The playlist has more of an unusual start this year, with a couple of curios at the beginning, before the music kicks off proper. So hang tight! Beacause then there's the annual mix of jazz, blues, indie, folk, hip-hop, and, of course, the very, very weird.
On Soundsgood
On Spotify
On Youtube
AND for a limited time during the Christmas period - the mp3s!
(pretty please buy them from the artist if you think it's a keeper)
PLAYLIST NOTES
01) Stan Freberg - Green Chri$tma$
A parable in comedy song? Yes please! Plus, thankfully, has lots of gags amongst the moralising. Unsurprisingly, advertisers hated it. But the public loooved it.
02) Rev. Edward Clayborn - The Wrong Way To Celebrate Christmas
It's amazing to listen to this musician, also known as the 'Guitar Evangelist', from almost a century ago.
Anyway I wanted this double of moralising songs to kick things off, as a reminder the more opportunistic and disreputable parts of this season have been around for decades. Eh, human nature.
03) Kerfuffle - Three Ships
Excellent band name.
04) Kay Starr - (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man with the Bag
05) Barry Richards - Baby Sittin' Santa
This has the most amazing ending, I'm not sure how they got away with it.
06) Amos Milburn - Christmas (Comes but Once a Year)
Unbelievably cool.
07) Joe Loco Quintet - Jingle Bells
I imagine steam rising from these musicians' hands.
08) Hannah Peel & Tunng - Hey Santa!
*Not on Spotify*. Another entry into the canon of 'Love-Rat Santa', of which there are a surprising number of songs! Hannah Peel is quite a cool artist, combining brass music with her love for science-fiction.
09) Peggy Lee - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
What a smokey voice, in a Billy May arrangement, who makes another appearance below, as well as in previous playlists.
10) El Vez - Santa Claus is Sometimes Brown
An excellent companion piece to the track 'Santa Claus is a Black Man' from a few years ago. El Vez is a Mexican-American artist who did a lot of rock 'n' roll covers coupled with his own wry sense of humour and punk sensibilities.
11) Vince Guaraldi Trio - My Little Drum
12) Dusty Springfield - O Holy Child
13) Billy May - Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer
Totally nuts. But after one listen through, you'll start joining in with the exclamations: 'What the heck is maaaambo?'
14) Aretha Franklin - Winter Wonderland
15) Duke Ellington And His Orchestra - Sugar Rum Cherry
An arrangement of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky, but with a little extra rum...
16) Wiley - Cheer Up, It's Christmas
This is a great song, with hilarious lyrics of family Christmases together.
17) Run-D.M.C. - Christmas In Hollis
The party begins!
18) KT Tunstall - Sleigh Ride
This is so infectiously happy! Love its scrappy, DIY sound.
19) JD McPherson - Hey Skinny Santa!
As part of my job, I can't condone Santa being required to overeat. However, this is such a catchy song, you'd probably dance it off pretty quickly.
20) The Big Moon - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
21) Squirrel Nut Zippers - Mardi Gras for Christmas
22) BBC Philharmonic - The Holly and the Ivy - Fantasy on Christmas Carols (Malcolm Arnold)
Merry Christmas/Festivus/Holidays!!
