Merry Christmas, music lovers. Alan Manns Christmas on the Block is relatively unknown outside the Philadelphia region, but many in the area consider it their favorite Christmas song, not only because it evokes pleasant childhood memories of Christmas lights illuminating the neighborhood blocks of their youth, but also for its message of selflessness. In the mid-1980s, the rising Philadelphia rock star Alan Mann heard of a group house for the blind on a street in Upper Darby. Every Christmas, its residents would decorate a tree in front of their house, and neighbors would often say that it was the most beautifully decorated tree on the block. Although they could not see, the residents wanted to give an annual gift to those who could. The story inspired Mann to visit the house and write the song, which features a moving chorus sung by second-grade students. The video for the song got extensive airplay on MTV during the 1986 Christmas season, and Mann seemed poised to follow the Hooters and Robert Hazard by breaking out of the local scene. Unfortunately, it was not to be. In 1987, Mann died when he jumped or fell from his burning South Philly apartment building. Over the last 25 years, the WMMR DJ Pierre Robert has kept the memory of Mann and his song alive by regularly playing it during the season. Robert gets numerous requests for it, and, partly because its hard to get a copy of the song, the video gets numerous hits on YouTube around the holidays.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:43:06 +0000
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