Author Topic: Mike's Christmas Countdown  (Read 21620 times)

RGMike

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Mike's Christmas Countdown
« on: December 08, 2008, 07:59:55 AM »
With apologies to Gaz, I'd like to steal a page or 13 from his blog and present, for the next 2-1/2 weeks, some of my fave holiday tunes, a song or 2 at a time, with accompanying YouTube clips. I'll try to choose those with actual videos where possible, but with some older songs, my choices may be limited (one of my all-time faves, Martin Mull's hilarious Curtis Mayfield parody "SantaFly", is nowhere to be found on the YT).

We begin, appropriately, with Roy Wood's "I Wish It Could Be Xmas Every Day", from 1973.  Wood was one of the founding members of the seminal British band The Move, who were huge in the UK but fairly overlooked here.  When the Move broke up in the early '70s, it essentially became 2 bands: the Jeff Lynne faction begat ELO (and we know how that turned out) and Wood formed a group called Wizzard.

In the summer of '73 Wizzard released a single, "See My Baby Jive", a gloriously retro rave-up that was one of the opening salvos in the let's-revive-and-reevaluate-Phil Spector movement that would reach its apex a few years later with Born to Run and the re-release of the Spector Xmas LP. (It's worth noting that for much of the '70s, England was in the grip of a wave of late-'50s/early-'60s nostalgia that made our own obsessions with American Graffiti and Grease seem minor by comparison.)  "SMBJ" was a UK #1(but flopped in the US much to my dismay) and its success resulted in Wizzard releasing a similar-sounding holiday single, also a UK success that was barely noticed here until years later. Here it is in all its glam glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvjWrdt4jlY
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Alicat

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2008, 11:40:01 AM »
Wow.
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RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2008, 07:58:34 AM »
Day 2:  In my rush to get this thread up and running yesterday, I totally spaced on the fact that it was the 28th anniv of John Lennon's death. So we'll compensate with a Fab Four twin-spin of sorts: J&Y's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" and a medley of songlets from the Beatle Christmas messages.  I still remember the first time I heard "Happy Xmas": it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving 1971, and a local FM station had a sort of free-form music-and-interviews show in the late evening, hosted by a guy named Howard Smith, who was a music writer for the Village Voice and who would go on to win a Best Documentary Oscar for the film Marjoe, about a child preacher who grew up to question his upbringing. 



Anyway, Smith world-premiered "Happy Xmas" and I was floored by it -- and even more floored when local Top 40 powerhouse WABC began playing it the following week.

J & Y: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTVmuDoTmW8

Beatles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk4B-k1ld0A

Happy Crimble!
« Last Edit: December 12, 2008, 08:07:41 AM by RGMike »
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mshray

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2008, 03:50:30 PM »
With apologies to Gaz, I'd like to steal a page or 13 from his blog and present, for the next 2-1/2 weeks, some of my fave holiday tunes, a song or 2 at a time, with accompanying YouTube clips. I'll try to choose those with actual videos where possible, but with some older songs, my choices may be limited (one of my all-time faves, Martin Mull's hilarious Curtis Mayfield parody "SantaFly", is nowhere to be found on the YT).

We begin, appropriately, with Roy Wood's "I Wish It Could Be Xmas Every Day", from 1973.  Wood was one of the founding members of the seminal British band The Move, who were huge in the UK but fairly overlooked here.  When the Move broke up in the early '70s, it essentially became 2 bands: the Jeff Lynne faction begat ELO (and we know how that turned out) and Wood formed a group called Wizzard.

In the summer of '73 Wizzard released a single, "See My Baby Jive", a gloriously retro rave-up that was one of the opening salvos in the let's-revive-and-reevaluate-Phil Spector movement that would reach its apex a few years later with Born to Run and the re-release of the Spector Xmas LP. (It's worth noting that for much of the '70s, England was in the grip of a wave of late-'50s/early-'60s nostalgia that made our own obsessions with American Graffiti and Grease seem minor by comparison.)  "SMBJ" was a UK #1(but flopped in the US much to my dismay) and its success resulted in Wizzard releasing a similar-sounding holiday single, also a UK success that was barely noticed here until years later. Here it is in all its glam glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvjWrdt4jlY

Since you didn't have a pic of Roy, here's one.  Very Christmassy if you ask me!   ;) ;) ;)

"Music is the Earth, People are the Flowers, and I am the Hose."

--Carlos Santana, 2010

RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2008, 07:43:56 AM »
Day 3: Strictly Instrumental!

There are lots of great Xmas instrumentals, going back to the original orchestral version of "Sleigh Ride", and on thru Booker T and the Ventures. But here are 2 wildly different ones, released about 20 years apart. One you know, and one will probably be new to you.

the one you know: ELP, at the peak of their classically-obsessed powers with "Nutrocker" (itself a cover of an early-'60s holiday novelty by B. Bumble and the Stingers).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX0vOYwHj30

And the one you don't: the Hoodoo Gurus, of all people, doing an Indian-flavored take on "Little Drummer Boy".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKyCeBAEl8U

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mshray

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2008, 10:00:20 AM »
Have you ever heard "Donde Esta Santa Claus"?  From 1958 by Augie Rios.  Greg Kihn played it this morning, and I'd never heard it before.  I found the YouTube, but I'll hold off in case you were going to use it
"Music is the Earth, People are the Flowers, and I am the Hose."

--Carlos Santana, 2010

RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2008, 10:06:14 AM »
Have you ever heard "Donde Esta Santa Claus"?  From 1958 by Augie Rios.  Greg Kihn played it this morning, and I'd never heard it before.  I found the YouTube, but I'll hold off in case you were going to use it

OMG -- a classic from my childhood. As you might expect, it was VERY big in NYC, hearing it on the radio is one of my earliest Christmas memories, in fact.  I wasn't planning to use it but there's a disco version by Charo (!) with the salsoul orchestra that's cheeze personified (and sadly her version ain't on YouTube).
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mshray

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2008, 10:41:09 AM »
Have you ever heard "Donde Esta Santa Claus"?  From 1958 by Augie Rios.  Greg Kihn played it this morning, and I'd never heard it before.  I found the YouTube, but I'll hold off in case you were going to use it

OMG -- a classic from my childhood. As you might expect, it was VERY big in NYC, hearing it on the radio is one of my earliest Christmas memories, in fact.  I wasn't planning to use it but there's a disco version by Charo (!) with the salsoul orchestra that's cheeze personified (and sadly her version ain't on YouTube).

Here's the Charo version on YouTube, but it's just music over stills, not a performance video.  Likewise for the original.
"Music is the Earth, People are the Flowers, and I am the Hose."

--Carlos Santana, 2010

RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2008, 10:59:41 AM »
Here's the Charo version on YouTube, but it's just music over stills, not a performance video. 

Thanks! (I made the mistake of searching for "charo Salsoul" instead of just "charo").  Eeez cheeezy!
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RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2008, 11:53:28 AM »
and as long as we're reaching back to our childhoods... here's the orig animated version of "The Chipmunk Song" from The Alvin Show (which actually aired as a weekly series in prime time, circa '61):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmZtDb3ClZo
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RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2008, 07:55:11 AM »
Day 4: An '80s three-way!  We're running the gamut here...

1) Hall & Oates, "Jingle Bell Rock" -- the first Xmas video I ever saw on MTV; kudos to H&O for having the foresight to realize that MTV would need holiday clips. John Oates' goofy facial expressions are priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQXMT_QhguI

2) Ramones, "Merry Xmas (I Don't Want To Fight)". We miss you, Joey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-HMqBQpQs&feature=related

3) Gary Glitter, "Another Rock'n'Roll Xmas". The '70s glammer made a 1984 comeback with this holiday tune which isn't well known here but was a big UK hit. Given his sordid history, the line "you never know what you'll get from me" seems more threat than treat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn06NJzYQc4





« Last Edit: December 11, 2008, 07:57:18 AM by RGMike »
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Gazoo

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2008, 10:25:59 PM »
Mike, I'm just now catching up on this thread, and I LOVE that you're doing it.  Kudos!  Great write-ups, too.

In that Marjoe pic above, did you notice Thoth in the inset?  I used to see him parading about various SF street fairs in the late '90s.  (And Mark - he appears on that Songs in the Key of Z comp I foisted on you!)
“The choir of children sing their song.  They've practiced all year long.  Ding dong.  Ding dong.  Ding dong.”

RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #12 on: December 12, 2008, 07:39:24 AM »
Mike, I'm just now catching up on this thread, and I LOVE that you're doing it.  Kudos!  Great write-ups, too.


Thanks, bub -- glad you're liking it, 'cause I'm stealing another of your bits...

Day 5: Friday Funtime!

One of my favorite obscure Xmas records is this hilarious track from mid-'70s National Lampoon (I think it was on the Radio Dinner LP) that simultaneously parodies holiday novelty records and blaxploitation tunes. Friends, I give you the flaming hunk of political incorrectness that is "Kung-Fu Christmas"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOo_KcQRWuU

and for some racial balance, a real black person -- James Brown's "Soulful Christmas":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcQJj7d18eA&feature=related



« Last Edit: December 12, 2008, 08:08:45 AM by RGMike »
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RGMike

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2008, 08:07:51 AM »
Day 6: A trailer-trash Christmas!

This has become a small sub-genre in recent years, thanks to people like Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the (not really a) Cable Guy, but it's not exactly new.  My fave in this category is still Commander Cody's "Daddy's Drinking Up Our Christmas", which I couldn't find, but we do have the definitve dysfunctional white-trash family holiday saga, Robert Earl Keene's inspired "Merry Xmas From the Family":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P37xPiRz1sg

Next up, a song originally recorded in the '70s by John Denver, and written by his friends Bill & Taffy Danoff (of Starland Vocal Band infamy): "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)". Denver's version was a bit sappy, but in the early '90s Alan Jackson revived it for his excellent Honky-Tonk Christmas album (one of the best country Xmas CDs evah, IMHO) and his version's a tad more upbeat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mI8Ybwu30k&feature=related



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Alicat

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Re: Mike's Christmas Countdown
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2008, 10:25:05 PM »
Have you ever heard "Donde Esta Santa Claus"?  From 1958 by Augie Rios.  Greg Kihn played it this morning, and I'd never heard it before.  I found the YouTube, but I'll hold off in case you were going to use it

OMG -- a classic from my childhood. As you might expect, it was VERY big in NYC, hearing it on the radio is one of my earliest Christmas memories, in fact.  I wasn't planning to use it but there's a disco version by Charo (!) with the salsoul orchestra that's cheeze personified (and sadly her version ain't on YouTube).
OMG again. I totally heard Augie today and made a note to check youtube for it. I think it was on KFOX. Loved it.
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