Vince Vance Christmas Song an All-Time Favorite
Modern-Day Classic: The Story Behind All I Want for Christmas Is You
Nov 22, 2008
Penned by piano-playin' bandleader Vince Vance (also known as Andy Stone) and guitarist-songwriter Troy Powers, All I Want for Christmas Is You has become one of the most-requested Christmas songs of all time as well as an adult-contemporary crossover favorite, according to Billboard magazine.
Vince and his Valiants, an internationally known touring act that's endured and even thrived for nearly four decades, originally recorded and released the holiday-themed track in 1989 on their own Valiant Records. The song quickly became a hit, and after overwhelming and ongoing radio and fan requests, distribution was taken over by Waldoxy Records, the largest independent label in the world.
Creating an All-Time Favorite Christmas Song in the Heat of Summer
During a recent interview from the road, Vance-who's also a respected children's author-said he knew the song was special when he and his co-writer, the Texas-born, Nashville-based Powers, teamed to write the Christmas classic one scorching August day.
"It was late summer of 1988, (and) I can't believe 20 years have come and gone since that day, because I close my eyes and it's like it was yesterday," recalled Vance, who's known for his trademark 18-inch-tall hair. "Troy Powers, my lead guitarist at that time, and I were sharing a suite in a rundown Hershey, Pa., hotel and performing at Hershey Park. Troy comes up to me and says, 'I've got the perfect title for a Christmas song, All I Want for Christmas Is You. You wanna write it with me?"
At first, Vance continued, "I laughed because of the irony of writing a Christmas song during August. To make it even more out of place, ... we were experiencing one of the worst heat waves in Pennsylvania's history. But I jumped at the chance, because that song title says it all. ... The greatest songs are always the ones where you show a desire, a need ... a want."
Christmas Song Becomes Country Radio, Music Video Hit
Over the years, the cut's had significant Billboard success numerous times, including making the Hot Country Singles charts 1993 -1997, and again in '99 when it peaked at No. 31 nationally. The band's music video for the song, released in 1993, is a recurrent each year, too, and Country Music Television ranked it as the network's "No. 6 Merriest Video of All Time." (The cast of the Guiding Light soap opera also created their own holiday video using the Valiant classic as its soundtrack.)
Now based in Dallas, Texas, the New Orleans-reared Vance said All I Want for Christmas Is You has been recorded countless times over by other artists, including country singer Sammy Kershaw, three-time Grammy winner LeAnn Rimes, who proclaims she "grew up" loving the yuletide favorite, as well as former Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer, who cut the track with his orchestra.
"If you Google the song by title," Vance observed, "you'll get a million hits on it. It has legs; it literally has a life of its own."
Most-Requested Christmas Song Rings with Nostalgia
Recalling the Christmas song's creation, Vance said he and Powers wanted to give the now-classic "an antique ... but not ancient" sound, "because Christmas is a tradition" and the song called for "tones that were familiar to Western ears to bring nostalgia to it."
Later, "After we had solid chords and melody, I played it over and over for Troy," shared Vance. "At that moment, we knew we had a hit. It sounded so great we tried it in every time signature: As a waltz, a straight 4/4, as a march. (And) we settled on 12/8."
Finding Inspiration for A Holiday Music Classic: All I Want for Christmas Is You
"To this day, I believe the music was inspired from above," he added. "If that's so, the lyrics were forged from steel."
Former Valiantette Lisa Layne sang the original recording that's still heard on the air today, but writing those longingly delivered words wasn't effortless, confided Vance, who holds degrees in both English and music.
"The music was just so beautiful; it demanded that the lyrics were perfect and, thus, (they were) much harder to write. Of course, we wanted the words to flow," he explained. "And trust me, that was relatively easy for facile Tin Pan Alley composers like us, but we argued ... about the meaning of what we were saying.
"Sometimes, we frankly didn't agree," he continued. "In our defense, we were really trying to capture the essence of Christmas. And we would not settle for less. Over and over, we would ask ourselves stuff like 'Who is the you in the song?' or 'Who does you represent?'
Finally, the songwriters "came to the understanding that the 'you' should be about whomever the listener needed to make their Christmas special," said Vance, who added, "In all honesty, it's why the song is still as relevant today as it was 20 years ago."
Country Fans, Country Radio Still Clamor for Classic Christmas Song
Although the modern-day Christmas classic is the band's most well-known number, it's not the players' only chart hit. The Valiants also scored nationally at radio in 1979-80 with Bomb Iran, a novelty cut performed to the same tune of the Beach Boys' Barbara Ann, that became "The Most Requested Song in the United States," according to Billboard magazine, for several weeks during the height of the Iranian hostage crisis.
Nevertheless, All I Want For Christmas Is You holds staying power with music fans and radio each holiday season. And annually, the song continues to earn more accolades, from being named the "No. 1 Christmas Country Song" and the "No. 1 Most-Requested Christmas Song," to being crowned the "No. 1 Most-Requested Country Christmas" song by Billboard.
Sources
Personal communication, Vince Vance, Nov. 19, 2008.
Vince Vance, Wikipedia entry. Accessed Nov. 19-21, 2008.
 |
 |
 |
