Oh, what a Christmas, late December back in ’63

Christmas was going to be tough for America in 1963, just after the assassination of President Kennedy. But some iconic holiday songs and entertainment made the season bright. One of the new Christmas songs introduced that year was a call for peace, written during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Bing Crosby performed “Do You Hear What I Hear?” that December on a Bob Hope TV special.   The #1 song in the US that Christmas was “Dominique,” a French-language tune recorded by “The Singing Nun.” American radio stations began playing a new song by a rock and roll band from Liverpool, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles. On December 18th, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” introduced its famous Christmas episode, featuring “The Little Drummer Boy” and “I Am a Fine Musician.”   That same night, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore were guests on “The Danny Kaye Show” on CBS, along with Andy Williams, who had just recorded a new Christmas classic, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” in 1963, yesterday in La Crosse.