Song #21 of my 25 Days of Christmas Songs is for everyone who's bitter at this time of year. The song is It's Christmas and You're Boring Me by the English duo group Slow Club. It's a fantastic break up song. I mean come on, lots of people pick this time of year to break up and it sucks. Well, it sucks any time but it especially sucks at Christmas. Your mother's heart is bursting for me As we [...]
Christmas. It's all holly and jolly until melancholia sets in. Today's song - Whatever Happened to Christmas - matches my mood. It's Day 20 of 25 Days of Christmas Songs. Whatever Happened to Christmas was written by Jimmy Webb. I was just talking about him today. Jimmy Webb wrote a gazillion songs, among them Wichita Lineman and MacArthur Park. Whatever Happened to Christmas was first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1968 for the album The Sinatra Family Wish You a [...]
Christmas Is, sung by Lou Rawls, is the song for Day 19 of 25 Days of Christmas Songs. This song makes me sway and swoon. It's from Lou's album Merry Christmas Ho Ho Ho, which I believe was released on Jan 1, 1967. Missed the Christmas album buying window by that much. Christmas Is has been a mainstay on my holiday play list for years. The opening sax is as smooth as a hot chocolate martini. Hmm. That's [...]
What do The Grateful Dead, Kelly Clarkson, and Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mahyem all have in common? They've all recorded the 18th song in my 25 Days of Christmas Songs - Run Run Rudolph. But the version I prefer is by today's birthday boy, Keith Richards, who turns 70 years old today. Crikey. Happy birthday, Keith. Keith's version is fantastic. It's gritty, it's rocking, and it's Keith Richards for crying out loud. It was released as a [...]
Sounds the bells I've finally caught up to the correct day in my 25 Days of Christmas. Day 17 is a very rare recording of Amy Winehouse singing I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. I think it's from the Q Awards in 2004. Side note: The Pet Shop Boys were award the Q Inspiration Award and The Red Hot Chili Peppers won the Best Act in the World Today at the 2004 Q Awards. Anyway, I'm a huge Amy Winehouse [...]
Oh how I love this song. Love For Christmas by The Gems is #16 in my 25 Days of Christmas Songs. The Gems was a Chicago-based group from the early 1960s and featured a very young Minnie Riperton. Minnie went on to have a number one hit with Lovin' You in 1974. The Gems were on the Chess Records label, started by a couple of Polish immigrant brothers with the last name of Chess. Go figure. Love For [...]
The second song on Request Sunday for The 25 Days of Christmas Songs (which brings me up to Day 14. One more day to make up) is Colorado Christmas from my friend Susan Marcianti Hill. The song was recorded by country music behemoth The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who formed in 1966 in the home of country music - Long Beach, CA. Colorado Christmas, written by Steve Goodman - wait - a country band from Long Beach, CA recorded [...]
It's request Sunday for the 25 Days of Christmas Songs and first up is Put A Little Love In Your Heart from my friend Ray Wagner. Originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon in 1968, Put A Little Love In Your Heart was covered by Annie Lennox and Al Green (a couple of hack singers) for the 1988 holiday film SCROOGED. It's a pretty great cover. Buy the song on iTunes here. Buy it at Amazon here. And if you're [...]
Rounding out the first dozen of 25 Days of Christmas Songs is The Christmas Song by the Danish band The Raveonettes. This is such a great song. I don't have much to say about this song other than it's lovely and should be on your playlist. Get it at iTunes here. Get it at Amazon right below.
Due to a snow storm, DeSales University had to cancel its final performance of The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge today. It's the second tie this week a performance was cancelled. It's such a bummer for the kids who worked so hard. Hopefully they'll be able to add some performances. For those of you who wanted to see the show but couldn't, I found a slideshow of the show on Youtube. It needs music, but I quibble. [...]