Stefan is an "American Idol" refugee with heavy viral support for his previous songs, including going #1 in his native South Africa. Station Little is a kids' animation ensemble, near as I can tell, who have created videos with Stefan and other vocalists including NSync's Lance Bass. For 2023 these two entities put together a solid pop-rock anthem to, well, whatever holiday you celebrate during the time of year when it snows. Up for streaming or download.
November 2023 Archives
We've had multiple mentions on this site of this act (a one-man band setup for Ryan O'Neil) for Volume 1 of his Christmas recordings and several singles releases that eventually become part of the albums. He's back for 2023 with a new vinyl album, also available for download or streaming. Where the previous album was mostly folk-pop with some orchestral flourishes, the current album is much more orchestral and pop, probably in keeping with Ryan's evolution into a sometime soundtrack composer. I'd point to the song "December 24, 2021 (Webb Space Telescope Launch)" as an example of that. Another original is "Snow (String Version)," which you'll note has strings on it. Several tunes are led with ukulele and at least a couple foist off the Christmas cliché of singing kids on us. Since it's on streaming, you can decide for yourself whether it's too mellow for you or not. The other tunes are mostly familiar; "Winter Wonderland," "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Christmas Time Is Here," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," "Frosty the Snowman," "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," "The Secret of Christmas," and, from the "Frozen" universe, "When We're Together." The collection closes with "Auld Lang Syne." Amazon has the download, and streaming is most places, but you'll have to go to the artist's website for vinyl.
If you find yourself wanting more from these folks, they're back for 2023 with another helping of classic soul. Stevie Wonder's "What Christmas Means To Me," Carla Thomas' "Gee Wiz, It's Christmas," and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" in a funky non-Phil Spector arrangement. Once more, great vocals, great backing, and easily heard or procured.
While trying to ascertain the status of the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club, I happened upon their coverage of these artists from Barcelona, Spain. This 2022 EP gives us three classic soul Christmas gems in perfect period renditions -- "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," "Merry Christmas Baby" in the Otis Redding arrangement, and "Backdoor Santa." Koko-Jean Davis is a fine vocalist and the band is tight. Apparently various permutations of these folks have been performing in Europe for many years. Considering their location, you may be surprised to find these are easily procured on streaming or from Amazon on vinyl or download.
This year's second holiday offering from the record label that brought us the new Joel Paterson is this collection of traditional holiday songs rendered in that early 60s Jamaican musical style. And I mean that in the most precise way possible; there's nothing on here that will remind you of any late 70s English bands like the Specials or Selecter, and certainly not any 90s skate-punk iteration of the style, either. The one departure here is Jesse himself, who croons over this excellent time-specific musical backing in the way that 50s and 60s lounge singers would have if they were aware of ska in those days. "Christmas Alphabet" is probably the most obscure tune on here; they also do "Jingle Bells," "Christmas Island," "Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Let It Snow," "Happy Christmas," "Merry Christmas," and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Oh and for maximum cultural dissonance, they also do "Dominick the Donkey." A little sedate for my taste, but if you spent your commute listening to the local Christmas-only radio station, you'll find this a welcome respite.
The popular singer-actress came on strong for Christmas 2023 with this new holiday album, backstopped by the streaming movie "Best Christmas Ever," in which she stars. Although being on Motown doesn't necessarily mean what it once did, you can count on this being a nice blending of old-school soul and contemporary sounds, led by the singer's strong vocal performances all the way through. No big surprises, though; "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Santa Baby" and "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)" sound pretty much the way you'd expect them to sound, for example, as does the Motown holiday staple "Someday at Christmas." She gives "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls" modern R'nB midtempo treatments, bringing them closer to the originals on this set, "Feels Different," "Somebody's Waiting," "Christmas Party for Two," "Shine Out Your Light," "Christmas Everyday," and "Christmas Gift," a duet with her daughter Sy'Rai. All told, a solid effort.
- Lenny Kaye teamed with the band Cedar Sparks to record a single, "Santa's Knee" backed with "Gathering Storm." Haven't heard it as it's only available in the vinyl incarnation from Rough Trade for 2023. If it pops up for streaming or download, I'll let you know.
- Several out-of-print Christmas albums have popped up for 2023 as vinyl artifacts (of course), although in the streaming age some will tend to remain available that way, assuming no business restrictions pop up in the interim. Among them are Fred Schneider's Superions with Destination Christmas, Nick Lowe's Quality Street, the compilation Psych Out Christmas, the Fleshtones' Stocking Stuffer, Bright Eyes' A Christmas Album, and though billed as a new collection, Stax Christmas is just another recompilation of that label's classic soul Christmas tunes, although it advertises an alternate mix of Otis Redding's "Merry Christmas Baby." UPDATE: Stubby checks in to note Carla Thomas' "Blue Christmas" is previously unreleased, which I should have known. And, streaming only, RuPaul's Essential Christmas adds one new track to a collection of previous releases.
- Don't want to be a jinx, but it looks like the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club won't have a 2023 release, as there's no mention of anything on either their Bandcamp page or their blog.
New for 2023 is this cover of Chris Rea's holiday tune about the car ride to holiday celebrations. The Middle Kids have been around for awhile and this pop-rock rendition is right in the sweet spot of this group's sound. Amazon has it for download and streaming.
Rumblings across the Christmastime blogosphere have vibrated with great excitement at the very mention of this 2023 release, Joel's second Christmas album. (First one's here.) While this isn't exactly prime Mistletunes fodder, being a pop-jazz inflected instrumental album, there are all sorts of hipster-adjacent genres represented here, from exotica to surf instro sounds. And as Rudolph has been spending a lot more of his off-time playing guitar lately, there's something reassuring about basking in Joel's virtuostic artistry as he renders this collection of familiar holiday tunes, both traditional and from the Great American Songbook. The exceptions to the above are the country classic "Christmas Guitar Boogie" and Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby" and "Please Come Home For Christmas." Otherwise, we get "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Christmas Island," "Here Comes Santa Claus," "(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With the Bag," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," "O Tannenbaum," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," and "Silent Night." Downloads and streaming natch, and the only physical media is vinyl.
This blue-eyed soul band was on the Christmas tip with the 2011 single "Santa Stole My Lady," and they're back in 2023 with this five-song EP of originals that doesn't include the single or its B-side. "Give Love This Year" is a solid mid-tempo holiday single, the title song picks up the pace with an 80s pop-rock feel, "Some Kind of Christmas" breaks out the jingle bells in the intro but quickly segues into the group's trademark sound, "Caroling" is more of the band's uptempo sound applied to spreading holiday music outdoors, and "World Without Christmas" wraps things up here in style. All are keepers, and you should add the earlier single to this if you playlist the whole thing.
The Louisville, KY-based rock band previously had two holiday collections. For 2023, they've repackaged the second one with a new original single, "Feelin' Sorry," a nice midtempo evocation of holiday spirits. It's a Record Store Day vinyl release, but streaming and downloads are also available. The other new song is "Oh My Christmas Tree," a downtempo country weeper. For a look at the rest, the 2011 review is here.
Norah's been on the Christmas tip a few times before, and for 2023 she teams up with Laufey, who apparently is the Icelandic equivalent of Norah Jones, for this single. There's a jazzy take on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" featuring a tasty upright bass solo, and a newly co-written ballad, "Better Than Snow," in a similar vein. Good changes of pace for the playlist, and available on vinyl, download, and streaming. Should note Laufey has her own holiday EP, A Very Laufey Holiday, although that is more of a straight old-fashioned pop music deal.
From 2022, this is a single featuring two songs, "Just Like Christmas," and "Happy New Year." The Christmas tune is a solid power popper with heavy Beatles-style psychedelia on the lengthy fade, and the year-ender is in a similar vein. (No relation to the classic Low tune of the same name.) These appear to be his own tunes, and good on him for that. Quite enjoyable. Download or stream.
We've previously reviewed Christmas albums created from the goth point of view on here, but if you thought that was just a passing fancy, Tarja Turunen is revisiting the genre here for 2023. (It's not her first go-round; From Spirits and Ghosts (Score For a Dark Christmas) arrived in 2017.) From Finland, she came to international notice with the metal band Nightwish, and has had a busy solo career for almost two decades. You'll recognize her heavy roots in these performances, but there's lots of orchestra and choruses behind these songs, possibly presaging a Trans-Siberian Railroad kind of direction for her. Covers are mostly the order of the day, though the album's title song is an original. Nearly all these songs have arrangements with slow tempos and minor key reimaginings of major-key songs. See her version of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas," a great choice for playlists sprung upon unsuspecting listeners. "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "White Christmas" are exceptions, in that the major-key melodies survive in the gothified arrangements, but "First Noel," "Jingle Bells," "Frosty the Snowman," "O Holy Night," "Last Christmas," "Wonderful Christmastime," and "Jingle Bells" all stick to the script. The treatment reaches a kind of nadir with her version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which is almost preposterously lugubrious. Still, this is well done if not to everyone's tastes. Available across all formats.
Pobbles is A.G. Cook from the New Pornographers and visual artist George Michael Brower, and this 2023 release is a seven-song EP of short synth-pop tunes. "We Wish You" is a reduction of the familiar Merry Christmas song featuring mildly Chipmunks-style helium vocals, no doubt generated electronically. "Woodshop" and "Plasticshop" are mostly evocations of workshop noises via synthesizer, "Scenes of Winter's End" alternates loud synth noises with nominally holiday-sounding kid singing over organs and sequencers, "Silent Chimney Descent" is a short vocal in a descending melody, "The Gift" continues the high vocals and gentle melodies, and "Sleigh" is mildly frantic synths and sequencers. It's mostly listenable, although it would need to be a fairly eclectic playlist to include any of this. Whether this is "another" Pobbles Christmas is a matter of opinion, as the only previous Pobbles release is the 2017 song "Pobbles," which is more of the same, though a little bit more melodic, uptempo and bouncy, and the lyrics are difficult to understand. On Bandcamp.
These guys covered the Cyndi Lauper/Hives holiday argument record from a few years back, with Jessica Zoric covering Cyndi's part in a very Cyndi-like fashion. Cool number from 2022, so if you missed the original, you can grab this.
Annie's a folk singer from Upland, CA, with several albums to her credit, and in 2022 she dropped this sweet original banjo-led pop-folk ballad about the magic of (wait for it) Christmas morning. This one's worthy of additional note because it was one of the two Snowflake Christmas Singles releases last year. (The other, by Donna Regina, hasn't turned up anywhere else.) Flip side, as is the Snowflakes custom, is a cover, this one the familiar "Blue Christmas" in the usual arrangement, but with banjo added. Visit Bandcamp, as I'm pretty sure the vinyl artifact can still be obtained from the Snowflake Singles Club page; otherwise, head on over to Amazon to download or stream it. It's on Spotify too, so probably everywhere.
Imagine my surprise when, during my expedition into the recent history of Warner Records' Gift Wrapped series of compilations, I pulled up Volume 3 of this New Jersey indie rock label's similarly named series of holiday EPs instead of the Warners Vol. 3 I was looking for. Volume 1 dropped on Christmas Eve 2019 and features seven songs, starting with Backyard Superheroes' not-quite-ska "This Christmas" and proceeding into Calendar Year's "Noel Solitare," an uptempo cross between thrash and Britpop considering the nature of loneliness and the connection to the holiday. Emotional Transporter gives us the punk tribute "We Are Santa's Elves," Love, Rose comes back with a cover of "Little Saint Nick" similarly punked out, and Jake and the Nowhere performs "Christmastime in New Jersey," a drunken recitation of the state's place names with a bit of holiday nostalgia thrown in. Grey Goes Black goths up Wham's "Last Christmas" and TEDxDANCESøN wraps things up with "A VERY MERRY TEXxMas," a clattery symphony for guitars and synths. Volume 2, from 2020, kicks off with Ed Allison's fairly faithful Fall Out Boy cover, "Yule Shoot Your Eye Out," followed by Fit the Bill's midtempo acoustic pop-rocker "Snow & Mistletoe," Grey Goes Black returns with a slowed-down cover of "Christmastime Is Here," and TEDxDANCESøN gives us a synth-pop cover of My Chemical Romance's "Every Snowflake Is Different (Just Like You)." Blue Vines resurrects Tom Petty for three minutes with a poppier take on "Christmas All Over Again," and TH Speedball wraps things up with the synth-pop "Santa Claus (Ho Ho Hoin')," a lost-love take on the holiday. Volume 3 starts with Pezh & Son Pat doing a fairly faithful version of "Last Christmas," Landon Defever covers Fountains of Wayne's "Valley Winter Song" in a more indie-pop way, Vater Boris offers "Silent Night Manic Night" in a version that starts as a drone and ends as a surf instrumental, and Todd Barriage does "If La Dispute Made Christmas Music," a reference to the hardcore band, although as I've never heard that band I'm missing the gag, as this is a Christmas-themed monologue laid over a decent cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." These are all download and streaming; the individual links above are to Amazon, but if you click the cover you can access them all on Bandcamp.
We don't get a lot of major label compilations for Christmas in the post-physical-media era, so kudos to the Brothers Warner (Stan, Nathan, and Itzy) for maintaining a tradition in the year of our streaming 2023. You'll find that, just as in the old days, this collection spans genres, so you'll want to pick and choose among these offerings. Bebe Rexha gives us a modern pop rocker in "Count On Christmas," Michael Buble drops an old-school croon on "Let It Snow! -- 10th Anniversary Version," Dolly Parton is herself on an old-fashioned country-tinged pop ballad, "Comin' Home For Christmas," and Seal offers the Donny Hathaway chestnut "This Christmas." JoJo with PJ Morton give us the holiday ballad "Wishlist," Teddy Swims lays down a pop=gospel reading of "Silent Night," Josh Groban's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is an orchestral, almost Broadway reading of the John Lennon classic, Andra Day gives the jazz vocal treatment to a ballad version of "Winter Wonderland," and Brandy Clark and Charlie Worsham give a Nashville duet treatment to the Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling." The Goo Goo Dollsx' "This Is Christmas" makes an appearance here, along with Lukas Graham on the somewhere between hip-hop and pop song "HERE (For Christmas)" and Kathleen's odd rendition of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" featuring strange synths and background noises. My assumption is that this collection was curated from around the Warners empire of associated labels, rather than the result of any original commissions, but I'm happy to be corrected on that. There's a vinyl version of this out there for you collectors, of course.
While tracking down this year's Volume 4, I had to crawl down a rabbit hole when I realized I was only aware of two volumes in this series. Turns out Volume 3 came out in 2015, though there doesn't seem to be any trace of it anywhere this year. AllMusic at least remembers when it was available, and it made a pretty decent playlist. Grateful Dead with a live "Run Rudolph Run," Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas," a Joey Ramone remake of "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)," Dwight Yoakam's "Santa Can't Stay," Booker T. & the MGs with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," The Pretenders' "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Chicago's version of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Otis Redding's classic version of "Merry Christmas Baby," Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons' "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," Pet Shop Boys' "It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas," Everything But the Girl's "25th December," America's "Frosty the Snowman," Linda Ronstadt's "I'll Be Home For Christmas," Emmylou Harris' "The First Noel," Sinead O'Connor's "Silent Night," Jethro Tull's "Ring Out Solstice Bells," Solomon Burke's "Presents For Christmas," Clarence Carter's "Back Door Santa," Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road," and Los Lobos' "Rudolph the Manic Reindeer." If you can't track down physical media, you can duplicate the playlist if you like it well enough.
This R'nB singer from Miami has only been around for a few years but she's made her mark in the streaming world with millions of plays. This Christmas collection originally dropped in 2020 and it's almost all balladry and slow jams. She has a soulful jazz voice, however, so those of you leaning that way will enjoy this. She offers fine ballad versions of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," "O Holy Night," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." She teams up with The Weeknd for "Christmas Blues" and Alicia Keys for "Winter Time," and other tunes on here include "I Just Melt," "Short Red Silk Lingerie" and "Warm December." No physical media, appears to only be available for streaming and download.
This LA power pop band has been nibbling around the charts for a couple of years, and for 2023 they've taken on a new publicist and they're promoting a single and video, "Thank You Santa." Turns out this is from a Christmas EP from 2021. Three covers, "Jingle Bells," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and "Feliz Navidad" are the typical upbeat Beatlesque offerings a band of this description might offer. The current "single," "Thank You Santa," is a solid pop-rock midtempo original, a tribute to the jolly elf for "everything he does." The boys also offer "What's This," an uptempo, almost musical theater look around "Christmas town," and "Christmas in Quarantine," a cool rocker that's, well, self-explanatory after the last couple of years. No physical media, appears to only be streaming on YouTube and Amazon, where it's also a download.
The co-founder of XTC has been mostly working in the background since that epic power pop group called it quits two decades ago, repackaging his personal songwriting demos and pitching songs to other artists. In 2022 he let loose this EP of four holiday tunes written for other artists to perform. Of the four, only "Unwrap You At Christmas" found a home with its intended artist, the Monkees. Andy's demo of this features his daughter Holly on lead vocals, but otherwise the Monkees clearly followed the demo. "Let There Be Snow" is a fine poppy herald to the frosty season, "Through the Winter World" has a fine country lilt in keeping with the unidentified artist to whom it was pitched, though otherwise you'd mistake it for an XTC number. And "Cool Yule" is a catchy organ-led number that Andy states in the liner notes was actually conceived during the sessions for XTC's "Thanks For Christmas" but was only recently completed. Don't be put off by my describing these as demos; they sound as finished as anything you've listened to all year. No streaming or downloads known, must purchase CD or vinyl. (Spotify shows the album as "merch.")
From her 2023 album Born To Be Wild, the longtime star of stage and screen also has maintained a recording career all this time. This most recent album features her rocking out in a serious way, with guests ranging from the Yardbirds' Jim McCarty to Rick Wakeman, two of the Stray Cats, Aerosmith's Joe Perry, Steve Cropper, Brian Auger, and on this Christmas classic, slide guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth. Ann maintains the sex-kitten purr in her vocals, but the backing on this is competitive with any version of this you ever heard.
Toronto new wave band Martha and the Muffins, though a one-hit wonder for the popular early 80s single "Echo Beach," actually has continued making music ever since, with new music dropping as recenttly as 2022. For 2010, they dropped this pop-folk ballad perfect for the more mellow playlists, or as a change of pace on your party queues. Widely downloadable and streamable.
The folks at British indie-pop label Cherryade continue with their annual Christmas tradition of an old-school compilation album despite having all but ceased year-round operations. The curation has for years been curated by label head Rachael Neiman and for the past several years she's been assisted by radio/podcast host Gareth Jones. This year's collection of 25 tunes includes 16 specially commissioned for this collection, the remaining tunes having been culled from various digital sources including Bandcamp. It's CD only; apparently rights issues prevent it being streamed or downloaded, and the cost of vinyl is well beyond the curators' budget. As always, this is indie-punk-pop-rock with attitude, evoking everything from fractured 60s girl-group and garage to 80s synthpop. Selected highlights include "Christmas Number One" by Problem Patterns, solid girl group with guitars; The Photocopies' "I'm Not Coming Home For Christmas" only lasts a minute but you'll want more; The Surfisticats go all instrumental on "Santa Bring Me a Surfboard Please"; Toy Disco goes lo-fi synth-pop on "A Gameboy For Christmas '96"; you office supply geeks will go for The Twelve Hour Foundations' "Thank You Letters (Written on Basildon Bond)," as they namecheck a particular brand of stationery; "Thinking About Christmas" by Portable Radio is a cute piano-led bit of music hall pop-rock; The Get Arounds give us a rocking ode to "Xmas Radio" that few would come up with in this age of all-Christmas radio stations with playlists of 20 songs, seven of which are Mariah Carey; Madrid 's The Yellow Melodies return with "Por fin es Navidad"; Building Rockets produce their own original song "Christmas Island," though they cover similar ground with a Jimmy Buffett treatment; Edam Edam, from France, gives us "Krampus," sung in the demon's own voice; Keith Burton gives us some British quirk with "Christmas Food Shopping In Adverse Weather Conditions, On Foot," evoking the Bonzo Dog Band; Canadians In Space offer "Peace & Gravy," keeping holiday dinner in the forefront; Baby In the Bitch Seat rocks out a tribute to "Mrs. Claus"; Goddammit Jeremiah offers "Keep Your Christmas Tree For Burning," a cool punk thrash; the often-included Hanna Barberas offer "It's Christmas Time Again," previously released; Pete Drake and Doctor Bongo offer "A Spider's Christmas," which if you listen closely offers tribute to UK singing superstar Cliff Richard. There's more of course. Hurry over to Bandcamp to order the CD, as they don't press very many copies of each year's offering.
Missed this from 2022, a cool semi doo-wop rendition of the popular carol for the modern age with minimal rhythm backing. We've had Cliff here before, specifically in 2021 for his full album Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and this is more of the same old-school soul music everybody still loves. Streaming/download only, click cover to go to Amazon. Should note he's got a 2023 single in the hopper, "Christmas Day Funk Master," but that doesn't drop until Dec. 1.
Round about 2002 or so, Target put out a compilation Christmas CD that included a song by Cher called "Angels Running." While not strictly a Christmas song, the performance and lyrics fit right in with the more overt holiday tunes of that collection, not to mention my annual playlist. So when the PR folks tell us this 2023 effort is Cher's first Christmas album, we can all smile knowing that she's been there before, even if not intentionally. As for the new music before us, well, it would be easy to dismiss this as more celebrity pop music, but Cher's always been rooted in rock 'n roll, she's always been a decent singer who eschews the diva moves her fellow star vocalists revel in, and her big 21st century hit "Believe" shows she's always had an eye on what's happening now. In fact, Mark Taylor, this album's main producer, worked on that big hit with her, so you'll know what's up when you hear opening track and first single "DJ Play Me a Christmas Song," which rides the autotune in a similar way to that previous song. Duet partners include Tyga on the bouncy "Drop Top Sleigh Ride," Darlene Love on a faithful "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (Cher was a backing vocalist on Darlene's original), Stevie Wonder on a similarly well-rendered "What Christmas Means To Me," Cyndi Lauper on "Put a Little Holiday in Your Heart," and Michael Buble on his original song "Home." She takes on "Run Rudolph Run" and "Please Come Home For Christmas," and while they may not be your favorite versions of these classics, she acquits herself well on them. She also can't resist "Santa Baby," doing it in the classic Eartha Kitt arrangement. The remaining tunes haven't appeared elsewhere to my knowledge, the ballad "Angels in the Snow," the country-tinged "I Like Christmas," "Christmas Ain't Christmas Without You," and album closer "This Will Be Our Year." Maybe a little too much Vegas when taken all at once, but selected cuts from this won't spoil anyone's playlists. UPDATE: Stubby checks in to note that "This Will Be Our Year" is an old track by the Zombies, previously covered by the Foo Fighters. Helps underline Cher's rock 'n roll credibility, in my humble opinion.
The 90s indie-rock diva (yeah she was on a major label, I'm talking style) has dropped a four-song EP for 2023 celebrating the season. She does two pop-rock classics and two traditional choices, the John Lennon/Yoko Ono favorite "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and the title hit originating with Wham joining "Little Drummer Boy" and "What Child Is This?" The latter two are fairly mellow takes that will fit in with your folk and pop holiday playlists, while the former two are rendered in familiar styles for your more rock-oriented listening. Discogs shows this as only on vinyl, although downloads and streaming are available.
Most people are aware of Blue Man Group as the whimsical theatre/dance ensemble, less so as a musical performance unit, though Amazon will happily show you a selection of their past CDs. For 2023 they've dropped this short 9-song collection of familiar holiday tunes, all instrumental and all likely candidates for musical backing for their performances, heavy on percussion and synths. They also mostly wear alternate titles for the songs, "Above the Halls" leaving out the "deck," "Carol of the Pipes" substituting a different instrument, "PVC Dreidel Mashup" being "The Dreidel Song," "Jingle Bones" leaving out the bells, and so on. Can't leave the last song without noting that it's a fairly thrashy punk performance similar to the one that Henry Rollins did with William Shatner a few years back. Note that "Nutcracker Medley" and "Feliz Navidad" are as advertised. Oddly, the title song is a version of "Little Drummer Boy." They're all fairly sprightly performances and you'll likely want one or more of these to spice up your playlists. Not finding a physical copy of this so far, downloads and streaming will be the science if you want this.
Released in 1987 after a couple years of development, the song first appeared on the Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace With God album. The band's bassist and singer Cait O'Riordan had originally been tapped to provide the female duet vocal, but she left the band to marry Elvis Costello before the track was completed, so producer Steve Lillywhite took the track home to his wife, Kirsty MacColl, whose vocal is arguably the hook that sells this tune, although one should not overlook the overall quality of the songwriting here. The song hit number 2 on the Christmastime UK charts in its first go-round and has returned to the UK charts in nearly two dozen holiday seasons since then. The song has also been widely compiled on Christmas anthologies and has spawned numerous covers over its life.
The Swedish duo's song, a solid 80s-90s pop rock midtempo ballad with Christmas overtones, was originally released in 1987, only in Sweden. That version was subtitled "Christmas For the Broken Hearted." That version eventually found its way into their worldwide catalog on a 1997 re-release of the album Pearls of Passion. Subsequent re-recordings, including an inclusion on the soundtrack of the film "Pretty Woman," toned down the Christmas references, and there's even a Spanish language version. (The link to the most Christmas-oriented version on Amazon is to a wildly expensive import CD, but you can download or stream it for much, much less. Or you can settle for the "Pretty Woman" version.)
This was a rare instance of an artist submarining his own record's chance to top the charts. The bouncy 1984 synth-pop rocker was held to number 2 on the UK charts by "Do They Know It's Christmastime," the superstar-driven hit charity recording on which George Michael also made a lead vocal appearance. Trivia: Until 2021, "Last Christmas" was the biggest-selling UK single to never make number 1. That year broke the string. The song also contends with "Fairytale of New York" on the UK's most-played Christmas songs list. Michael played all instruments heard on the track, using synthesizers and the then-new Linn drum machine, although Wikipedia intimates the sleigh bells were the real thing. It's a simple lost-love tune with hooks galore, and that explains its worldwide popularity not only in the original version, but in the wide variety of covers it has received. (There used to be a blog that compiled nothing but "Last Christmas" covers.)
From 1975, this is de Burgh taking David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and turning it into a Christmas song, in which the spaceman of the title's interplanetary craft was itself the Star of David. The last verse even includes a self-referential plug for the song, saying that it would begin playing again in 2,000 years. Give or take, of course. After its original release on the album Spanish Train and Other Stories, the song became a minor hit in Ireland and Canada and had a renaissance in 1985 after de Burgh had an international hit with "The Lady in Red."
The popular Seventies singer-songwriter is probably best known for this 1980 single, which he notes was based on a true story of encountering a former lover in a store on Christmas Eve. It's a nice piece of melancholy that not only quotes "Auld Lang Syne" but also the 1812 Overture. The downtempo ballad is occasionally covered as a medley with the classic New Year's theme. Dan subsequently released a Christmas album in 1999, First Christmas Morning, but it didn't include his holiday hit.
Hi folks. The 2023 season of Mistletunes postings will start shortly. While I'm trying to get caught up with the current musical state of the holiday season, I'm in the process of preparing a handful of posts that will plug some historical holes in this site's archives. Bet you didn't realize I didn't have posts for the original versions of such classics as "Fairytale of New York" and "Last Christmas," did you? Those are coming, along with some more contemporary songs and performances. Thanks for reading, and don't forget that clicking through to Amazon from this site helps defray the cost of maintaining it. Amazon Prime Amazon Music
