Darlene Love’s annual appearance on David Letterman show

Darlene Love featuring Jay Thomas on David Letterman show. Christmas without Darlene Love’s annual appearance on David Letterman show could be bored. Check out!!!!!

Darlene Love returns to David Letterman show Friday for annual appearance

Nobody asked me, but if they did, I’d say that it’s not Christmas without Darlene Love doing her annual rip-the-roof-off-the-joint rendition of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on “Late Show with David Letterman.”

So it is with garlands of glee that I announce Love will be back again this year, performing on the Friday night broadcast of Letterman’s show.

As anybody who’s watched over the years knows, the show featuring Love also includes comic Jay Thomas competing with Dave to knock a meatball off the top of a Christmas tree.

Oh, and Thomas will also tell his story about the Lone Ranger. Perhaps you’re wondering why this particular trio of traditions have been baked into Dave’s pre-Christmas show. I know I was. Luckily, there’s an Associated Press story explaining how this all came about.

For example, Darlene Love managed to triumph over Dave’s dislike of holiday music. From the AP story:

Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer learned early on when he tried to play “Monster Mash” on Halloween that his boss isn’t much into holiday music. But Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” originally recorded for the landmark 1963 holiday album “A Christmas Gift for You,” is “the one place where his and my holiday tastes coincide,” Shaffer said. “He loves the song.”

Shaffer was performing with Love in Ellie Greenwich’s musical “Leader of the Pack” in winter 1984 and Letterman came to see them. Shaffer isn’t sure which man had the idea of inviting her on the show — then televised on NBC — but everyone was pleased with the results…

Letterman’s staff has a real emotional connection to the song, enhanced with the passage of time, (executive producer Rob) Burnett said.

“Every year, there’s a moment in the song, where she is hitting it full blast and the confetti comes down, just about every staff member — even the toughest stagehand — you can see just choking it back,” he said.

So set those DVRs or tune in at 11:35 p.m. Friday, for “Late Show with David Letterman.” And then Christmas can commence. (Kristi Turnquist – The Oregonian)