5 posts tagged “christmas songs”
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Alright, here's the final Christmas wrap-up (haha). They are fast and loose, so don't be too picky about my research.
The Parselmouths are two girls from Seattle, Washington, who writes Harry Potter songs through a Slytherin point of view. They're part of the Wizard Rock thing (see link).
They have an album called Sssss which they released last year. They seem to have been disenchanted (god I'm horrible with my puns) with traditional CD and will stop printing their debut album (currently it's selling at a reduced price of $8).
The Christmas song they did is a cover of "Santa Baby" (a song that's often miscredited to Marilyn Monroe) as "Voldy Baby" on the Jingle Spells: Leaky's Rocking Christmas (2007). All the details on this sold-out album is on the-leaky-cauldron.org.
More information on theparselmouths.com or myspace
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Speaking of puns, check out George Strait's "Merry Christmas Strait To You" from his 1986 album of the same name.
There are a few things I like about this song, first the 'strait' part
and, second, it's very cheerful and unapologeticly country look and sound.
The other cheery and happier song I really like is T.Rex's "Christmas Bop", which I couldn't dig up any information about this Christmas single. It seem to have been released in 1976 and according to Rhino: "the quashed single". Was this song forcibly suppressed ? It's so good!
For those who don't know T.Rex, they are a wildly popular glam rocker from the 70s, whose lead singer, Marc Bolan tragically died of a car accident shortly before his 30th birthday. The band re-formed under Mickey Finn's direction, but renamed themselves as Mickey Finn's T.Rex until Finn's death in 2003.
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I previously mentioned The Lovers
and their sex-drenched song "Christmas Tree" (I don't think she's
singing about a tree, if you know what I mean) and so I thought I'd put
up their BBC live performance.
A few songs will end this post: Baxendale's "Flash Gordon" is from A Very Magistery Christmas. I bought this song off of e-music
and my number one complaint about e-music is that they don't offer
album artwork - so apologies for the poor artwork.
As you know I love Baxendale and am sadden that they are no longer releasing music. You can read more about them on W♥M.
The Jackson Five's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is quite cute. I believe they only released one Christmas album (in 1970), but the album's been re-issued over the years with different artwork and tracklisting.
The original chart-topping song was recorded by Jimmy Boyd, who was barely 12 years old at the time. Boyd went on to record several other #1 hits, but I've never heard of any of them :/
Finally, who doesn't like The White Stripes? V2 Records released Merry Christmas From ... The White Stripes on 7" in 2002.
The b-sides are pretty hilarious, it includes Meg White singing (or trying to sing while forgetting the lyrics) to "Silent Night". The other b-side is just Jack White reading "Story of the Magi".
So happy Christmas, we'll do this again next year!
Edit: I was waiting for the artwork to "The Spirit Of Things", so I was finally given the image (it's very very tiny).
Cerebral Paul is a solo project from Paul Saylor, the keyboardist from Fish Relics.
He's offering this instrumental song for download on his myspace until midnight.... which is probably over by now.
In the spirit of the holidays, I've made my single In "The Spirit Of Things" available as a free download. This offer ends at midnight tonight, so get your copy now!
Find out more about Fish Relics on their myspace page.
12/25/2007 19:02:34
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
"I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" is possibly my favorite Christmas song, written by Margo Guryan for Claudine Longet. Longet have always loved Christmas, marrying singer Andy Williams on Christmas Day (December 25th, 1961) and naming two of their children Noëlle and Christian.
Their
marriage didn't last long, they separated in 1969 (officially divorced
in 1975). By this time, she was seeing Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider"
Sabich, who was fatally shot in 1976 by Longet.
In the trials, she claimed it was an accident, for which she was acquitted for felony manslaughter.
The irony she had made a recording of Cher's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". It was later asked that she removed her song from public circulation.
Margo Guryan wrote "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" and as you can hear in her demo recording, it's slightly different (and I think superior to Longet's recording, even though she's lacking that French accent).
Guryan never toured or actively promoted her debut album Take a Picture (1968), so it failed to make much impact in the music charts. She retired and ended up being a music teacher and songwriter for other artists.
Here's an excerpt of an interview regarding her writings for Claudine Longet:
Excerpts from an August 23, 2001 phone conversation with Margo Guryan
Q: Tell me about writing songs for Claudine Longet.
A: Claudine Longet is the only artist that I ever wrote a tailor-made song for. With all my other songs, people ask me if I wrote them for different artists. I never did. I just wrote what I felt like writing. But Tommy LiPuma called David [Rosner, her husband/publisher] one day, and said "Can Margo write a song for Claudine? A Christmas song. No snow, no mistletoe, no presents under the tree. No mention of any of that stuff." So David asked me, and I wrote "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You." As I was finishing the demo, there was a guy from UPS or some air-freight company standing in the studio, waiting for it. I was putting on a last vocal, and then they had to go out and make an acetate of it. They flew it to California, and she recorded it. Later, the group Saint Étienne heard it on Claudine's record, and they recorded it a year ago last Christmas for their fan club. It wasn't released commercially, but it was like the Christmas card they sent out to their fan club. And I've got a copy of that.Q: What did you think of Claudine's versions of "Think of Rain" and "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You"?
A: Well, obviously, I was very pleased that she did both of them. I was less than pleased with the Christmas song, because she didn't get the time right. But that may not have been her fault as much as the producer's. But ehh, I'd have to go through it, send you a lead sheet and show you where.It's not worth it. Just say I loved it.
- From home.earthlink.net/~elbroome
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St Etienne needs no introduction (in fact, Maggie did a wonderful article on them previously), they recorded "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" (based on the Longet version) and was made available to their fan club in 1998.
St Etienne must really love Christmas too, every couple of years they put out a Christmas EP for their fans. If you were interested in collecting them here are all their Christmas releases:
[1995] Xmas '95 (3-track CD single)
[1998] Xmas '98 (2-track CD single)
[2003] Xmas 2003 (3-track CD single initially given away free at Xmas '03 gigs then given out free to fanclub members in 2004)
[2006] Merry Xmas 2006 from Saint Etienne (2-track CD single given
away free at the Saint Etienne Xmas Party Turntable Cafe on 21 December
2006)
Bonus: As I previously mentioned Longet being married to Andy Williams, he's quite the Christmas man himself! After giving up his The Andy Williams Show in 1971, he agreed to do Christmas specials in 1976. Throughout the years, he's released over eight Christmas albums, and I'm including a song from the re-issued The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963).
This recording would've been pretty much around the time that he was married to Longet.
12/25/2007 13:20:15
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
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Belle & Sebastian that well-loved band from Glasgow, Scotland, are back with a new Christmas song called "Are You Coming Over for Christmas?". The song is available for download on their official myspace on Christmas day.
Fans of B&S should already have their special Christmas Peel Session from 2002, but in case you don't have it, here the Christmas tracks from that session:
- Oh Come All Ye Faithful
- Christmas Time Is Here
- Santa Claus (The Sonics)
- Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto (James Brown)
- Silent Night
- O Little Town Of Bethlehem
- Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me (Elvis Presley)
- O Come O Come Emmanuel
- I Took Some Time For Christmas
- The Twelve Days of Christmas
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Here's another Christmas song from one of our favorite, The Pipettes. Good luck on finding this 7" single, as there were only two hundred of them made (by hand) and was only available at their Christmas show in 2004. The song, "In the Bleak Midwinter", is an old Lutheran Christmas Hymn, originally written by Gustav Holst.
They're currently on tour through Australia, but they still managed to put together a "Bandzine" The Pipettes Christmas Zine just time for Christmas. I did download the PDF file and it looks very professional for a bandzine.
Tour dates as follows:
12/29/07 The Factory Sydney, AUS
12/30/07 Tasmania Falls Festival Victoria, AUS
12/31/07 Tasmania Falls Festival Victoria, AUS
01/02/08 East Bruswick Melbourne, AUS
01/05/08 Southbound Festival Western Australia
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Meanwhile, Manic Street Preachers is also offering a new Christmas song called "Ghost of Christmas" on their myspace. This is an original song with some jab at expensive technologies::
No xbox and no computers
We just used our imagination
A leather football was perfection
What more could you want
I wouldn't mind a soccer ball to play outside, but unfortunately it's snowing outside so I'm going to stay indoors with my PS3 :)
Anyway, the band is still around, releasing Send Away The Tigers on February 2007, and is actually the only album I don't have from this band. I guess, I'm just waiting to find it really cheap/used and there's really no compelling reason for me to rush out to get the album.
I think the only song I know off of it is "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (that song with the Cardigans singer Nina Persson) which I think is quite popular.
Apparently so popular that NME have named MSP the 2008 "God Like Geniuses" Award.
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Finally, remember the awesome Strawberry Fair (Jenny Franzén)? Lately she's been busy with her live band with: Mathias (Kissing Mirrors, Sarto, Twig), Alice (After School Sports, The Never Invited to Parties), David (The Morning Paper), Ida (The Bridal Shop), Maria (The Happy Birthdays[W♥M]), appearing on Digfi playing some Christmas songs.
The two songs she did was "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" and "Winder Wonderland". I thought you can only watch it on Windows Media Player, but I was told that it will work on a mac using flip4mac.
The band was also recently on Rip It Up! 2007, you can watch some clips on youtube.
PS, this may be the last xmas post from me! You're welcome!
12/24/2007 09:41:29
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
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Continuing with the Christmas Songs series, here are a few free (downloadable) options.
Ryan sent this in, and I thought I'd pass this on. It's a free Christmas album from www.soundsfamilyre.com called A Familyre Christmas (Vol. 1).
They're putting on one song a day or something because currently there's only 11 songs available for download (but they promise two more).
See links for more information, here are an excerpt from the article:
We are very excited to share with you some of our favorite Christmas music performed by the Sounds Familyre Famile: new interpretations of traditional Christmas carols as well as original songs! A new song each day for thirteen days. Baker’s dozen. So make sure to come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the day after that…
The track listing so far (eleven down, two to go!) is as follows:
1: ‘Christmas Eve Nite’ - Danielson
2: ‘For There Is Born A Child’ - Lenny Smith
3: ‘Plant A Little Fir Tree’ - Half-handed Cloud
4: ‘Dayspring From On High’ - Soul-Junk
5: ‘Pat-A-Pan’ - Leopulde
6: ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ - Dan Zimmerman
7: ‘Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming’ - The Singing Mechanic
8: ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ - Sufjan Stevens*
9: ‘What Child Is This’ - Rachel
10: ‘I Wonder As I Wander’ - Woven Hand
11. ‘Christmas Is A Holiday’ - Ben + Vesper
There's a few songs off this free compilation that I like, but we'll go with this mysterious Rachel woman :) Looking at her blog, she seems to be very crafty.
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Next up is Rafael Brom, a Catholic recording artist with over 8 albums under his belt.
The only songs I've listened from him are the free "The Christmas Songs" album, which is available on his website www.rafaelbrom.com. They were released in 1994 on Cassette, but they digitized it (and it doesn't sound that bad considering it's from a Cassette).
The big thing that struck me about these recording is that Brom doesn't sound American (he's currently living in League City, Texas, according to his myspace). I found out that he's actually Czechoslovakian.
Moving on, The Knife gave this MP3 song away called "Christmas Reindeer" last year. I don't think it's available on www.theknife.net anymore (but I'm sure you're resourceful enough to find a copy somewhere.)
The actual song is actually called "Reindeer", appearing on their self-titled debut album in 2001. I guess they just wanted to be a little festive and renamed the song.
So, speaking of Sweden (The Knife are from Sweden), we have some great Swedish music to talk about in the upcoming weeks, particularly from both Razzia and Labrador.
12/20/2007 09:21:02
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
With only a few days left for the Christmas holiday, I'm compiling some Christmas songs for you. There's so many holiday songs that I might do a part two and three, so watch this space.
First off, I've edited together a few video sessions and we're going to call it a Holiday Buyer's Guide or interesting music boxsets and stuff I thought was cool. They weren't necessary released this year (and in fact, I'm pretty sure you couldn't buy some of these items). Anyway, check out the video. The format will change after this, so it'll be the last of this longer format.
So, let's start with some Christmas songs:
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Twelve Girls Band - Last Christmas
These girls can sure play, but they obviously cannot count, as Twelve Girls Band actually consists of 13 women (see for yourself, count them on the cover!). Apparently they were formed by Wang "father of Chinese rock music" Xiao-Jing through a contest in 2001 and assembled twelve girls, each representing Chinese mythology of twelve hairpins. Looking at their overwhelming discography, it would seem that they released quite a few live albums (usually with a DVD). Anyway, their Christmas-themed album, Twelve Girls of Christmas (2005), was released as Merry Christmas To You in Japan. All the familar Christmas songs are done with traditional Chinese instruments, such as the Mandolin and the Gao-Hu (Fiddle), but they are wonderfuly interpretted. Check out this version of "Last Christmas". Wham! never sounded better, right? |
Enya - Adeste, Fideles
If you haven't heard of Enya, then I'm afraid you haven't been in any elevators in the past decade. She bursted onto the charts in the late 80s with that "sail away" song (it's actually called "Orinoco Flow" but who can remember that?) She's recently resurfaced again in the popular Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series, and once again secures herself as the queen of New Age music. This song, "Adeste, Fideles" originally does not appear on Amarantine (2005). After a year, the record company decided to boost its sale by re-releasing the album as Amarantine Special Christmas Edition with a bonus second disc. The second disc is an all Christmas EP, originally released in the states as Sounds of the Season, and in Canada as the Christmas Secrets EP. |
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They Might be Giants - Santa's Beard
I first heard of this rocking song off their sophomore album, Lincoln (1988), and it's about a jealous husband. The song is about how every year his buddy puts on a red suit and hangs out with his family. Then he would spot his wife wearing his beard and kissing him, etc. Although the song is old, it resurfaced on Then: The Earlier Years (1997) and again in a special Christmas EP called They Might Be Giants in Holidayland (2001). Technically this isn't a very traditional Christmas song, but whenever I think of Christmas songs - this is the one that comes to my mind first and foremost because it's so fun and different. |
The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
I can't overlook the fact that this winterly Christmas song is suddenly transformed to a fun Summer Beach party (with Gidget). It's not one of my favorite Christmas tunes, probably because it's basically the same song as their previous hit "Little Deuce Coupe". So this song is from their only Christmas album, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, released in 1964. It topped out at number 6, although the single "Little Saint Nick" faired a little better at #3 on the charts (although this singles version is different than the album version). |
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Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers - Christmas Without You
I'll be honest with you: I love Country music. I grew up with pop music and one of the songs that I loved when I was a kid was "Island in the Stream", performed by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton. This was a single from Kenny Roger's album, Eyes That See in the Dark (1983). These two only released one album together, Once Upon a Christmas (1984), with two singles from this album: "Christmas Without You" and "The Greatest Gift of All". Their last duet was "Love Is Strange" (1990), which I've never heard. |
The Dandy Warhols - The Little Drummer Boy
According to allmusic, this is one of the Dandy Warhols' first EP release (if not the earliest). Strangely the single/EP is not listed on their wikipedia page. The popular Christmas song tells the story of a young boy who was so poor, he couldn't afford a gift for the baby Jesus. So instead, he wrote and played the drums in tribute as the baby smiles... I guess, not really much to add to this, except that the Dandy Warhols song was also included on XFM's Cool Cool Christmas Album (2000). I think this album sold very well when it was released and contains a wonderful version of "Feliz Navidad" by El Vez and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by Belle & Sebastian. |
12/19/2007 21:01:09
vu
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www.weheartmusic.com
