Tonight is my family annual Christmas Eve party and I made some playlists of some of the very bestest from my not-too-shabby compendium of Christmas tunes. I got a few new tracks (noted with *) and added them in there. So, even though 98% of my family won't even notice it, the soundtrack to this soiree is going to be off da HO- HO HOOOK! (Feeble. I apologize.)
2010 Xmas mix (Part I)
1. We Need A Little Christmas (Percy Faith & Choristers)
2. Christmas is Coming (Harry Belafonte)
3. Caroling, Carolling (Nat King Cole)-- I've never liked Nat King Cole's ubiquitous Christmas song ("chestnuuuuts roasting blah blah blahdee blaaah..etc") but this one I *LOVE*
4. Shake Hands with Santa Claus (Louis Prima)
5. We Wish You the Merriest (Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby) --2 of the smoothest smoothies ever. What an incomparable pair, am I right??
6. Home for the Holidays (Perry Como)-- it probably makes me seem about 75 yrs old, but eff it..I love Perry Como. Pretty much everything he ever did. Yep. Can't deny it.
7. Happy Holidays (funky remix w/ Bing Crosby vocal)
8.Christmas Conga (Cyndi Lauper)
9. Wonderful Christmastime (Paul McCartney & Wings)
10. Christmas is a Time to Say I Love you (Billy Squier)
11. Last Christmas ( Wham!) -- I read something about a poll in Bulgaria this year asking for "the most ANNOYING Christmas Song" And they voted this one #1. Which proves what I've always said ---Bulgarians know NOTHING about good music. Really? Bulgaria?? This song is terrific, and all you Bulgarians are so jaded and nasty.
12 The Man With All the Toys (The Beach Boys) -- I like, when this one is playing, to just sing along to one of the background parts. There's one Boy (probably Dennis, but I can't be sure) that just regularly sings out "Boh!" throughout. (check here for a memory refresher) That's the part I sing along to. It amuses me..for some odd reason..
13. I've Got my Love to Keep Me Warm (Dean Martin)-- a great song...and its greatness is exponentially multiplied when you've got Dino (love him) crooning it...
14. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Barenaked Ladies)
15. Little Drummer Boy (Lou Rawls)-- I had never been a huge fan of this one, but Rawls gives it some soul and I dig it..
16. Good Christian Men Rejoice (Robert Shaw Chorale)
17. I Saw Three Ships (some chorus)
18. Good King Wenceslas (some other chorus)--I've always loved Good King W.
19. Ding Dong Merrily on High (Cambridge chorus)
20. Here We Come A-Carolling (Perry Como) see above note re: Perry Como
21. O Tannenbaum (orchestra & St Killian boys choir)
22. Hey Santa ! (Chris Isaak)
Xmas mix 2010 (part II)
1. O Come , O Come Emmanuel (Chichester Cathedral Choir)*
2. O Holy Night (Avril LaVigne)---and , NO, she doesn't get all punk-lite with it. It's pretty lovely, I think..
3.Angels We Have Heard on High (Cambridge Choir)
4. Joy to the World (London Symphony Orchestra) this song is nice, for sure, but strangely it is about 5x louder than any other track. When it starts up, you gotta LUNGE for that stereo remote..
5. The Holly & the Ivy (Medieval Babes) *
6. I Saw 3 Ships (Cyndi Lauper) -yeah, I repeated it on both mixes, but it is different versions of the song. The other one is more ethereal sounding, Lauper's has more of a primitive, Olde English festival feel to it..
7. Jingle Bells (Barenaked Ladies)*-- new acquisition for 2010. Y'know, it's sometimes tough to make a decision on iTunes, when you only have 30 seconds of a song to judge. But in this instance, they picked the right 30 seconds to offer up as a sample. When I heard them work "Batman smells..Robin laid an egg" into the chorus..well...I was SOLD. Though I was surprised to later hear that it starts out all slow & plaintive & earnest (but it does get around to the Batman chorus by the end...kooky, eh?)
8. The Marvelous Toy (Peter, Paul, & Mary)
9. Sugar Rum Cherry (Duke Ellington & band)--this is a swingin' reboot of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
10 You're a Mean one Mr Grinch ( Thurl Ravenscroft-- a lot of people think Boris Karloff did that song.. and while Karloff did do the voice of Grinch--in the speaking parts-- Ravenscroft did this song. Thurl Ravenscroft is a name worth committing to the memory banks... I mean, firstly, THAT NAME...innately rad, am I right? But Thurl was also the voice of Tony the Tiger ("They're Grrrrreat!") and he did a lot of work for Disney. If you've ever been to The Country Bear Jamboree (if you haven't...I am so sad for you.) he did the voices for the bison head that hangs on the theater wall)
11 Drunk On Christmas (Jimmy Fallon) * --Jimmy just put this out this year. Love it. Love him.
12 Sleigh Ride (Johnny Mathis)-- nobody sings this song like Johnny Mathis. The mo-fo OWNS it...
13. Must Be Santa (Brave Combo)--hyper Christmas polka. What's not to love?
14. Wonderful Day (the Chipmunks)-- some people are annoyed by the Chipmunks...to them I say...move to Bulgaria. The Chipmunks kick arse (though I don't like their recent movie incarnations)
15. I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas (Barry Gordon)
16. Baby It's Cold Outside (Ann Margaret & Al Hirt)
17 Christmas Wrapping (the Waitresses)
18.We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Booker T & the MGs)
19. I Wish It Was Christmas Today (Julian Casablancas) --this is a great cover...though, I like the original on SNL a smidge more. YOU be the judge, folks---
^^ I was searching YouTube for an official music video, but there doesn't seem to be one. I don't think this fan-made one really fits the song, but 'tis a montage of freaked-out-by-Santa tots (another holiday institution I cherish) so that's why I picked it. Is it just me, or were Santas of yesteryear (like the 1920s-1970s) scarier than modern Santas? I think it's because they had shabby looking costumes. And these screaming li'l moppets just knew ("What the hell? Santa isn't poor!!")
The original "Wish it Was Christmas Today" You should see me do the Tracy Morgan part on this. I am brilliant at it. BRILLIANT!!
1 comment:
Good, very good.
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