Mike Ross and Verity White Share Their Take on the Controversial Christmas Classic: ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’

21st December 2020 0 By Jon Deaux

Multi-talented guitarmeister Mike Ross and alt rocking Verity White have joined forces to release a Christmas single: a tongue-in-cheek, gender-swapped version of the now-controversial duet ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’, written by Frank Loesser in 1944, which the public first heard in the 1949 film ‘Neptune’s Daughter’.

Whilst the famous lyrics don’t mention Christmas by name, the song’s wintery motif has made it a seasonal staple, covered by countless artists. However, since 2009, the song has perhaps come to be seen as less innocently romantic and more controversial, with undertones that smack of misogyny, manipulation and coercion!

Aware of that controversy, Mike Ross and Verity White deliberately swapped roles in the song’s two-voice to and fro duet — the so-called ‘Wolf’ and ‘Mouse’ roles — to find a fresh take on the song.

Mike Ross sings the ‘Mouse’ vocal and plays guitar, bass & piano; Verity White sings the ‘Wolf’ vocal, with plenty of vampish sass; whilst Alex White plays drums & saxophone; the track and video are produced by Mike Ross too

Mike reflects on how the collaboration came about: “The whole idea of the single came out of a mutual invite to an online Christmas party and the suggestion that guests might want to record a Christmas message or a song. I immediately thought of Verity as I knew she’d be someone fun to work with on the song ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’.

He reflects on how he and Verity approached the song’s controversy: “Being aware of the misogynistic message in the original, we decided to flip the gender roles for our version, which gives it a more fun and up-to-date feel.

“I laid down some guitar and bass, then sent the tracks over to Verity and Alex, who supplied drums, saxophone and then we did the vocals last. It came together better than we’d both expected so we decided to release it as a Christmas single!”

Verity White agrees: “Mike and I had a great time recording this gender-bent version of the old classic. We wanted to see if we could make it more accessible in modern times, but I can’t help feeling that I was typecast in the role of the old pervert!

“It was great to be able to work remotely and still come up with something that I feel conveys the chemistry of the song, but with a tongue-in-cheek twist.”

What’s more, Mike brings some tasty guitar licks to the party and there’s a snowy, retro-look black and white video to boot, c/o the multi-multi-talented Mr Ross.

Available now on all digital platforms. Download or stream here – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mikeross/baby-its-cold-outside-feat-verity-white

Mike Ross

Website: www.mikerossmusic.co.uk