Frank Loesser didn't intend "Baby, It's Cold Outside" to be a pop hit. He wrote it as a party song for himself and his wife. Now it's a winter standard, in versions from the seriously lame to witty and sexy, which, of course, is what it's meant to be. Check out the Ray Charles-Betty Carter recording.
"The Christmas Song," by Mel Torme (music) and Bob Wells (lyrics) came about because of a very hot day. Torme came by Wells's house to pick him up for a game of tennis. While Wells was changing into his whites, Torme noticed a few lines scribbled on a notepad: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...Jack Frost nipping at your nose." When Wells came down, Torme said, "Bob, I think maybe we've got a song here." They didn't get to play tennis that afternoon.
And then there's White Christmas." Famous chorus, but what is seldom heard is the verse:
"The sun is shining, the grass is green,
The orange and palm trees sway.
There's never been such a day
In Beverly Hills, L.A.
But it's December twenty-fourth,
And I am longing to be up north."
Maybe the best part of the song.
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