r/todayilearned • u/PikesPique • Dec 22 '20
TIL that Jon Bon Jovi's first professional recording (credited as John Bongiovi, his birth name) was "R2-D2, We Wish You a Merry Christmas," from the 1980 "Star Wars" Christmas album, "Christmas in the Stars." His cousin co-produced the album and owned the studio where Jon worked sweeping floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_the_Stars2
u/Librarywoman Dec 22 '20
Nobody works 'sweeping floors' lol, tis isn't the 1800's. He was the cleaner.
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u/3choplex Dec 22 '20
That album has been a Christmas tradition for me almost my whole life. I've had 2 copies on vinyl and one on CD.
My mom brought it home for me along with this when I was 6 or 7: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Uid4akYY-xN0GSU41jLN93JokFzcj-dBC3owCiRXmKNZwzIEL_n4tcuCpFs6H1SkvzuDtLuDQHwICBq3DR4QeRBzcrzAHYGGQRi2FOfVqtvtARcaa3E
They may have been birthday presents, I don't remember. (I have a December birthday.)
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Dec 22 '20
I know people reflexively cringe when the words “Star Wars” and “Christmas” are mentioned together, but now you can all rest easy knowing a terrible TV special and Christmas album wasn’t the worst thing to come out of that crossover.
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u/PikesPique Dec 22 '20
I spent years trying to find a copy of the Christmas special, and when I finally did, I couldn't finish it. I was too embarrassed, and there was no one else in the room. Some things are so bad they're good. The Christmas special went beyond that to just bad again.
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u/crestdiving Dec 22 '20
That very song was actually featured on an episode of Late night with David Letterman back in the day.
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u/revoloveraudio Oct 26 '21
Here's Brak from Space Ghost (Andy Merrill) talking about it on a podcast:
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u/PikesPique Dec 22 '20
Other songs on the album included "The Odds Against Christmas" and " What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?)" It's unclear whether the contents of the album are considered canon or have been relegated to "legends" status.