By George Gimarc
Vince Vance & The Valiants seemed to be everywhere in the oldies-enthralled, post Sha-Na-Na 70s in DFW. The New Orleans based group turned in their own quirky versions of familiar oldies, peppered in with some originals. Their first release was an LP dubbed ‘Double Aluminum’ in 1977, and they followed it up with several more (collect ‘em all!). They even got a little radio airplay with their single “Bomb Iran” (their own topical version of “Barbara Ann”).
This single of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was released in 1989 on the band’s own Valiant Records label and had a video as well that got a lot of spins around here and for a decade was a constant on DFW jukeboxes for the holidays. Lisa Layne does a great job pining away on a song that seems sorta familiar. Perhaps it was that the OTHER “All I Want For Christmas” released five years later stepped on the toes of this indie release. Perhaps someday we will hear that the mess has been sorted out. It certainly didn’t work out so well for the Nightcaps and their tune “Thunderbird.”
Despite it all, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is a quintessential Texas 45 for the holidays, even if the band started out in New Orleans.
