's agreement to perform on the special was to record a duet with Crosby. Crosby's daughter

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

recalled that Bowie and his then-wife Angie both arrived to the studio wearing full matching makeup and bright red hair. Crosby's son Nathaniel further stated: "It almost didn't happen. I think the producers told him to take the lipstick off and take the earring out. It was just incredible to see the contrast." The special's musical supervisors, Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, originally intended the duo to record a straightforward rendition of " The Little Drummer Boy". However, Bowie balked at singing "Little Drummer Boy": "I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?", Fraser recalled Bowie telling him. Scriptwriter

Buz Kohan Alan "Buz" Kohan (born August 9, 1933) is an American television writer, producer and composer. Early life Kohan was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City, Regarding the experience, Kohan said, "It all happened rather rapidly. I would say within an hour, we had it written and were able to present it to owieagain." Crosby performed "Little Drummer Boy", while Bowie sang "Peace on Earth", which they reportedly performed after less than an hour of rehearsal. Kohan added that "Bing loved the challenge" of the arrangement, stating he "was able to transform himself without losing any of the Crosby-isms." Before the duet, Bowie and Crosby act out a dialogue skit, described by

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is an American music journalist and author. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The A.V. Club and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio where she has won fir ...

of ''

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'' as "hilariously forced-looking" and by author

Peter Doggett Peter Doggett (born 30 June 1957) is an English music journalist, author and magazine editor. He began his career in music journalism in 1980, when he joined the London-based magazine ''Record Collector''. He subsequently served as the editor ...

as "excruciatingly staged". In the skit, Crosby is an American visitor to a British historic home, and Bowie, who lives "down the road", drops by to use the owner's piano. Bowie recognizes Crosby, asking "You're the guy who sings, right?" The pair discuss the holidays and holiday traditions and then proceed to musical subjects, with Bowie remarking that he likes old-timers such as

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

. Bowie even quips "We sing the same songs — I even have a go at ' White Christmas'." They then sort through the sheet music on the piano, which Bowie had ostensibly come over to play, and picks out "Little Drummer Boy", describing it as "my son's favorite". Doggett remarks that the duet is performed "very much" in Crosby's style rather than Bowie's. Bowie's appearance has been described as a "surreal" event, undertaken at a time when he was "actively trying to normalise his career". In 1978, Bowie said of Crosby: "He was ''fantastic''. That old man knew everything about everything. He knew rock and roll backwards, even if he didn't know the music...I'm glad I met him." However, by 1999 he changed his opinion, stating "He was not there at all" and describing Crosby as "look nglike a little old orange sitting on a stool." He found the experience to be "bizarre" and stated to having appeared on the show primarily because "I just knew my mother liked him". Kohan was not certain if Crosby knew who Bowie was, but Fraser claimed, "I'm pretty sure he did. Bing was no idiot. If he didn't, his kids sure did." A few days after the taping, Crosby said of Bowie, "clean-cut kid and a real fine asset to the show. He sings well, has a great voice and reads lines well." A week after taping his appearance for ''Marc'', Marc Bolan died in a car crash. A month after recording "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy", Crosby died of a heart attack on 14 October. Biographer David Buckley writes: "In a rather macabre coincidence, Bowie had symbolically administered the last rites to both performers and the eras they represented." Bowie later commented on the coincidence, stating "I was getting seriously worried about whether I should appear on TV because everyone I was going on with was kicking it the following week."

Release

In the United States, ''Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas'' aired on 30 November 1977 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, while in the United Kingdom, the special aired on 24 December 1977 on ITV. According to biographer Chris O'Leary, there was never a plan to release "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" as a single and as such, the original 16-track master tape of the recording was erased. Kohan later stated, "We never expected to hear about it again." The song was available for some years as a bootleg single backed with "Heroes". In 1982,

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

issued the recording as an official single; due to the erasure of the master tape, the label had to use an on-line mix, where Bowie and Crosby's vocals were picked up by a boom microphone. The single was released in November 1982, with the catalog number RCA BOW 12. The label arbitrarily placed the '' Lodger'' track "Fantastic Voyage" as the B-side. Bowie was unhappy with this move, which further soured his already strained relationship with RCA, and he left the label soon after. The single debuted on the

in November 1982 and climbed to number three. However, the single failed to chart in the US. The single proved to be one of Bowie's fastest-selling singles, having sales over 250,000 within its first month and being certified silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

one month after its release. The single has total estimated sales of 445,424 in the UK, giving Bowie one of his most successful singles. It has since become a perennial on British Christmas compilation albums, with the TV sequence also a regular on UK nostalgia shows. In the United States and Canada, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" became a staple on radio stations during the Christmas season. On 14 November 1995,

Oglio Records Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. The label issues compilations of rare 1980s modern rock and new wave songs, many previously unreleased on CD. In addition to releasing new material by artists such ...

released a special multimedia

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" which contained both the standard full-length audio version and the full-length music video of the footage from the 1977 Christmas special accessible via CD-ROM drives. On 9 November 2010,

Collector's Choice Music Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois, company originally primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second. CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact disc The com ...

released a 7-inch vinyl edition of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" on red-colored vinyl in the United States. The flip-side of the single contained a Bing Crosby/

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

duet of the song " White Christmas", recorded in 1953. The single was limited to 2,000 copies. VH1 placed the duet at number 43 on its 2000 list of "100 Greatest Rock & Roll Moments on TV". In 2017, the track was released on the Bowie box set ''

A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) ''A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)'' is a box set by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 29 September 2017. A follow-up to the compilations '' Five Years (1969–1973)'' and '' Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'', the set ...

'' on the bonus CD exclusive to the set entitled ''Re:Call 3'' released by

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

Track listing

7": RCA / BOW 12 (UK) # "Peace on Earth/

Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 195 ...

" ( Larry Grossman, Ian Fraser,

Buz Kohan Alan "Buz" Kohan (born August 9, 1933) is an American television writer, producer and composer. Early life Kohan was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City,Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati,

Harry Simeone Harry Moses Simeone (May 9, 1910 – February 22, 2005) was an American music arranger, conductor and composer who popularized the Christmas song " The Little Drummer Boy", for which he received co-writing credit. Early years Simeone was born ...

) – 4:23 # "Fantastic Voyage" (

) – 2:55

Personnel

According to biographer Chris O'Leary: *

– vocals * Bing Crosby – vocals * Uncredited session players – piano, bass, drums, strings

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

David Bowie and Bing Crosby version Bandaged version

Year-end charts

David Bowie and Bing Crosby version Bandaged version

Certifications

Other versions

In 2008, Welsh radio presenter

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for ...

and Sir

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

recorded the song as part of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Children in Need 2008 ''Children in Need 2008'' was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One on the evening of Friday 14 November, through to the morning of Saturday 15 November. The broa ...

fundraising campaign. As well as featuring the cover of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy", the single release includes covers of "

Swinging on a Star "Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film '' Going My Way'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, ...

", "

Puff, the Magic Dragon "Puff, the Magic Dragon" (or just "Puff") is a song written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary from a poem by Leonard Lipton. It was made popular by Yarrow's group in a 1962 recording released in January 1963. Lipton wrote a poem about a ...

", and " Right Said Fred", respectively performed by

Clare Teal Clare Teal (born 14 May 1973) is an English singer and broadcaster who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest recording contract by a British jazz singer. Biography Teal was brought up in the Kildwic ...

, Sally "Traffic" Boazman and the Storys, and Mark Radcliffe.

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

released the track on 8 December 2008, with Jones and Wogan credited as "Bandaged", and the cover was championed on ''

Chris Evans Drivetime ''Chris Evans Drivetime'' was the incarnation of the drivetime show on BBC Radio 2 from 18 April 2006 to 24 December 2009, and aired on weekdays between 17:00 and 19:00 in the United Kingdom. It was presented by Chris Evans, who moved to Drive ...

'' by host Chris Evans, who deemed the song "magnificent". Evans' support allowed the cover to reach number three on the

, matching the peak of the original. A remastered version, with the original vocals from Crosby and Bowie and music played by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

was released on the compilation album, ''Bing At Christmas'' in 2019.

Appearances in popular culture

* In December 2010, a number of comedians paired to perform or parody the song and video, including Jack Black and

Jason Segel Jason Jordan Segel ( ; born January 18, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'', as well as for his work with director and ...

for '' College Humor'';

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...

and John C. Reilly for

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

; Black again with Jimmy Fallon on the latter's '' Late Night'' talk show; and Paul F. Tompkins with David 'Gruber' Allen. * Jimmy Fallon and Ricky Gervais performed a portion of the song on the 9 December 2014 episode of ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' during the skit "Lip Flip". Fallon sang Bowie's part with Gervais taking Crosby's part. *This version of the song is the most-reported one to take out people in the Little Drummer Boy Challenge according to organiser Michael Alan Peck.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

PhillyBurbs article on the specialPerformance
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peace On Earth Little Drummer Boy 1977 songs 1982 singles American Christmas songs Bing Crosby songs British Christmas songs David Bowie songs Number-one singles in Scotland RCA Records singles Songs written by Buz Kohan Male vocal duets