10 Interesting Facts About Popular Christmas Songs
You hear the same Christmas songs every year . . . OVER and OVER again. But you might not know some of the stories behind them. Here are 10 facts about your favorite Christmas songs . . .
1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was written in 15 minutes, and Mariah Carey recorded it in August. Also, Faith Hill’s“Where Are You Christmas” was written by Mariah, who was going to record it. But her ex-husband Tommy Mottola gave it to Faith instead.
2. When Brenda Lee recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958, she was only 13 years old.
3. “Jingle Bells” is over 150 years old. It was published in 1857 . . . and was intended to be a THANKSGIVING song, not a Christmas song.
4. Thurl Ravenscroft sang “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” . . . and was also the voice of Tony the Tiger for over 50 years.
5. Irving Berlin wrote the song, “White Christmas” . . . and hated Elvis Presley’s version so much, he tried to get it BANNED from the radio.
6. “Silver Bells” was originally called “Tinkle Bell”. The writer changed it after his wife mentioned the double-meaning of the word “tinkle.”
7. “The Chipmunk Song” is still the only Christmas song to ever hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
8. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” was written as a call for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
9. Eartha Kitt did a follow-up to “Santa Baby” the following year called “This Year’s Santa Baby“. It was the same song with different lyrics, and it flopped big time.
10. The Roman Catholic Church condemned the 1952 song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, because they thought it promoted ADULTERY. They backed off after 13-year-old singer Jimmy Boyd explained that “Santa” is really just the kid’s dad.
The Top 10 Ways Parents Embarrass Their Kids
A new survey asked kids between eight and 17 years old to name the most embarrassing things their parents do. Here are the Top 10:
1. Telling people stories about me or showing them pictures of me.
2. Acting weird or, quote, “being silly.”
3. Thinking they’re funny when they’re not.
4. Being overly protective or attentive.
5. Making me do things I don’t want to do.
6. Trying to act cool or young.
7. Passing gas.
8. Hugging and kissing me.
9. Yelling at me.
10. Teasing me about a boy or girl.
For what it’s worth, 5% of kids said their parents don’t do ANYTHING embarrassing. Each kid could pick up to three answers. Some of the other responses included singing, dancing, PDA, nicknames, and just interacting with their friends in general.
Here Are the Most Popular iPhone Apps of the Year
Apple just released a list of the most popular iPhone apps of the year . . . but really, they’re just kind of a power ranking for how all the different major social media companies are doing.
Here are the 10 apps that were downloaded the most this year . . .
1. YouTube
2. Instagram
3. Snapchat
4. Facebook Messenger
5. Facebook
6. Bitmoji
7. Netflix
8. Google Maps
9. Gmail
10. Spotify
Twitter came in 20th so . . . ouch for Twitter. And the most downloaded game of the year was “Fortnite”.
