Friday, December 4, 2009

25 Songs of Christmess

Ah... Christmas. If the consumerist pressures aren't enough to break you, then surely the non-stop holiday music will. Admit it, if you have to listen to another round of those earnest, choral hymns and/or chirpy yule ditties you may have to eat your own head to make it stop.

And you can't fight it. Nope. It's Christmas, ferchrissakes. In order to fight you'd either have to declare war on friends, family, and immediate culture - maybe go live in a cave or forage in the snowy forests for seeds and berries - and that's not gonna happen if you're even halfway sane.

So instead of an outright fight, why not offer a compromise? And by compromise, I mean this mix. Slip it in the player at the next family Christmas event, settle back, and bliss out over the 80 minutes of actual decent music - and make sure to appreciate it, because once it's over you know you're doomed to return to Burl Ives bleating "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Or the Dogsbum Township Middle School Choir's version of "Silent Night". Or those barking dogs. Or even... (shudder)... the jingle cats. You know what I'm talking about. Yep. We're all in this together. Download now. Thank me later.

25 Songs Of Christmess

1. Pointed Sticks Power Pop Santa
2. Manic Street Preachers Ghost of Christmas
3. Joey Ramone Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
4. The Hives w/ Cyndi Lauper A Christmas Duel
5. Barely Pink Come On Christmas
6. Imperial Drag Please Leave Me Home For Christmas
7. The Holidays Sleighbell Bop
8. The Fleshtones I Still Believe In Christmas
9. The Yobs Another Christmas
10. Jeffrey Foskett Christmas Time Is Here
11. Slow Santa Claus Is Back In Town
12. The Del-Lords Merry Christmas Baby
13. The Media Whores All I Want For Christmas
14. Hello Saferide Ipod Xmas
15. Redd Kross Super Sunny Christmas
16. Carpet Frogs Christmas Would Not Be Christmas
17. Black Halos Homeless For Christmas
18. The Raveonettes Christmas Song
19. Aimee Mann & Michael Penn Christmastime
20. The Smithereens Merry Christmas Baby
21. Tom Petty Christmas All Over Again
22. Fountains of Wayne I Want An Alien For Christmas
23. Spooner The Saddest Time Of The Year
24. Dreams So Real Red Lights (Merry Christmas)
25. Wonderful World of Joey What Sweet Child O'Mine Is This?

5 comments:

Mark said...

Funny story behind Joey Ramone's excellent version of 'Christmas [Baby, Please Come Home]'... Joey and [producer] Daniel Rey had intended it to be a duet with Ronnie Spector, and actually set about recording it as such. Mid-way through the session, however, Ronnie finally realised that it was Darlene Love who'd sang the original, not herself, and immediately slammed the brakes on her involvement. If you pay attention right around the 2:46 mark, you can hear where Daniel successfully snuck a wee bit of Ronnie's vocal into the final mix, using her trademark 'whoa-o-o' backing vocal track.

Roy Pearl said...

That's a pretty cool story, Mark. I'm not sure if I'm subsequently annoyed with Ronnie for messing up what-coulda-been, or thankful to her for leaving the song to Joey - because his version comes close to cutting the Darlene Love original IMO.

I'll be listening closely at that 2:46 mark later this aft!

Mark said...

For my money, Joey's version lacks nothing -- they did an incredible job with it, and it certainly holds its own against the original. Joey and Daniel recorded enough strong material during those sessions for a second Joey solo album, but legal bullshit has so far prevented anything from happening with it. Having heard the additional material, I can tell you it's all top shelf stuff. Hopefully, one day, it will be released. If you crave details, you can always email me at sourjazz@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Searched for years for Dreams So Real's Red Lights (Merry Christmas)!! You are a god! You know, not the God, but a god nonetheless.

Roy Pearl said...

Awesome, Moe!