Random Act of Gratitude #18: The Quiet Jungle

When I think of my childhood Christmases, 'The Story of Snoopy's Christmas and other favourite children's songs' immediately comes to mind. I have no idea how my family, fresh over from Scotland, came to have it in its record collection, but it was as traditional as the tree in our home.

At some point, while I was away at university, it disappeared from the orange box of records. My father is quite sure he gave it to my brother, who is notorious for losing / breaking things. Needless to say, I was not happy, nor has hide nor hair of it been seen since (which is clearly an idiomatic saying, as the record has neither hide nor hair to be seen). I believe I was quite vocal about the horror I felt that it went anywhere but into my possession. Yes, my parents are sometimes very tolerant of me. (I have a strong sense of nostalgia and am moderately obsessed with things like abandoned places and objects with personal histories. As a child I was once shocked and appalled -- words I do not select lightly -- when my mother discarded a hand mixer that I had never known our kitchen to be without. I was talked down off the proverbial ledge eventually, but hey, that mixer had been there my entire life! Didn't she understand that kind of history?)

I started searching for the album on eBay and before I actually made a bid (and I was literally about to do so), my parents called me to say they'd found an old vinyl copy of it in Value Village. Apparently the cashier was surprised to hear how much I had been about to pay for it online.

This year, Sonya brought down her old Teletone Nancy and Clancy record player (yes, one of those ones that closes up into a little briefcase shape to travel with a tot) and we listened to the record while decorating the tree. It was like warm cocoa on a cold night to my ears! As I listened to it for the first time in years, I discovered I could still anticipate almost every detail in the instrumental and vocal arrangements.

In the meantime, I've done a little homework and found out more about "The Quiet Jungle", who recorded the album. It seems they were a moderately successful Toronto band formerly known as The Secrets. Here you can read more about them, including fairly recent information from Doug Rankine, the lead singer. It's coming up for the 40th anniversary of the album's release, and if I knew how to get in touch with the members of The Quiet Jungle, I would seriously drop them a line to say how much I've appreciated their little Christmas album over the years.

Today I spent a while transferring the album onto CD so I can listen to it wherever I go (even after Sonya takes her Nancy and Clancy record player back). I do hope that The Quiet Jungle wouldn't mind ...