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Tag: John Schneider

  • Dukes of Hazzard are Releasing a Christmas Album

    Bo and Luke Duke are back. Well, John Schneider and Tom Wopat are back together. Both men have enjoyed success as singers since their hit TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. Schneider has had hit country songs. Wopat has performed in Broadway musicals, to much acclaim.

    The pair have sung together in concert before, but now they are releasing a project together. It is a Christmas album called Home for Christmas.

    “I think this is a fresh take on the Christmas album,” Tom Wopat said in a statement. “Jazz fans and serious musicians will appreciate what we’ve done with theses tunes. Our arranger John Oddo has a true affinity for that classic 50s and 60s sound. He really nails it. [Jazz pianist and arranger] Tedd Firth is a major talent and a creative voice. And, of course, I love singing with John Schneider. The timbre of our voices match, the harmonies blend so easily. Plus, he’s a barrel of laughs.”

    John Schneider said, “Tom and I really bring out the best in each other. We may not sound alike when we talk, but when we sing sometimes you can’t tell us apart. In the studio, I put him first and he puts me first. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is.”

    The album is not just a collection of Christmas tunes. There are short spoken pieces between some songs that feature the pair’s humor. Think of it like a Tenacious D album, but with jazz arrangements and the humor of the Dukes of Hazzard.

    The album is in stores and online October 28. The duo will put on a concert at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater on December 2 at 9:30 PM.

    Here is the track listing for Home for Christmas:

    1. Merry Christmas (:17)
    2. “Christmas Time is Here” (3:14)
    3. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (3:05)
    4. “Cool Yule” (3:21)
    5. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” (3:34)
    6. “Even the Snow (Falls for You)” (3:13)
    7. Love (0:13)
    8. “Sleigh Ride” (3:56)
    9. “Christmas Waltz” (3:23)
    10. “Johnny, It’s Cold Outside” (3:23)
    11. “The Secret of Christmas” (3:08)
    12. Coal (0:05)
    13. “Blue Xmas” (2:53)
    14. “Holiday Season” (2:48)
    15. Ponch & John (0:13)
    16. “On a Quiet Christmas Morn” (2:55)
    17. “Silver Bells” (2:48)
    18. Egg Nog (0:11)

  • “The Dukes of Hazzard” Turns 35 Today

    If you were a kid in the 1980s, it’s likely that you and your friends went out with your bicycles, set up a ramp of some sort, and did some jumps while screaming yeehaw, and you did your best to pretend your dirt bike was the General Lee–the famous car from the classic television show “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

    If this sounds like your childhood at all, then you might be surprised to hear that today marks 35-years since the show first aired on CBS.

    For those who were a little too young to remember the show, and for some reason missed all of the reruns, “The Dukes of Hazzard” centered around two charming outlaws, Bo and Luke Duke, who spent most of their days fleeing from the local sheriff, Roscoe P. Coltrane, and his not-too-bright-deputy Enos Strate.

    The Duke boys were hardly ever guilty of any real crimes, they were usually framed somehow, and had to break a couple of laws in order to prove their innocence. And they had their gorgeous cousin, Daisy Duke, and their straight-talking uncle, Uncle Jessie, to help them whenever needed.

    Some may remember the show being turned into a feature film in 2005, but for some reason stars Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott and Jessica Simpson weren’t able to muster up the same kind of chemistry that the original cast did, plus, it seemed the writers wanted the movie to appeal to those who weren’t familiar with the show, and didn’t do too much the honor some of the original plot lines.

    In past interviews, John Schneider, who played Bo Duke on the show, said he’s proud of the work he did on “The Dukes of Hazzard,” but he doesn’t want to be defined by it.

    “Every time somebody starts out, ‘You know him best from “The Dukes of Hazzard,”‘ I just want to strangle them,” said Schneider. “I did a couple of radio interviews recently, and one guy said, ‘We got Bo Duke on the line,’ so there I am, on live radio, and I say, ‘Really? Is that right? That’s who you have on the phone right now? I’ll do ‘yeehaw’ for you later.’”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons