Watch Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly parody David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s ‘Peace On Earth’
One of the most cherishable things about Christmas is the desire we all have to share the company of family and strangers alike. It’s a time of year when usual boundaries are forgiven for a more wholesome view of the world, with charity and connection heralded as our brightest moments as a society. It’s also a time for sharing laughs and enjoying giggles. Thanks to Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, David Bowie and Bing Crosby, we get to have it all at once.
We needn’t remind you much of the beautiful video starring David Bowie and Bing Crosby. The music video for ‘Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy’ has gone down in history as one of the most iconic of the day. Not because it triumphed with high-spec production or delivered theatrical gymnastics but because it was so cheesy that mice across the world stepped back from the screens in revulsion.
The unlikely pairing filmed their gloriously weird yet entirely enjoyable collaboration for Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas special in 1977, which was aired on CBS over the festive period. It’s a strange spectacle to watch back, and, in truth, Bowie looks somewhat uncomfortable at the beginning of his appearance – but that soon changes once the pair start singing.
Rather than hosting a traditional festive special in which Crosby would welcome an array of guests to share a conventional Christmas conversation followed by a performance, CBS added a cringeworthy twist to the programme. To shoehorn Bowie into the special, they created a clumsy storyline which revolved around Crosby being invited to spend the holiday season with a recently acquainted long-lost relative in England and their neighbour, you guessed it, was Mr Bowie.
The special would also prove to be Crosby’s final ever TV performance, the singer tragically passing away just a matter of weeks after the recording after suffering a heart attack. Collaborating with Bowie, merging two different generations of the name of Christmas, is an almost perfect way for Crosby to have his last hurrah.
The video sees Bowie accidentally interrupt Crosby while looking to practice the piano. What follows is some gentile conversation, a witty joke and the odd reference to Christmas. Bowie notes that he mainly performs “contemporary stuff,” with Bing confirming that he thinks “it’s marvellous, some of it really fine” before Bowie refers to John Lennon and Harry Nielsenas “some of the old singers”.
The video continues in this vein, providing saccharine festive cheer before the duo sits down to sing ‘Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy’ in front of the Christmas tree, cradled around the piano. Of course, the reality of the shoot was not so sweet. On multiple occasions, Crosby introduced himself to the Englishman, which was an indictment of his ill health. Meanwhile, Bowie implied it was substances which caused him to be there in body only. Additionally, Bowie said on The Jonathan Ross Show: “I don’t think he knew he’d sung it with me, and he wasn’t kind of reacting to very much around him. He was pretty old by that time, and he was just this little old fella on a stool.”
But while this collaboration will go down in history, it is perhaps dwarfed by that of Will Ferrell and John C Reilly, who, as well as making some classic comedies in their time such as Step Brothers and Talladega Nights, also provided the perfect parody of the video. You can watch both videos play out below.
