Hey Man, This IS Christmas Music!

Merry Christmas!

Best Christmas Song Ever

Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis - Great sample from Backdoor Santa. Old School Run DMC. Macaroni and Cheese. It doesn't get any better than this.



Die Hard - Terrorists take over an LA highrise? On Christmas? This movie reeks Christmas spirit and I'd watch it every Christmas day if I had the time.

There's No Such Thing as a Bad Boy

Backdoor Santa - Clarence Carter - Unfortunately this one doesn't have an actual video to go with it which is too bad because this is the funkiest Christmas song ever. It's even funkier than The New Kids on the Block Funky Funky Christmas which has the benefit of having the word "funky" appear twice in it's name. Those two funkys are also the only funky thing about that song.



BONUS - A horribly inappropriate performance of Backdoor Santa by the kids of PS22 wherever that is. I wonder if their music teacher ever really listened to the song.



Boys Town - When I was little and couldn't fall asleep on Christmas eve my parents used to put the little portable black and white TV in my bedroom to keep me from waking them up every hour asking them if it was time to open presents yet. For some reason, Boys Town was always on in the wee hours of the morning. It's not even really a Christmas movie although it does have a Christmas scene in it. Back in the early 90s, I found a copy on video and I've been watching it every Christmas Eve since.

Whoops!

Forgot to post yesterday so I'll double dip today. Tomorrow and Christmas are already done though so I can rest after this.

Bad Religion - Silent Night - I've been looking for a recording of them doing Holy Holy Holy that I heard on the radio about 10 years ago if anyone has it.



Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - Empty Chair at the Christmas Table - I discovered this one while looking for music for this thing. I've long been a fan of Bob Wills but never heard this song.



Hard Rock Coco and Joe - I have vague memories of the song on this but no real memories of seeing it although I'm sure I did when I was a wee little one as I was a big fan of Ray Rayner who would air it every year. Not really a movie but I've got to get dressed for dinner in an hour so I'm going to cheat a little.



Star Wars Holiday Special - This one gets a lot of crap for being really awful today but if you were 7 or 8 when this thing aired, it was canon. I had to wait 30 more years to visit the Wookie planet again.

Walk Don't Run

The Ventures - Sleigh Ride - We heard this song last night at the Zoo Lights thingamajigger at the Lincoln Park Zoo and it reminded me that I needed to dig out (if one can really do that on iTunes) the Ventures Christmas album and give it a listen before the 25th. Aside from being put together by one of the greatest instrumental groups of all time, it's kinda cool because each song is begins with and is sometimes based on a popular guitar riff from back in the day.



Jingle All The Way - A great idea for a movie ruined by the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus is Coming To Town



A Christmas Story - I prefer watching this every year to It's a Wonderful Life.

Snow Day

No School Today!

Trading Places - I suppose this isn't really a Christmas movie but it takes place around Christmas and sees Dan Akroyd nearing the end of an era when he was actually funny.




Silver and Gold - Burl Ives - There are better songs in this Christmas special but this one has the Burl Ives snowman playing a banjo.

All day long I listen to people give me excuses why they can't work. My legs hurt. My back aches. I'm only four.

Mele Kalikimaka - Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters - I actually discovered this song a couple of years ago on the Chris Isaak Christmas CD but this is, I think, the original version.



Scrooged - Not Bill Murray's finest hour but even bad Bill Murray is better than most anything else.

What Happened to you Dennis Leary?

BSO Double Feature Today

The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Dig That Crazy Santa Claus - Grace and I have been rocking this one in the car a lot lately. There's two things she likes in her music; repetition (jingle jangle) and words she recognizes (Santa, presents, etc...). This one's got em both.



The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Zat You Santa Claus? - This one's a Louis Armstrong cover. The original's a great tune but the BSO does a nice little bit with Santa running around on the stage throwing candy canes to the audience. Watching these makes me even more bummed that the Christmas tour was canceled this year.



The Ref - One of the funniest and most pessimistic Christmas movies ever made. Kevin Spacey before he was famous and started hamming it up. Dennis Leary before he stopped being funny. Directed by the underrated Ted Demme before he died. Christine Baranski before my mom knew who she was. If you haven't seen it yet, I think it's time.

Possibly the Most Suggestive Santa Claus Lyric I've Ever Heard

EDITED: Now with a longer version of the song.

Elvis - Santa Claus is Back in Town - I've been listening to the BSO version of this one in the car quite a bit but this one's got the Jordanaires. This is from the 68 Comeback Special I think which I though was live but I'm beginning to suspect was lip synced which is a shame because Scotty Moore should never be reduced to pretending to play the guitar.



National Lampoons Christmas Vacation - It's years like that that make me appreciate this movie even more. Easily the best of the Vacation movies.

Ba Dum Dum Dum

Ok, so this was supposed to be a 12 days of Christmas thing but since I apparently can't count backwards, it's become a 10 days of Christmas thing. And yes, I know the 12 days happen after Christmas but who really wants to listen to Christmas music or watch Christmas movies AFTER christmas?

Anyway, here's the 10 best Christmas movies and songs that I can think of this week for which I was able to find Youtube videos.

John Denver and The Muppets sing the 12 Days of Christmas. We listened to this album a gazillion times back then and it's popular enough in our house now that Lisa and I both own copies so we don't have to share. I only wish it had more Sesame Street Muppets since Grace has no idea who any of these guys are.




Elf - It's new but it's become somewhat of a tradition to watch it while we're wrapping gifts in the basement. Even if this weren't hysterically funny and incredibly quotable, it would be great for the Rankin Bass inspired scenes. Also, the first time we get to hear Zoey Deschanel sing before putting out a pretty decent album as She and Him.

Kangargoo

This was one of those games that I was better at than others. I think I was able to actually get to the 4th or 5th level on this which isn't that great but then I was never that good at video games to begin with.

I Blame Phil Donahue

I think every child in the 70s was made to suffer through this Free to Be You and Me stuff. I know we had the book at home and maybe a record as well. Here's a crazy one about boys playing with dolls. Someone should tell him they're called "action figures."

Weeble Wobbles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

Trips to Grandma Funke's house usually meant also going to Toys R Us to get a new toy. These usually fell into one of two categories, Weeble Wobbles or Fisher Price Little People. Once my sisters came along the gift train stopped service in my neighborhood but it was a good couple of years.

I Really Miss Shows Like This

Kids shows used to be fun and adventurous. I wish they'd make more shows like this. Also, one of the greatest kids show theme songs ever.

Also, the character designs for this show were done by the legendary Alex Toth who apparently hated Bandit. I always liked Bandit and thought it was clever that they portrayed him as a real dog and not some super smart Lassie type.

ONTV

ONTV was a precursor to Cable TV. You had to have this big box on top of your TV and spend what I'm sure was an ungodly amount of money but you got all sorts of cool movies on your TV. I think this may have even been before the home video boom started making it even cooler. Eddie Shavaz who lived across the street from me was the only person I knew who had it.

Whoops!

It's been busy on the homefront and I didn't realize I'd fallen behind. Spent the weekend decorating the house and finishing up an article I was writing. Now that it's all behind me it's back to posting. Here's a really boring one. A complete walk through of the first Zork. Way back in the 80s before we cared about things like graphics and sound, Infocom text games were all kinds of awesome. I don't think I ever finished any of them but it was fun to try. I think Infocom may have tried to update the Zork franchise in the 90s with fancy things like pictures and sound but it didn't take.