Little Drummer Boy, David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Opposites attract. And you couldn’t get two greater artistic opposites than Bowie and Crosby. The former was a pioneer of rock. The other the ultimate crooner. One fused art with music and was gender fluid. The other sang and danced as a leading man. One was young, the other elderly. One was king of the kids, the other of the old guard. As Bing rues, “It’s been a long time since I was the new anything…” So the younger knocks on the door of the older and a relationship begins. The outsider comes in. Or is the insider the outsider? Their conversation is awkward. The jokes are bad. You wonder if one thinks they’re better than the other. But there seems to be genuine respect. As disparate as they are one thing brings them together. A song. And their version of “Little Drummer Boy” is spellbinding. It maintains the awkwardness of their conversation. Sometimes Bowie can’t get it. Crosby’s belted out tunes like these for decades. These two men sing...