Time for the annual Christmas music thread. I’ve discovered a lot of great Christmas music this year, including the Atlantic Christmas album (much better than most of the Motown Christmas stuff), the Andrews Sisters Christmas songs, and best of all, the Duke Ellington version of the Nutcracker Suite. Here were my favorite Christmas songs this year, one from Sir Duke and two others that were already on my Christmas playlist but struck my fancy especially this year.
What are your favorite Christmas songs, new and old? Let’s keep the discussion respectful and Bublé-free.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
“I think it’s always reaching for hope. If you lose that, you lose everything. [The album is] always hopeful, always hopeful. And as joyful as it can be. I think we’re striving for joy, and then when you can’t have that, the least you can do is be honest.”
JMG
The Booker T & the MGs Christmas album is awesome! Great playing, more jazzy than soul. Also, on Sirius radio this week, I heard a Ventures version of Frosty the Snowman. This means there has to be a Ventures Christmas album. I must have it!
Doug R
Oy! to the world
Eric NNY
David Bowie and Bing Crosby, Little Drummer Boy in honor of Ziggy Stardust’s passing this year.
Mustang Bobby
“I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas” by Yogi Yorgesson. A classic.
Luthe
The Christians and the Pagans, aka the best Winter Holiday song ever.
I Want an Alien for Christmas is also pretty fun.
Patricia Kayden
Bing Crosby’s version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Mustang Bobby
For real, though, I love George Winston’s version of Carol of the Bells.
Elizabelle
Thank you, Doug. We need this. Merry Christmas to you and Mrs. Doug.
This year, I heard a song by Dolly Parton on the car radio. Like it a lot. Hard Candy Christmas, from 1984. Works great this year too.
And like this song a lot too. Vince Vance and the Valiants, vocalist is Lisa Layne. Tacky still video, but great song.
Especially love it since I heard it a few years ago, on KBON, driving around the bayous of Louisiana. Wish I could remember some of the other Cajun Christmas songs. Some great lyrics.
Yarrow
I know a lot of people don’t like “Love, Actually” but I love it. And I adore Bill Nighy as Billy Mack. His big hit, “Christmas is All Around” never fails to crack me up. Love it.
EBT
Have this play list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTpVLI9D4Lk&list=PL83AE6F6DCB8367A1
DougJ
@efgoldman:
Love it!
mawado
The only version of Drummer Boy that didn’t make me change the station.
Happy Holidays to everyone.
Summer
I love the Barenaked Ladies “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” I also love a totally cheesy Christian music (not my usual genre) song by someone called Evie “One Small Child” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpm7sAq8TMY
DougJ
@Elizabelle:
I heard that Dolly song today at the supermarket
Elizabelle
Here’s the live stream, free, for KBON. Cajun Christmas music, y’all.
germy
White Christmas by the Drifters
germy
(Swingin’ Them) Jingle Bells by Fats Waller
Yarrow
This reminds me that I haven’t heard “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” yet this Christmas season. It’s always my official “Christmas is here” song. I guess Christmas isn’t here yet.
delk
If you’re a Chicagoan of a certain age the annual airing of Hardrock, Coco and Joe on WGN was no doubt part of your holiday tradition.
Elizabelle
@DougJ: Surprised it was from 1984, because I don’t recall it from before.
This year, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, (“if the fates allow”), by many artists, was the song most frequently played. Long driving car trip around the midwest and Appalachia. And then back to Blue State Land.
Booger
May I suggest “Fairytale of New York” as simply the best Christmas song ever? For those of us who never experienced sleigh bells et cetera?
AliceBlue
“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” by The Ramones.
Stevie Wonder’s version of “The Christmas Song” (with India Arie).
I’m not a big country music fan, but Reba McEntire does a kick-ass job with “Up on the Housetop.”
Summer
@Booger: Yes. Definitely. The best.
Peking Man
@efgoldman: There is also the suburban Toronto version http://www.msgr.ca/msgr-2/A_Child's_Christmas_in_Scarborough.htm. The CBC used to play this regularly but I can only find the words on google.
germy
Is That You Santa Claus?? by Louie Armstrong
Elizabelle
Gotta do a bit of grocery shopping. Catch your song suggestions on the other side.
Getting near eggnog hour.
germy
Dub Reggae Christmas (with vocal by Karen Carpenter)
Trippy!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Elizabelle:
Then you never saw “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”. It was written for the play.
Yarrow
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: It’s a great song. Dolly’s voice is so lovely.
Heywood J.
Definitely Fairytale of New York. Nothing else is even close.
Also, too: Father Christmas by the Kinks, and Mr. Mackey’s version of Carol of the Bells.
Aleta
@JMG: That sounded good to me, and here it is.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@JMG:
Here you go: The Ventures’ Christmas Album. They also have at least one other one available on Amazon.
nellcote
Dick In a Box…modern xmas classic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwCbbMgp3Lw
Starfish
Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo
schrodingers_cat
Movie Snob has your Catmas movie covered, check it out here
germy
Christmas On The Block
NotMax
Not sure if it is the favorite, however a quite pleasant rendition.
Bonus track: gender bender ballet interlude.
lol chikinburd
Everly Brothers
or, if you prefer, Fear
Turner Hedenkoff
I always dug “A Fairytale of New York,” Tom Waits’ “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis” and Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmastime.” But this is my new favorite, courtesy of a friend’s Christmas mix:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ACpNL74jUk0
Aleta
@Aleta:
ETA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cAUiX084zg
And it’s a little warped.
burnspbesq
There is a wonderful new album of Christmas songs from the Northern Irish singer-somgwriter Cara Dillon.
Slainte!
mai naem mobile
Not so much my favorites but songs that I like that you don’t hear a lot –
Billy Squires Christmas is a Time To Say I Love You and Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child. Also, technically not a Christmas song but the BandAid song. I think i am finally getting tired of the Mariah Carey All I Want for Xmas is You. Good lord,enough .
burnspbesq
@Yarrow:
it is rumored that this year there is a new video, with Paul Ryan driving the sleigh.
Yarrow
@burnspbesq: Please point me in the direction of that video, should it ever emerge.
lol chikinburd
(or, less negatively: Tom Waits; Robert Earl Keene)
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I always have to stop and remind myself that the Carol of the Bells is the “ding dong ding dong” song that my mother hated singing. My first thought always goes to:
The incomparable Julie Andrews. The Bells of Christmas
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
One of my favorites is the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack as performed by Cyrus Chestnut: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6sDfGawJ-6E
frosty
@Elizabelle: Another vote for Vince Vaughan and the Valiants. I backed up a really good singer at an open mic doing this one a couple of Christmases ago. Bottleneck on a resonator. She made us sound good.
p.a.
Christmas at Kmart by Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band. You can date it by its mention of mood rings.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Coltrane, “Greensleeves (What Child Is This?).”
debbie
It’s been around for a while, but I listen to “Christmas with Weezer” every year while wrapping gifts. I also like listening to it while driving to work, but it makes me prone to speeding.
delphinium
Some Spanish guitar:
Christmas Time is Here
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
Mnemosyne
In honor of That Other Holiday that starts tonight, here’s Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings with “8 Days (of Hanukkah).”
Pogonip
@germy: Remember that animation of Santa and the reindeer singing the Drifters’ “White Christmas” several years ago? Cute as could be!
Merry Christmas or winter-holiday-of-your-religion, whichever fits!
NotMax
Couple of favorite holiday toe-tappers:
One in classic mode, the other contemporary retro
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
Then this one’s for you!
germy
@Pogonip: I never saw that animation.
Ceiling Cat is my religion. That Great Cat God protects us (although I’m pissed at Her for 2016)
Pogonip
@p.a.: There’s a song about standing in a long line in an overheated store while a frazzled clerk struggles with a computerized cash register in a quixotic attempt to get it to ring the sale price?
(This episode of “Sesame Street” has been brought to you by Adjectives.)
lamh36
Welp I’m at work and by the time i get home, I’m sure a new thread will be up.
Still…better than Motown Christmas stuff (of which I am listening now at work)…How dare you Doug!?
?
Marvin Gaye – I Want To Come Home For Christmas
germy
@Mnemosyne:
delphinium
Some Spanish guitar Christmas songs:
Christmas Time is Here
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
SFBayAreaGal
The Temptations Silent Night
https://youtu.be/D0mgk0KgI0Q
germy
Christmas Swing Django Reinhardt
Mnemosyne
@debbie:
Ha! I shared that on Facebook with a Jewish friend of mine who’s always a really good sport about our puzzling gentile festivities. ;-)
zhena gogolia
“Jingle Bells” is not my favorite song, but this has to be the greatest version of it ever performed, by my favorite singer-songwriter.
And not a Christmas song, but he wrote what has to be the greatest song about drinking ever written, “Spirit in a Bottle.”
Mnemosyne
@germy:
Sorry, man, that’s way too depressing.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
Oh, that is so sad. I totally believe it.
EBT
So statefarm had a TV commercial where an interracial couple gets engaged and tweets about it. The replies to the tweet are as ugly as one would expect.
jeffreyw
@Pogonip: It’s all new this year. Now with moar deer!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
The Twelve Pains of Christmas
Shell
Going thru my old cassette tapes, Mahalia Jackson’s Christmas album. Going waaaay back to my childhood, “Mitch Millers Christmas albums!”
The Chieftains, “Bells Of Dublin”.
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow:
Oh, yeah. The last time it was on TV, first I was in tears with Hugh Grant’s initial narration, then Bill Nighy had me laughing my ass off with that song. I said to my husband, “I don’t care that I’ve seen it 50 times, any movie that has me crying and laughing in the first 30 seconds is a movie I want to see again and again.”
Mnemosyne
Okay, it’s somebody’s homemade video to an existing song, but it’s still a pretty funny one.
ETA:
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Jinx!
catclub
The Roches Christmas album/cd.
Mike J
NotMax
New Zealand parliament looks to be a lot more laid back than our coven of Capitol hillers. (Yes, it’s even on topic!)
Louise B.
Listening to Take 6 now while cooking the Bolognese ragu. A capella vocal music, a mix of R&B and jazz. All of their Christmas albums are excellent if you’re into that sort of music.
Brachiator
“Gloria” from “Misa Criolla” by Ariel Ramírez is simply beautiful. And one of the better interpretations is this one sung by Jose Carreras. Love the mix of chorus and traditional Adean instruments.
Hal
How I feel about the 12 days of Christmas
ThresherK
Two recent ones I like:
One is vaguely folky; a woman describing coming back to her (childhood) home and being on the back porch where her grandpa used to sit watching the sunset. Can’t find it.
“This Christmas” (not that song you’re thinking of) by the Nelson twins and Alyssa Bonagura in a song which is just so much better than it has a right to be: Nothing incredibly new in the words of the lyric. But a nice pair of vocals, and melody and chord changes, and just relaxed enough to hit the narrow, narrow spot between pop and country.
Also, Blink182, “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”.
Aleta
Robert Shaw chorus, Carol of the Bells
Jethro Tull Greensleeeves
Mnemosyne
@Hal:
The “12 Pains of Christmas” video I linked to above actually addresses that a bit in captioning. Clearly influenced by Monty Python, but that’s not a bad thing.
Aleta
Not Christmas, just very beautiful:
Rampal, Telemann 12 Fantasias for Flute
NotMax
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
A more jazzed up version of the bells tune.
Elizabelle
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Did not see that.
My parents did, though (stage production), and liked it. My mother came home calling it “The Little Warhorse”, though, which was as much information as she thought us daughters should have.
Mnemosyne
Oh, and my obscure favorite that I always have to post: Harvey Danger’s “Sometimes You Have To Work on Christmas (Sometimes)”
Brachiator
Joni Mitchell, “River”
It’s coming on Christmas
They’re cutting down trees
They’re putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on
Mnemosyne
And an annoyance that I hope nobody has to deal with this year:
Nick Lowe, “Christmas at the Airport”
Iowa Old Lady
@Elizabelle: When my son was maybe 6 or 7, we were driving along and he was reading signs out loud. We passed a theater and he read “The best little– I don’t know that word.” Being the liberal mom I was, I took a deep breath and said “whorehouse,” then braced myself for a question. But he heard it as “horror house” and just kept going.
ThresherK
@Elizabelle: When the play was on B’way the radio ads on WNEW-AM (home of America’s popular standards) (yes, it was my favorte station as a teen) bleeped out the word “whorehouse”. To this day I don’t know if it was to be reverse-salacious, or if that word was simply not used on the radio for ads which would be running any hour of the day.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Elizabelle: You should find a way to see the movie. I almost laughed myself into an asthma attack.
SFBayAreaGal
Sam Cooke, Christmas Soul
https://youtu.be/qB8xsaA1TPw
Aleta
@Brachiator: oh, good one!
Robert Shaw chorus, Midnight Clear
Comrade Mary
Lucien Hétu was the soundtrack of my childhood Christmases. After years of trying to find any bits online, I finally found this glorious playlist.
Exurban Mom
After Fairytale in New York, it has to be White Wine in the Sun, by Tim Minchin: https://youtu.be/fCNvZqpa-7Q
NotMax
@ThresherK
You might find this paean to the passing of WNEW from 1992 of interest.
SFBayAreaGal
Marvin Gaye – I Want to Come Home for Christmas
https://youtu.be/X6rpnKZR02o
Emma
Seraphic Fire Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. Also the Huron Carol.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Louise B.: Take 6 is awesome.
Another Scott
I’m feeling a little more Grinchy this year than usual. I usually can’t stand Xmas music, because it’s overplayed for weeks on end. It’s one of the reasons why I hate shopping. I haven’t heard that much this year.
But I do enjoy hearing The Little Drummer Boy (the version in the animated show) once a year. That’s enough. I like the sentiment, especially in these days of non-stop shopping…
Cheers,
Scott.
dr. luba
@Mustang Bobby: The best version is the original–Shchedryk, a Ukrainian New Year’s carol. It predat es christianity, and sings of a little swallow announcing the coming of spring. New Year’s used to be celebrated in spring (March IIRC). This is the Kary Melua version she released this year, called “Little Swallow.”
The entire album is amazing–she sings Georgian Xmas music with a women’s choir, too.
hilts
Christmas by The Who
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BWiYJ3yykw
jurassicpork
I tend to stick with the classics. Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” comes to mind. But since I’m a head banger from way back, I also tend to listen to “Carol of the Bells” featuring Metallica and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Mrs. JP likes The Tractors’,, “Santa’s Comin’ On a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train.”
Anyway, on the home front:
Mrs. JP and I are in a very bad way this Christmas season. I’ve made an appeal at Welcome Back to Pottersville for assistance and I’ve also included a special book gift offer for those who chip in beyond a certain amount.
Mnemosyne
So, as I’m sure Letterman fans remember, the great Darlene Love used to come on his show every year to sing, “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” every year. This is a really cool montage of all of her appearances, but it leaves me with a burning question — how did Miss Love manage to grow younger in those 30 years?
(Answer: because 80s fashions were just that horrible and aging. You’re welcome.)
hilts
I can’t pick out 1 or 2 songs from the broadcast, so this is a link to the complete soundtrack of A Charlie Brown Christmas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewG5xsNz5No
DougJ
@lamh36:
The Atlantic one really is better
NotMax
@jurassicpork
Shtick was old over a decade ago, dude. In the spirit of the holidays, shall say no more.
ThresherK
@NotMax: I may have read that already, but it’s worth going over again.
However it forgot Cosmos soccer. And the theater beat. This station sent reporters to opening night of shows great and awful, including in the latter, “Bring Back Birdie” (yes, a sequel, no you’re not missing anything) and a stage play of Frankenstein.
And the successor, WQEW, has been gone for ages.
Jeez. Time to tie an onion on my belt.
Viva BrisVegas
Paul Kelly “How to Make Gravy”.
Another Scott
@hilts: Great stuff. Pete and the rest of The Who gave us a bunch of wonderful, powerful music.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
cynthia ackerman
Washboard Pete, “Christmas Blues”
Dan Grisson, “Wonderful Christmas Night”
Guarnieri and Stewart, “Santa’s Secret”
Aleta
Koko Taylor –
Merry, merry Christmas
Let every joy bell ring
Merry, merry Christmas
Lift up your voice and sing
Snowman on the rooftop
Reindeer, too
Crying out, “Merry Christmas And Happy New Year, too!”
Hey Mister Rudolph!
Bring Santa home to me!
We’re gonna have Christmas, alright
And light up that Christmas tree
NotMax
@ThresherK
Seem to vaguely recall a scathing review of Moose Murders, a play so dreadful the closing notices reportedly were posted during opening night intermission.
Shame, as it starred Eve Arden.
hilts
Greensleeves by John Coltrane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwn2zd8ROlQ
hilts
@Another Scott:
Thank you and thanks for your selections as well!
SG
There’s one great Christmas song I recently really listened to. The lyrics could have been written for the Age of Trump, although they were about the Great Depression. Here it is, performed by the incomparable Angela Lansbury: We Need A Little Christmas, from Mame.
JMG
We did Booker T., Duke Ellington, and are now on Frank’s album. Low key through dinner. After we’ll do the Phil Spector album.
Merry Christmas my friends, who I hope with all my heart I meet someday.
Mary G
Leslie Odum, Jr. from you-know-which-play has a lovely Christmas album out. Very minimal instrumental, very mellow, amazing voice.
Ave Maria
My Favorite Things
hilts
@DougJ:
Doug,
Ever since early November, I’ve been unable to shake feelings of depression, despair, anger, etc. This thread is a partial antidote to those feelings.
In addition to all this great music everyone is sharing, I could really use some good laughs.
Is it possible for you to put up a thread for people to post links to comedy sketches and routines?
NotMax
Sometime around ’64 or ’65 there was a single which sold like hotcakes, billed as the brand new Christmas carol destined to become a classic. Called either “Bambino” or “Il Bambino,” if memory serves.
Disappeared with nary a trace after that one holiday season.
NotMax
Maybe a TV classic posted last night will elicit laughter. Hope so.
(Got another TV comedy holiday tradition at NotMax manor waiting in the wings for later tonight or tomorrow,.)
NotMax
#128 was @hilts.
My bad.
The Lodger
@NotMax: Are you thinking of Gesu Bambino? (Our church choir sang it a couple of years ago; I haven’t heard it so far on the radio this year.) My phone is not so good with the links or I’d Google it for you.
waysel
Sleigh Ride, a bit warped. NRBQ-esque.
waysel
@Brachiator: YES. This year more than any before.
Calming Influence
Just set up our tree, cut barely over our property line. Now listening to “Steely Dan Christmas Classics”. Kid Charlemagne due to show up at any moment… Happy whatever the fuck there is to be happy about!
NotMax
@The Lodger
Unsure of the precise title but absolutely certain it was written the same year the 45 came out. “Gesu Bambino” was composed during WW1.
Mnemosyne
@hilts:
So what you’re saying is that you need some Schweddy Balls for Christmas?
FF
2000 miles – The Pretenders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SkWIqQ3oLY
Fairytale of NY – The Pogues
https://youtu.be/j9jbdgZidu8
rikyrah
Uh huh
Uh huh
Gabe Ortíz Verified account
@TUSK81
Jason Miller resigned his Trump White House job and Trump surrogate AJ Delgado deleted her Twitter account. Somethin’ is up, y’all…
Yashar Verified account
@yashar
Trump camp in meltdown. Miller resigns after AJ Delgado posts cryptic tweets re Miller being dad to her child.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
It’s a little sad that this is the only kind of enjoyment we’re going to get from Comrade Trump’s reign, but I’ll take what I can get.
lamh36
Merry Christmas Eve
Sitting here eating some cheetos instead of a good meal, cause I mistakenly thought I’d be able to stop somewhere after working the late shift at work…
Ugh…
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
There’s always good old reliable Stan Freberg.
Another Scott
@lamh36: :-( Hang in there!
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
HOLLERING!!!
Crystal Johnson
@Crystal1Johnson
It is Christmas Eve!
#BlackLivesMatter, say it loud…” ?
‘Tis the season to shake up white suburbia with some seriously woke caroling.
debbie
@rikyrah:
I’ll take that as a Christmas gift!
Baud
@rikyrah: Obviously, a distraction. Trump probably planning to inter the Japanese again.
Mike in NC
@Mnemosyne: Some RWNJ sent a letter to the local paper stating how almost everybody on their election eve cruise went wild for Trump. Made a comment in return that too bad they didn’t hit an iceberg or capsize in shark-infested waters.
lamh36
@Another Scott: ugh…just mad cause I should have gone out yesterday after work, but man…there were too many folks out and the damn lines at the market was long as fuq.
Smh…that what I get..
Anyway…now I’m sitting here waiting for It’s A Wonderful Life to Come on
mellowjohn
https://youtu.be/O3TXwWANFbM
Baud
@Mike in NC: Having cruised, not surprised that the passengers skew Trump.
rikyrah
The entire hashtag had me LMAO, but this is my new favorite:
Dave⚡️ – @LOWKEYDAVEE
#ReasonsBlackKidsGetWhoopins:
Teacher: *calls mom*
Mom:Put him on the phone
Me:Yes mom
Mom: imma deal with you when I get home.
8:20 AM – 24 Dec 2016
jacy
Happy holiday eve to all juicers big and small. I’m off to meet The Boyfriend’s entire family for the first time ever for Christmas Eve dinner, which I did not know was happening until about 20 minutes ago. Surprise! (Thankfully his family are all good liberals, even though his sister is supposedly a bit of a “drama queen.”) Hope everyone is enjoying whatever they’re doing to celebrate whatever they’re celebrating!
Yutsano
This one isn’t funny anymore.
lamh36
So #ItsAWonderfulLife isn’t based on a book or play? It’s an original work?
Mnemosyne
@Mike in NC:
WaterGirl said earlier that she was riding the Amtrak in central Illinois and her fellow (white) passengers were vocally contemptuous of Trump and sad to see the Obamas leaving. So it’s at least somewhat regional.
hilts
@lamh36:
It’s based on the short story “The Greatest Gift”, which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1945.
Steve in the ATL
Link challenged on phone, but my Christmas staples are:
Keith Richards “Run Run Rudolph”
Run-DMC “Christmas in Hollis”
Waitresses “Christmas Rapping”
(Who doesn’t love the eighties?)
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
It’s based on a short story, but I think the short story was sold directly to Capra’s film company without being published first. Same thing with Miracle on 34th Street, IIRC.
ETA: Geez, @hilts, everybody is jinxing me in this thread! ?
Calming Influence
@jacy: God help you, jacy. And I don’t believe in God, but for your sake I hope he exists.
hilts
@Mnemosyne:
I might be in the minority, but I’ve never found that sketch the least bit funny.
waysel
@rikyrah: Wow!
lamh36
@hilts: Gotcha…cool. And ever since, how many movies have used the premise…ALOT
SFBayAreaGal
Seasons greetings from CBS
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=956503831090853&id=100001937368152
jacy
@Calming Influence:
Don’t know if it’s a good thing or not that I don’t have to time to have a few drinks before I head over there….. Probably a good thing…..
Baud
@jacy: For the love of God, do NOT mention Balloon Juice.
waysel
@lamh36: Well, happy Christmas Eve , and I hope your tomorrow is way better.
Mnemosyne
@jacy:
FWIW, that’s how G met my family for the first time: he was cannon fodder to block the post-2000 election fallout with my Fox-addicted dad. We’re still together 16 years later, so it worked out.
I have some hopes of possibly gaining a new in-law this year since my brother-in-law has been having breakfast, lunch and dinner with the same guy since August. I’m going to wait and see how New Year’s shakes out and then ask. I REALLY want someone else to dish with about my in-laws, because I love them, but they cray-cray.
lamh36
@waysel: Well tomorrow, at least I can count on a Chinese restaurant or two being open.
hilts
@Mnemosyne:
Years ago, I was in a Barnes and Noble store and found an anthology of short stories that were later adapted into films. The book included the short stories that were the basis for It’s a Wonderful Life, All About Eve, and It Happened One Night.
Mnemosyne
@hilts:
That’s why Edmund Gwenn’s reported last words were, “Dying’s easy. Comedy’s hard.” There are very few things as personal as one’s taste in comedy.
lamh36
It never ceases to take me aback when you see the telegram saying the ice cream shop guy’s son died of Influenza! And ya still got folks don’t want to get Flu vaccine…
#ItsAWonderfulLife
I know alot of folk think you shouldn’t get the vaccine because it can make you sick…and yeah…a small number can get sick from the attenuated vaccine…
But STATISTICALLY it’s a small number…not a valid reason IMHO
hilts
@lamh36:
I’ve never read Stern’s story, but from what I’ve read about it, it’s extremely brief and many of the details included in the film were provided by Capra and the screenwriters.
NotMax
@lamh36
So it’s A Hard Day’s Night? (Comedic take.)
Calming Influence
@jacy: Yes. Focus like a ninja; Ms. Influence and I have been together 36 years, but that 1st “meeting of the family” is seared into my brain.
hilts
@Mnemosyne:
A few weeks ago, I saw a Dick Cavett interview with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon and Matthau made the point that many dramatic actors seriously underestimated the difficulty of playing comedic roles.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Or Edmund Kean, over a century prior.
brendancalling
Dingaling the Christmas Bell https://youtu.be/iOqQ6khUASw
hilts
@NotMax:
That works for me!
Calming Influence
Really? No one takes the “Steely Dan Christmas Classics” bait?
Mike J
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: Husband kitteh’s cousin by marriage was on a brief visit from Delhi, this summer. We were dishing about how difficult it was to be married into a super traditional Tamil Iyer family. She is Punjabi. It was fun!
Husband kitteh’s maternal unit is formidable. Although conservative in daily life, very liberal in her politics. People are weird.
ETA: BTW I sent you an email.
rikyrah
@jacy:
Good luck!
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
You’re not impressed that Gwenn was still lucid enough to quote Kean while he was on his deathbed?
And, for the evening crowd, “Let’s Have A Patrick Swayze Christmas” this year!
schrodingers_cat
@jacy: Observe, smile, don’t volunteer too much info. Good luck and we want a full report when you get back.
hilts
@NotMax:
Speaking of Peter Sellers, I recently found this article about the deletion of the scene originally meant to be the finale of Dr. Strangelove. All that remains of it are these photos
h/t http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/rare-images-dr-strangelove-custard-pie-fight
Jacel
This year was the first time I’ve heard Bette Midler’s “Cool Yule” album, and it’s just great. The title song was written by Steve Allen (originally for Louis Armstrong).
lamh36
@efgoldman: ugh…well damnit, I’d rather have the bagel…
lamh36
Wow…before Cell phones…folks had to actually go out and spend time finding you if there was an emergency
#ItsAWonderfulLife
Yutsano
@efgoldman: Put some onions, tomatoes, and capers on that and I’m in.
lamh36
Ugh…even as a kid, I hated the look of “Dick Cheney” Potter..ugh
#ItsAWonderfulLife
jeffreyw
@efgoldman: Carrot cake?
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
Is the granddaughter there yet?
NotMax
@hilts
Story of the greatest pie fight on film, lost for over half a century. And here’s the nearly complete restored short.
Ninedragonspot
I find the first part of Liszt’s “Christus” (which is a sort of Christmas oratorio) to be extraordinarily beautiful.
Mnemosyne
@hilts:
Sellers turns up in a very odd Rod Serling-scripted TV update of A Christmas Carol called A Carol for Another Christmas, starring Sterling Hayden and Eva Marie Saint. It has a great cast, but it’s a very Serling (i.e. preachy) script, so tastes may vary.
hilts
@NotMax:
Thanks!! There’s nothing quite like a great pie fight!
Mike J
@jeffreyw: I’m on the schedule to bake a carrot cake too. I’ll post a picture after I finally get around to it. I’ve got precisely jack done. No presents wrapped (piled up here though), the only cooking I’ve got done is cornbread for the dressing (stuffing for those of you raise outside the south.)
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
Dunno about any of those details (barely know who the people involved are), but any sentence that includes the words “Trump” and “meltdown” in close proximity is my kind of sentence.
farmette
This is just fun – Winter Wonderland by the (Andy) Williams Brothers! Happy Holidays to all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3zk1aNTQ3c
lamh36
Fuq’n Harry is the epitome of the selfish younger child to the older sibling who’s been doing it all…smh
George is that person, esp sibling, that always takes care of the others, at the expense of their own happiness
#ItsAWonderfulLife
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Most people already know this, but the guy who plays Nick the bartender is Sheldon Leonard, who gave up acting shortly afterward to go into TV producing and made some of the most classic TV shows of all time, including “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
hilts
@Mnemosyne:
Thanks, I’d never heard of this production, but I’m a big Twilight Zone fan and I’m intrigued by the cast, so I’ll try to find it.
Mnemosyne
@schrodingers_cat:
I saw, but I’m still making up my mind. G may have the final vote since I make him read everything I put online.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
Interesting period piece, although suggest wearing a goalie mask while watching to avoid injury from being repeatedly clubbed with the message.
Robert Shaw is particularly noteworthy. Sellers carries his character beyond the satirical and into the realm of the grotesque, IMHO.
Mike in NC
@Mnemosyne: That show was aired on one of the cable networks last Christmas and was a fascinating period piece. Not sure I could sit through it every year, unlike National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Ella Fitzgerald’s Christmas album (Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas) is fantastic. This year I discovered Merry Christmas Baby – the Otis Redding version, and that’s really good. I’ve always liked The Preyenders’ 2000 Miles.
hilts
@Mnemosyne:
He also appears in an episode of the Burns and Allen show.
Mnemosyne
@hilts:
Turner Classic Movies did a restoration of it a few years ago, so it’s much more easily available than it used to be. If you like Serling, you’ll like it — it was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and has some really interesting visuals, especially given the constraints of the medium at the time.
raven
The Grove Park Inn, Asheville
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
Well, sure, but it’s Serling, so that’s part of the point. Grotesquerie is the order of the day.
lamh36
Always love Mary’s mom c**kblocking…lol. Boy when yo mama don’t like who ur datin…
#ItsAWonderfulLife
celticdragonchick
A Renaissance Christmas by the Boston Camerata is on my most play list every year.
Riu Riu Chiu is utterly brilliant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ke6hJ78iQc
hilts
@NotMax:
Steve Lawrence as the Ghost of Christmas Past?
Aleta
@hilts: Is there a time period (comedy) you like ?
hilts
@Mnemosyne:
Thanks for that info. I’m adding it to my list of films/tv specials to watch.
NotMax
@raven
Judging from the architecture, would guess built during the 1970s.
@Mnemosyne
Sellers was pretty good about putting a toe (or five) across the line and discerning when to pull back, but he leaped clear across with both feet in that role. IMHO, YMMV, and all that good acronymic stuff.
rikyrah
Thank you White America for f#@king yourself
Uh huh
Uh huh
raven
@NotMax:
raven
@NotMax: This is what the front face of the Inn looks like.
hilts
@Aleta:
There are comedians across the generations that I enjoy. A few months ago, I heard an interview with Kliph Nesteroff, author of The Comedians, who said that comedy has a shelf life and doesn’t age well. I disagree with him 100%. I was born in 1963, but I’m a big fan of the Marx Bros, Laurel & Hardy, Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, W.C. Fields, etc. Two of my favorite sitcoms are the Burns and Allen Show and the Jack Benny program.
On the other hand, I’m also a big fan of Monty Python, Woody Allen, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin, 1st 5 seasons of SNL, the Larry Sanders Show, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Also, RIP to Andrew Sachs, aka Manuel from Fawlty Towers, one of my favorite sitcoms.
ThresherK
@Mnemosyne: I thinkj he was in so many gangster movie roles as a heavy that gangsters liked him. He was born to stand behihnd Cagney and Robinson and look menacing.
Bruuuuce
Here are two songs in my annual top 10 that I haven’t seen here yet.
“First Christmas (Away From Home)” by Stan Rogers. Break out the Kleenex (except the folks whom I expect to sneer).
And, surprisingly not mentioned yet, Christmas In the Trenches by John McCutcheon, the true story of The Christmas Truce of 1914.
hilts
@Mnemosyne: @NotMax:
If you’re looking for something completely different, with respect to a Peter Sellers performance, you need to check out I’m All Right Jack in which he plays a communist shop steward.
Sab
@Mike J: I was raised in the south by Yankees. We called it stuffing when we cooked it inside the bird and dressing when we cooked it separately.
hilts
@Aleta:
As an addendum to my previous response to your question “Is there a time period (comedy) you like?”, I’m still pissed off at those jackasses running Comedy Central who cancelled The Nightly Show. Now, more than ever we need Larry Wilmore on the air to mock and ridicule Donald Trump.
Lizzy L
My faves: (one of this days I’ll learn how to use the damn link feature…)
Dottie Peoples, Go Tell It On The Mountain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9_WcxZG14
Mariah Carey: Wonderful Child
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2azO6P2QfQ
Bruuuuce
@Lizzy L: Assuming you’re on a computer, and not a mobile device:
(1) Type the text you want to use as the link into your working entry
(2) Select and copy the link itself
(3) Select the text you typed, then click the “link” tab above the FYWP entry box
(4) When the prompt pops up, paste the link into the box and tell it yippee-ki-yay!
Good luck!
SFBayAreaGal
@NotMax: Here’s another great pie fight from The Great Race, which was my high school drama teacher favorite film and one of my favorite films.
https://youtu.be/SDJQ7zn3-2g
Mnemosyne
@ThresherK:
Apparently he was actually born to produce “Gomer Pyle, USMC.” ;-)
Lizzy L
@Bruuuuce: Okay, here goes.
Mariah Carey, Wonderful Child
Seems to have worked! Thank you!
hilts
@SFBayAreaGal:
I’d completely forgotten about that pie fight. It’s been decades since I saw The Great Race. Thanks for the link!
M. Bouffant
Grace Hong – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (in Chinese)
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Bruuuuce:
Addendum: you must erase/overwrite the http prefix supplied in the hyperlink field or else your eventual link address will be screwed by FYWP.
Sab
@efgoldman: That’s great. I’ll try it out on my family tomorrow, as several are biologists.
SFBayAreaGal
@hilts: I still find myself laughing out loud in so many scenes of The Great Race. Jack Lemmon was hilarious as Professor Fate/Crown Prince Frederick Hoepnick and Peter Falk as Maximilian Meene. Tony Curtis as the Great Leslie and Natalie Woods as Maggie Dubois. I loved the whole cast in this movie.
hilts
@SFBayAreaGal:
To me, Jack Lemmon is one of only a handful of actors I can think who seemed equally comfortable in dramatic or comedic roles
farmette
One more. Fallon, Roots, Carey and Kids!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWEfszb9h8Q
Doug!
@hilts:
I’ll do some more stuff like that, yes!
Bruuuuce
@Lizzy L: De nada. Glad to help
Bruuuuce
@Steeplejack (tablet): I forgot to mention, since I was doing it by memory. But apparently Lizzy L figured that out. Thanks.
Punchy
Merry Christmas y’all!
The Pale Scot
Way late the party, (I was assaulted by multiple bottles of Jauma Serra Crystalino).
A bluesy Xmas
Johnny & Edgar Winter
Please Come Home For Christmas
& since it’ not up yet
Greg Lake – Ian Anderson
I believe in Father Christmas
The Pale Scot
@Eric NNY:
Thanks for the Ziggy Bing thing
The Pale Scot
@Elizabelle:
Dudette, you are my fucking hero
A non mouse
Cant believe no one has mentioned the Dropkick Murphy’s The Season’s Upon Us.