All Alone on Christmas

"All Alone on Christmas" is a song written and arranged by Steve Van Zandt, and recorded by Darlene Love with members of both The E Street Band and The Miami Horns. It was originally featured on the soundtrack of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.^[1] It was also released as a CD single which included an instrumental version.

The song returned Love's name to the music singles charts on both sides of the pond that year. It peaked at No. 83 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, at No. 52 on the U.S. Billboard Radio Songs chart, and at No. 31 on the official UK Singles Chart.

The third track on the single was a Christmas remix of The Capitols "Cool Jerk" which was also taken from the same film soundtrack. The single was influenced by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and is recorded in the style of the Spector-produced Love song "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". The single featured a promotional photo of Love with the five members of the E Street Band who featured on the track.^[2] A promotional video featured Macaulay Culkin "producing" as Love performed the song with The E Street Band and The Miami Horns, and it features clips from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The song was also featured in the film Love Actually^[3] and in the 2001 Italian film Merry Christmas.

Other Versions and Covers

• During the first year of her run in the Broadway musical Hairspray, Love re-recorded "All Alone on Christmas" using the show's cast and band as backup on the charity recording Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for A Cure Vol. 7. The song references Love's earlier holiday recording "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".
• The song was covered by RuPaul for his 1997 Christmas album entitled Ho, Ho, Ho.

Personnel

Musicians

• Darlene Love – lead vocals
• The E Street Band
  • Clarence Clemons – tenor sax solo
  • Danny Federici – keyboards
  • Garry Tallent – bass
  • Steven Van Zandt – guitars
  • Patti Scialfa - backing vocals
  • Max Weinberg – drums
• The Miami Horns
  • Mark Pender – trumpet
  • Rick Gazda – trumpet
  • Stan Harrison – tenor sax
  • Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg – trombone
  • Eddie Manion – baritone sax
  • Arno Hecht – alto sax
• Pat Thrall – guitars
• Mark Alexander – piano
• Ula Hedwig – backing vocals
• Edna Wright – backing vocals
• Zoë Yanakis – percussion
• Benjamin Newberry – chimes

Production

• Steve Van Zandt – producer, arranger
• Zoe Yanakis – associate producer
• Ben Fowler – recording and mixing
• Dave McNair and Dan Gellert – additional recording
• Scott Hull – editing at Masterdisk
• Greg Calbi – mastered at Sterling Sound

References