In 1986, David Letterman invited Darlene Love to sing "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on Late Night with David Letterman. He'd heard Love belt out the song during a performance of the musical production Leader of the Pack at the Bottom Line, and he'd been so wowed by the performance that when Paul Shaffer - who served as musical consultant on the aforementioned production - suggested that they should book her on the show, Dave was all for it.
Fast-forward to 1994. Dave's on CBS, hosting The Late Show with David Letterman. Darlene is invited to perform her signature holiday song once again, but this time it transforms into an annual holiday tradition, one that continues for the remainder of the Late Show run (except for 2007, when there was a writers strike, which meant no new shows).
No, no, it's not Santa, it's just your old pal Dave Letterman at the premiere Of Disney+'s music docu-special 'Bono And The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming'
After Dave retired from CBS in 2015, it seemed like that was the end of the Letterman / Love annual collaboration, and while it was sad to see it end after such a long run together, at least Letterman's official YouTube channel had created a supercut to remind viewers of just how many times Love had performed the song.
This year, however, Dave surprised the masses by re-teaming with his old pal Paul Shaffer and recruiting Darlene Love to revisit the tradition that Dave and his viewers had come to love.
Before the performance, Dave, Paul, Darlene, and Dave's longtime assistant/friend Barbara Gaines sat down for a chat, one in which Darlene mistakenly says that she did the song for 28 years. Mind you, the math would've been right if she'd done it every Christmas from 1986-2014, but she didn't. There was that gap between the one appearance on Late Night and the first of her many Late Show appearances. So let's just pretend that she meant that it's been 28 years since she first performed the song, shall we?
The camaraderie between the foursome is wonderful to behold, and when the conversation turns to a bit of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" trivia - that Cher sang backing vocals on the song - it provides Paul with the opportunity to launch into his own annual tradition: an impression of Cher singing "O Holy Night" on The Sonny and Cher Show. Frankly, the only thing missing is the late, great Jay Thomas's famed "Lone Ranger" story that he would swing by and tell on the show every year.
Before Love performs the song one more time for Dave, he acknowledges, "I won't say this will be my favorite, but I'm pretty sure it will be close."
He's right. It's a sight and sound to behold, and it's a delightful holiday reunion.
