The Town of Odyssey

If the topic title sounds familiar, then good; it should be! It's been 7 months since my latest acquisition of rare Odyssey material, and so I thought it'd be fitting to use the same title that I had for "Lights Out! Camera, Action!"

In case you haven't already guessed, this acquisition is none other than "Caroling, Caroling" - the full, two-part version! (By the way, I got it off Amazon, and it looks like there are a couple tapes left.

I was actually going to start this thread a couple weeks ago, when I made this joyous order, but I decided to wait until it arrived. And then, tragedy of tragedies, I realized that I didn't have a cassette player, and, thus, no way to listen to it! That problem was solved today, when a little portable cassette player arrived in the mail from my loving parents.



...and, I suppose I should actually listen to this episode before starting this thread.

*saves text of post in secure location*

And... I've now listened to both versions, and have made detailed comparative notes:



The blue is what is exclusive to this version, the italicized parts are the songs, and the line in the middle is where side one ends.

Eugene's "Seasonal Felicitations" and Whit's solo of "White Christmas" are definitely highlights (Hal Smith has a good singing voice ), and I also liked Bernard and Eugene's interactions (they are at Bernard's house putting up lights, and Eugene is trying to program the lights). In "The Happy Christmas Comes Once More," Bernard actually sings along with the choir a little! Also, the only Barclay who makes an appearance is George. Finally, I think it's very fitting that the last song is "O Come, All Ye Faithful," as that song closed out "Gifts for Madge and Guy" also.

I would put this episode online if I could, but, alas, my cassette-to-CD converter is back in California. Nevertheless, I hope my OCD efforts made someone happy.

Finally, here is what I wrote in my AIO Episode Ratings spreadsheet for this episode (the || is the dividing line between what I wrote last year, and what I wrote just now, after today's listenings):

• A charming little episode, if you know ahead of time that it's basically just the singing of Christmas carols. Very pretty musical arrangements; the girl who sang the solo sounded a lot like the one who played Courtney. || *bumps rating up to 4* Wow, the full-length version is a lot longer - the whole middle part was cut out for album release! I'm so glad I have it! The songs are still beautiful; I don't think I'd ever heard "In a Manger He is Lying" before this episode, but I quite like it. (And that is Sara Buskirk/Courtney Vincent who had the "O Holy Night" solo). Eugene's "Seasonal Felicitations" and Whit's "White Christmas" were awesome additions, and I loved everything Bernard...and Eugene. I also thought it was very fitting to end with "O Come, All Ye Faithful," as that song closed out "Gifts for Madge and Guy" too. Finally, I found it interesting that the voice tracks and sound effects came out of one earphone, while the instrumental accompaniment came out of the other. I guess if I ever want to listen to the songs acappella, I can!

At this point in my post, I was planning to ramble on about something entirely-different-but-still-AIO. However, I didn't expect this post to go this long, and as there is more than enough on-topic rambling (not to mention lists!) already, I will save my (unwritten) list of favorite Odyssey Christmas episodes for another time.

Good night, all!

Thank you for the in-depth comparison of episode versions. I admit, this makes me a bit jealous. Felicitations on your acquisition!

About the separate ear/audio track effect, it is I think fairly common for items of this nature to be separated like that. It increases sales because some people just like the music or just the words, and it is called split tracks.

KODY 105 wrote:About the separate ear/audio track effect, it is I think fairly common for items of this nature to be separated like that. It increases sales because some people just like the music or just the words, and it is called split tracks.

So that's why Amazon called this product "Caroling, Caroling: 30 Christmas Favorites Recorded in Split-track Stereo!" It all makes sense now.

I've had a copy of this one for years. It was a Christmas present when the cassette special was available through Focus. I also have the other Christmas special. Both are great collector's items.

Cool, Lizzie, thanks for sharing that!

Thank you for your thoughts, LizzieG! I especially like the comparison chart.

I haven't heard the extended version of Caroling, Caroling, but I know I'd like it. I can't say the same for my brothers, though. In high school, I listened to the episode multiple times in a row on OnePlace, which produced complaints from my older brother. Just this past Christmas season, when the episode came on, my 11-year-old brother, a devoted weekday radio listener, was distracted for the first few minutes and ended up not listening to the rest of the episode. I, on the other hand, am a proponent of Caroling, Caroling.

Thanks, guys.

One other thing I'd wanted to add was that it took me a dozen pictures before I decided I didn't want to be in the shot... and then another dozen to get the perfect hand-and-cassette image. ...hence my "four word summary" of "Slight case fried eyeballs." (italics added for emphasis )

I didn't see this topic before today...very lovely to read your ramblings about your recently aquired purchase. I hope that I get to hear the actual tape someday.

*anxiously looks at the two tapes left on Amazon*

This was a nice post. I remember listening to the tape of Caroling, Caroling, but never on the radio. I suppose that's good because I can't imagine the episode without the Eugene and Bernard interaction. I think I still have this tape stashed away somewhere.

Adventures in Odyssey, "Caroling, Caroling" featuring Seasonal Felicitations. I got a copy of the cassette tape off of eBay and had it converted to mp3 and then uploaded it to youtube because I'm cool like that.
https://youtu.be/AzNP4JQBlTE