Skip to content

An Oscar winner and a Langley singer join forces for brand new holiday song

“Merry Christmas Everybody” features vocals by Langley resident Tiffany Desrosiers and Vivace
19619161_web1_Tiff
Langley resident Tiffany Desrosiers sings on the new holiday track “Merry Christmas Everybody.” (Tiffany Desrosiers/Special to the Langley Advance Times)

The journey to get “Merry Christmas Everybody,” a heartfelt holiday tune to the airwaves, sounds like a story fit for an annual Hallmark movie.

The dismissal from a massive pop-star, the toil of an Oscar winner, and the support of a Langley singer all went into making the song a reality over a 20 year span.

The song was composed by Academy Award winner Franke Previte , who earned his statuette for penning the 1987 mega-hit “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

In 1996, he was asked to craft up an original Christmas song for Christina Aguilera – thus “Merry Christmas Everybody” was born.

When producers felt the tempo was too soft for Aguilera’s style, Previte shoved the song into a drawer and moved on with his career, penning hits like Eric Carmen’s “Hungry Eyes”.

He ended up revisiting it two decades later, which is when his friend and music agent Kenjamin Franklin heard the demo.

Franklin reached out to Langley singer/songwriter Tiffany Desrosiers, and the rest became history.

“I had met Ken about three years ago when he was doing music licensing,” Desrosiers recalled. “I hadn’t heard from him in two years but he reached out to me last January and asked if we’d been interested in the project.”

Desrosiers belongs to Vivace, a classical crossover vocal group based in Vancouver, which combines four pop and classical singers.

She took it to Vivace and thought the melody was perfect, as ballads fit more within the group’s range.

After adding composer Dusty Micale and performer Mark Masri to the mix, the group got to recording in Vancouver and Coquitlam.

“I really like very much that it is a classic Christmas song,” Desrosiers explained. “I think a lot of phrases are getting lost and not as many people are celebrating Christmas anymore. The song really brings about the spirit.”

READ MORE: Holiday favourites to be strummed and sung at annual concert

Desrosiers said she didn’t physically meet Franklin or Previte, but a lot of calls and emails went into making “Merry Christmas Everybody” the best that it could be.

“Franke [Previte] is such a genius with melodies and putting in curves and hooks,” she explained. ”I think the song brings about a spirit of magic and peace and I hope those who have a hard time around the holidays find peace in it.”

A portion of people’s purchase of the song, when downloaded from radiotv, will go to support Toys For Tots.

For more information, people can check out the song at www.radiotv.com.

Desrosiers added that it is tough for new holiday works to compete with the hundreds of classic Christmas songs already out there, so in order to secure some airplay, she asks if you like to the tune, please request to hear it on local radio stations.

_________________________________

Is there more to this story?

Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter

_________________________________