John Williams – Lincoln

Who better to start with than the amazing John Williams? With 48 nominations Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person (Walt Disney had 59), and is the most nominated musician of all time. He has won Best Original Score awards for “Jaws”, “Star Wars”, “E.T”. and “Schindler’s List” (I can hear some of you humming the themes now). Now in his 80^th year, Williams is still going strong. “Lincoln” marks his 25^th collaboration with director Stephen Spielberg.

Alexandre Desplat – Argo

Desplat must surely be one of the busiest composers in Hollywood at the moment, with 7 major movie releases in 2011 and another 6 in 2012 (as well as a short film for Roman Polanski). He’s previously been nominated 5 times but has yet to win, however, his subtle and affecting score to “Argo” may change that. It blends Desplat’s trademark orchestral themes with Middle Eastern instruments and the vocals of Persian pop star Sussan Deyhim.

Dario Marianelli – Anna Karenina

This is the Italian’s 3^rd Best Original Score nomination and his first since winning in 2007 for the wonderful “Atonement” (notable for typewriter keys being used as a key percussive effect). Now back working with “Atonement’s” director, Joe Wright, Marianelli has crafted a lush score that is dramatic and unapologetically romantic, with a little Tchaikovsky and gypsy influence thrown in for good measure.

Thomas Newman – Skyfall

For “Skyfall” Newman took over 007 scoring duties from long time Bond composer David Arnold. Newman had worked with Sam Mendes on all 4 of Mendes’s previous movies and was a natural choice for the director, but could he handle Bond? Luckily, Newman showed he could write the necessary action music and still give the score his personal voice. Was it classic Bond, though? The jury’s still out on that one. This is Newman’s 11^th nomination and the fourth for a Bond film.

Mychael Danna – Life of Pi

Mychael Danna has long specialised in subtly combining ethnic instruments with orchestral and electronic textures, so was a perfect choice to score Ang Lee’s amazing version of the apparently un-filmable Life of Pi. Danna’s “Life of Pi” has already won the Golden Globe for Best Score so should be considered a frontrunner in this year’s Oscar race.  

So then, now’s the time to let us know what you think. How many of these guys deserve to be there? Should there have been nods for Tom Tykwer and his colleagues for Cloud Atlas? What about Danny Elfman’s lo-fi contributions to Silver Linings Playbook?

Stu Sutcliffe – The Original Bassist

A friend of John Lennon’s from art school, Sutcliffe was persuaded to part with the prize money he’d won for in an art competition in order to buy a bass guitar and join the band. Sutcliffe epitomised the cool look that Lennon thought the band should emulate, but unfortunately never really got to grips with the bass. McCartney’s apparent anger at Stu’s musicianship led to on-stage fisticuffs on several occasions, however, it was Stu’s romance with Astrid Kirchherr that opened the Beatles up to several key new influences, including the Beatle haircut. Stu died of an aneurysm in 1962, McCartney took over on bass and another key ingredient in Fab Four history was in place.  Sutcliffe’s is told in the 1994 film Backbeat.

Pete Best – The Original Drummer

Pete Best was the original drummer in the Beatles and their original heartthrob. Best’s drumming was apparently a little ropey and Paul McCartney was said to be jealous of his “best looking member of the group” status, but it seems the final straw came when the other three Beatles opted for the famous Beatle haircut and Best decided to remain with his still fashionable quiff. When Ringo Starr was asked to join the band in 1962 legions of Pete Best fans besieged the band at their regular Cavern gig shouting “Pete forever, Ringo never” and during the melee George Harrison was head-butted leading to him sporting a black eye in the first promo shots of the new Beatles.

Brian Epstein – The Manager

Brian Epstein originally worked in the family business, running the NEMS Music store in Liverpool, before being persuaded to follow up on a customer request and going to watch the Beatles play at the Cavern. After watching the show he went to meet the band, being recognised as a local celebrity he was greeted by George Harrison with the flippant “And what brings Mr. Epstein here?”. Epstein managed the Beatles right up until his death of a drugs overdose in 1967. The following upheaval triggered the loss of focus that would eventually lead to the band’s demise. McCartney has since gone on record to say “if anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian.”

George Martin – The Producer

Former Royal Navy pilot George Martin raised a few eyebrows when he signed The Beatles to Parlophone in 1962 after they’d been turned down by every major label in the UK (with Decca famously declaring “the Beatles have no future in showbusiness!”). Martin’s flexible approach to his headstrong young protégés lead to some of the most original moments in the Beatles repertoire. For example, the moment when Lennon, having played with both rock and orchestral versions of Strawberry Fields, asked Martin if they could use the beginning of one and the end of the other (ignoring the fact that the two versions were in different tempos and different keys)- . Martin obliged by splicing the tape and playing with the tape speed until he found a match. This is the version that was released.

Would the Beatles have risen to such heights without the Fifth Beatles? Who knows, but one things for sure they’re not the only band with unsung heroes. If you can think of any others let us know in the comments below.

Pop – The Jacksons

Just a single generation of the Jackson family produced nine stars (two more than the Osmonds!). Brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermaine started in the 60s as the Jackson Brothers, later adding Marlon and Michael to become the Jackson 5. On the female side of the family all three sisters (La Toya, Rebbie and Janet) had chart hits, with Janet being the most successful of them (right up until her wardrobe malfunction at the 2008 superbowl). At the height of their popularity The Jacksons even had a TV show featuring eight of the nine siblings. Whatever happened to cute little Michael?

Film – The Newmans

In the world of film scoring we need look no further than the astonishing Newman family. Alfred Newman, one of the originators of film music, winner of 9 academy awards (more than any other composer) and eventually music director for 20^th Century Fox, had two composer brothers, Lionel and Emil (also academy nominated, with Lionel winning in 1969). Alfred’s sons David (Ice Age, Serenity) and Thomas Newman (Skyfall, Wall-E, American Beauty) and nephew Randy Newman (Toy Story, Cars, Meet the Parents) are all prolific composers too.

Rock – The Followils

Brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared, together with their cousin Matthew, are better known as Kings of Leon. Hailing from Talihina, Oklahoma and named for their grandfather they released their first album 10 years ago (Youth and Young Manhood) and have steadily risen in popularity since. Their biggest hit to date was the frankly dangerous sounding 2008’s “Sex on Fire”.

Classical – The Bachs

Johann Sebastian Bach has long been considered the grandfather of baroque and one of the greatest classical composers of all time, but he wasn’t the only Bach to make his mark. His father and uncles were all established musicians and his brother Johann Christoph was also a noted composer of the time. Spring forward a generation and you have his sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel taking over the reigns. Pieces from all four are still in the classical repertoire today with J.S. being one of the most performed composers of them all. This is the legendary Glenn Gould’s interpretation of the aria from Goldberg Variations (if you listen carefully you can hear him humming too).  

Jazz – The Marsalis Family

Patriach Ellis Marsalis is a noted jazz performer (piano) and teacher in his native New Orleans, and his four of his sons Branford (sax), Wynton (trumpet), Delfeayo (trombone) and Jason (drums) have followed him into the trade. The family often contribute to each other’s recordings and have recorded together under the name “The Marsalis Family”. This clip is from a concert supporting their 2002 album “A Jazz Celebration”. Apparently, the bassist is unrelated.

Folk – The Wainrights

Ok, maybe it is a little stretch filing the whole family under folk but when songwriter and humorist Louden Wainwright III married Kate McGarrigle (of Kate and Anna McGarrigle fame), their musical union brought forth both Rufus and Martha Wainwright. Louden wrote songs for both children, including the now ironically entitled “Rufus is a Tit Man”. Not to be outdone, Louden’s daughter from his 2^nd wife, Lucy Wainwright Roche is also in the business and continues the folk tradition. This clip features Louden and his offspring.  

And as a closing pop fact for the musical family theme, did you know that the 50 million album selling recording artist Norah Jones is the daughter of the late Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar maestro? Thought not. Ok, what which mega talented families have we missed here?

Image credit: Michael Jacksonfan

Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth – Bing Crosby and David Bowie

This unlikely meeting of Ziggy Stardust and Bing Crosby happened in 1977, filmed as part of Crosby’s holiday special TV show and released as a single several years later. Whilst suitably impressed by the cojones required by both men in participating, the real kitsch-fest lies in the unusual dialogue between the two at the beginning.

Wonderful Christmas time – Paul McCartney

Lennon’s 1971 single Happy Xmas (War Is Over) had already garnered credibility and staying power before his erstwhile writing partner decided to have a shot at Christmas immortality. Fab Macca pulls out all the stops (sleigh bells, chimes etc.) and continues the descent into twee that would eventually lead to the Frog Chorus.

Mistletoe and Wine – Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard has had a great run on the UK singles charts where he has been part of four Christmas number ones in a career spanning five decades. Mistletoe and Wine, taken from the musical Scraps (where it was a pub song sung by a prostitute) and re-written to reflect Richard’s religious sensibilities, was the most successful and takes the cheesy biscuit. Pop fact- Richard’s failed 1999 Xmas bid “Millennium Prayer” actually has Jesus Christ credited as a lyricist as it features the words of the Lord’s Prayer.

Last Christmas – Wham

The most successful German Christmas single of all time, Wham’s 1984 single cover featured heartthrob Andrew Ridgeley in a reindeer outfit and George Michael dressed as Santa Claus. Need we say more?

All I Want for Christmas – Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber

First appearing on Carey’s 1994 Merry Christmas album, this is one of those incredibly catchy and relentlessly upbeat songs. Evidently this wasn’t enough. How could one make this song cheesier than it already was? Re-record it as a duet with current teen chart sensation Justin Bieber and film a video featuring Carey as a sexed up Elf.

Do they know it’s Christmas?  – Band Aid II

Of the three recorded versions of this song people only tend to remember the original and then the recent update. Few can recall the 1989 Band Aid II travesty with production by Stock Aitkin and Waterman and featuring artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue AND Jason Donovan. The result jettisons the studied concern of the original and goes all out for re-creating I Should Be So Lucky.

Driving Home For Christmas – Chris Rea

Chris Rea’s 1988 hit apparently holds a place in the heart of businessmen and truck drivers heading home for to spend the holiday season with their loved ones. Unfortunately, it’s played so often on the radio in the countdown to Christmas Day it’s also akin to the Road to Hell for anyone stuck in a traffic jam on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Wrapping – Spice Girls

The title alone should be enough to guarantee it a place on the festive cheese board. Originally written and released in 1982 by Ohio based “The Waitresses”, it was re-recorded by the Spice Girls in 1998 (well two of them anyway, the record only features Baby and Sporty) complete with curd inducing new lyrics reflecting the current state of Spice World(“world tour, aeroplanes and babies.”).

These are our choices for the kitsch Christmas tunes list, but what else deserves a mention? Everyone’s got a favourite, so why not get into the festive spirit by gifting us yours. In the meantime, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, musical or not.

Image credit: Ozcast

1. The Electric Guitar

The first electric guitars weren’t designed to shred the ears but simply to compete with the horn sections in swing bands. In the late 40s and early 50s guitar pioneers Leo Fender and Les Paul experimented with different solid body designs resulting in the classic shapes of the Fender Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul. The 60s saw artists like Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin pushing the boundaries beyond amplification to embrace power and distortion; rock music had arrived.

2. Multi-tracking

The original way of recording was to get everyone around a single microphone and aim for as good a take as possible. With the arrival of the 2 and then 4 track it became possible to try new things, not just to record a performance but to enhance it with overdubs. By the time the 70s rolled around there were at least 16 tracks and a license to go nuts. The opera section of Bohemian Rhapsody is actually sung only by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor, multi-tracked into a massive thunderbolts and lightening choir. Since the mid 90s pretty much everything has been recorded digitally through systems like ProTools and now the only real track limit is determined by the speed of your computer and the space on your harddrive.

3. Synth love

We’re going to skip straight to the modern synthesizer. Bob Moog (popfact- it’s pronounced Mogue) released his first commercial synth in 1965. This machine wasn’t trying to recreate acoustic instruments but could be pushed into sounding like nothing ever heard before. Fast forward to the 80s and the synthesizer had not only inspired a generation of music makers but, with the introduction of its drum machine siblings, had also spawned its own genre- Synthpop.

4. Sampling

Taking a distinct element of another song (beat, bass line, riff etc.) and working it into a whole new creation. Contrary to popular belief it doesn’t just happen in the Hip hop, dance and r’n’b genres. In 2011, an Australian going by the unlikely name of Goyte recorded a song featuring an obscure Brazilian jazz guitar sample as its main riff and promptly scored a worldwide hit with a new song called “Somebody That I Used to Know”.

 5. DAW to DAW

The introduction of computers through the 80s and 90s brought new possibilities to music making. The coupling of computer based digital recording using systems like Pro Tools and the introduction of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface – a system that allowed synths and computers to talk to each other) brought about the birth of what is now known as the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)- your all in one computer solution to recording the next rock or pop hit. In 2001, Daniel Beddingfield released his first single “Gotta Get Thru This“, a UK number one notable for the fact that he had written and recorded the whole thing in his bedroom using a laptop.

These days, you can do many of these things on your mobile device (and there are some pretty good guitar tools to boot). What will be the next big innovation to change rock and pop?