Let's go hit some golf balls, you orange-haired freak.

The extremely bizarre and extremely great Bing Crosby-David Bowie duet of “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” has become a popular Christmas chestnut. It’s one of the few holiday songs in heavy rotation that doesn’t cause fits of revulsion. But there were plenty of logistical problems that the producers had to circumvent to pull off the odd pairing, not the least of which was Crosby’s failing health. From a 2006 Washington Post article entitled, “Bing and Bowie: An Odd Story of Holiday Harmony”:

“How did this almost surreal mash-up of the mainstream and the avant-garde, of cardigan-clad ’40s-era crooner and glam rocker, happen? It almost didn’t. Bowie, who was 30 at the time, and Crosby, then 73, recorded the duet Sept. 11, 1977, for Crosby’s “Merrie Olde Christmas” TV special. A month later, Crosby was dead of a heart attack. The special was broadcast on CBS about a month after his death.

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Read the full Washington Post article.
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