Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmas Time (KD Remix 2025)

Well, it's almost Christmas time and here is a remix of Paul McCartney's famous Christmas song. Where is the connection some people might ask? Well, Paul McCartney apparently used the famous Yamaha CS - 80 synthesiser in this song. For more information about this check out this link.
https://reverbmachine.com/blog/how-paul-mccartney-created-wonderful-christmastime/

If you want to buy a Yamaha CS-80 it is likely to cost you more than £12,000. No doubt this item is now only available to the super rich who are stock piling such things in their luxury accommodation. However, Arturia have allowed the "great unwashed" like me access to this great synth in their excellent soft synth recreation.
https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/cs-80v/overview

I have extracted the vocal from the original recording from 1980 and then I have created a new instrumental backing track. Interestingly, I did not use the Arturia CS 80V plugin for this track. I was able to get the sounds I needed from other Arturia and Cherry Audio plug ins.

Now let's be clear, whilst this song is an excellent rendition for all that's positive about Christmas time, it is not such a positive time for many people. Whether you live alone, or you have fallen out with family members, or you are grieving absent friends and family, it can be a really tough time. So, it is important to remember the people that find this time of year very difficult for many and varied reasons. Additionally, I am not a fan of the excessive commercialism associated with Christmas. There is incredible pressure on people to buy stuff for friends and family and also to go to great expense to deliver the marketing dream of Christmas that is force fed to us each year.

That said, it can be a fantastic to spend time with close family and friends and I hope that listeners have a restful time of year whether they celebrate Christmas or not.

Now, on to Paul McCartney. He is a legend of the last 60 plus years. Whether you like The Beatles or not, it is hard not to applaud his significant contribution to popular music. Some may be asking why I have done this track. Well, my daughter likes me to play the radio in the morning when I drive her to school each morning and she sometimes puts on the Xmas radio channel (this started in November!!!!!). No surprise, but Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time" song was played on a regular basis. When I heard the wobbly synth sounds it made me think how did he do this song? I did not know at the time he used a Yamaha CS-80. It is thanks to the article that I have provided a link for above that I know about this. Anyway, I want to thank The Beatles for their role in helping create the varied musical landscape that we all now enjoy. RIP John Lennon and George Harrison.

There is rich legacy of music from Liverpool and I am fan of lesser known bands from this area, namely This Final Frame, Virgin Dance, Box Of Toys, The Games, The Open and The Action Transfers - I also like many well known bands from Liverpool - do you remember "Wonderful Life" by Black? The Beatles have to be credited with inspiring many young Liverpudlians in to picking up a guitar or playing a keyboard.

Interestingly, I did some research during the last 12 months into my ancestry. On my mother's side, her family were all living in Liverpool, Toxteth to be precise, in the 1870s to 1910s and then shortly after that my great grandfather and great grandmother moved to North Wales. Up until this year, I'd assumed my mother's family were from Wales, but you live and learn. I am a Scouser (LOL)...and I support Man City!

The images in the video have been created using AI. The final image was created using a picture of a Yamaha CS 80 that is freely available on the internet and a bit of AI trickery. I keep reading stuff online that AI is evil. There was uproar on a Nick Drake Facebook page because someone had used AI technology to create a video I am assuming using still images of Nick Drake. The level of antipathy this video created was ridiculous. I've not seen the video by the way. If people focused their ire on things that really matter we might start getting somewhere in the world (e.g. genocide, climate change, modern slavery, extreme wealth disparity etc). Maybe there are too many people sat in armchairs wanting the world to stay the same and typing their thoughts in the comments section? Do you remember the musicians union being up in arms when synthesisers first emerged? 75% of people are initially resistant to change.

If the licence holder wants me to remove this video please let me know.