THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,440) The Majority — “All Our Christmases”
Written by Barry, Robin and Maurice but never released at the time by the Bee Gees, this delightful Christmas song is “[a] very rare mixing of two different genres, pop/rock and the waltz!”, yet it “[w]orks flawlessly, for a real beautiful, melodic song.” (MKIVWWI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IJaMNpKh6c) “Too bad this song never got the airplay it deserved.” (MKIVWWI, again) Indeed.
Bartalinigibb comments that:
The label states that [the song] is “from the film The Mini Mob“. The Majority appear in the film performing a shortened version of the song. The film director Robert Amram recalls that Robert Stigwood asked him to include the Majority in the film as part of the deal that got him a Bee Gees song (“Words”).
Ah, The Mini Mob, where a “quartet of Mod princesses . . . are so desperate for boyfriends that they’re forced to kidnap them”. (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247522/) Of the film, which I have not seen, jbellman-2 writes:
Now we know why this truly jaw-dropping “swingin’ ’60s” artifact has languished virtually unseen since its fleeting release in 1968 – it’s virtually unwatchable! Even die-hard fans of mod kitsch . . . will be hard-pressed to explain, much less defend, this thing. . . . [I]t features a brief clip of The Majority performing a song written (but never released) by the Bee Gees, as well as the first recording of the Bee Gees’ later hit, “Words,” covered here by pop star Georgie Fame, who plays a pop star named “Georgie Hart.” The so-called plot (basically contrived on the fly by director Amram from a notion by producer Herland) centers on a scheme by a guy, his girlfriend, and three “dollybirds” to kidnap a pop star, a DJ from an offshore pirate radio station!, and a cabinet minister. Object: marriage! . . . Rebounding from this disaster, Amram went on to win two Academy Awards three years later for his short film Sentinels of Silence, narrated by Orson Welles . . . .
As to the Majority, Richie Unterberger tells us:
The Majority issued eight U.K. singles on Decca between 1965 and 1968 without reaching the British charts, though they were a reasonably accomplished band, especially in the vocal harmony department. . . . [It] sounded more American than the typical British Invasion band, with harmonies and, usually, material more in line with U.S. pop/rock acts like the Beach Boys and sunshine pop groups than most of their U.K. peers. While it’s fairly enjoyable stuff, it’s easy to hear why they became a sort of “in-between” group, with too much going for them to get dropped from their label, but not enough going for them to score hit records. One reason is that they didn’t establish much of an identity, their arrangements veering from mild British Invasion sounds to quasi-Walker Brothers productions and late-’60s British orchestrated pop with the slightest of psychedelic touches. Another is that none of their material, most of it supplied by outside writers, was particularly great, though it was usually pleasant (if not much more). They did do songs by some outstanding composers, including Chip Taylor, who co-wrote “Wait by the Fire,” and the Bee Gees, whose “All Our Christmases” was never issued by the Bee Gees themselves. . . .
Of the many British Invasion-era bands that never had a hit . . . the Majority had more staying power than most . . . . They never quite found a consistent stylistic direction or great material, however, before changing their name to Majority One in the late ’60s. Formed in Hull, England, as the Mustangs in the early ’60s, they changed their name to the Majority around the time they moved to London in 1965. . . . [T]hey tried their hand at a variety of material over the next few years, most of it coming from outside songwriters. As a minor coup of sorts, for their second single, 1965’s “A Little Bit of Sunlight,” they managed to gain access to a Ray Davies composition that never found a place on a 1960s Kinks record . . . . In search of chart material, the Majority also tried compositions written or co-written by such luminaries as John Carter [see #1,201, 1,304], Twice as Much, and Chip Taylor. But they never hit a commercial or artistic gold mine, the production varying from the lush to straightforward mod-ish rock. . . . After some major lineup shuffles and work backing singer Barry Ryan in concert and in the studio, the Majority relocated to France, where they renamed themselves Majority One in 1969 and continued their recording career with a similar but more sophisticated musical approach.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-decca-years-1965-68-mw0000824899, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-majority-mn0000058153#biography
Here are The Bee Gees — “All My Christmases Came at Once”:
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