Just wanted to know if anyone could suggest some seasonal music along the lines of the few tunes I'll mention. I'm not looking for generic choir renderings, etc. :) They also don't have to be songs from the staple of carols we all know.

The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
David Bowie & Bing Crosby - The Little Drummer Boy
The Pogues w/Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York
Band Aid (Midge Ure, et al) - Do They Know It's Christmas?
U2 - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Bruno

My, that's a fine list you've got there.

I suppose that Randy Brooks timeless classic "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" would be good for starters.

Let's not forget the Whirling Dervishes' remake of the "Mr. Grinch" theme ... the original Dick Shawn-sung "Snow Miser" song ... and of course, those sped-up voice legends, Simon, Alvin and Theodore ...

Umm, the entire "South Park" Christmas CD ...

(Sensing the overall classiness quotient just got kicked down a couple of notches.)

OK, OK wait, let's start over. The Nutcracker?

Dick Shawn-sung "Snow Miser" song ..

OOoo, I gotta find me the MP3 of that one...

Hey man, do you know about "A Very Special Christmas"? It's a charity CD collaboration of a bunch of artists and they do Christmas songs.

There's a few of these albums, 5 in all, spanning 1989 to 2001.

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5

The first album has the highest rating, but I like #3 for Smashing Pumpkins and Chris Cornell singing "Ave Maria." Too bad he's playing with Eleven on that track (oh well, he'll be singing with "Rage" soon).

Anyway, check those out and let me know what you think. I might be missing the type of song you're looking for completely.

Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry ?

Hugo

By the way, I find the Bowie/Crosby song disturbing. And honestly, I wish Dave would shut up and let Bing sing.

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Personal favorite Christmas tracks, in no particular order...

Three Hour Detour - Christmas Tree Farm
Tom Lehrer - Christmas Carol
Burl Ives - Silver and Gold & There's Always Tomorrow
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24
Vince Guaraldi - Linus & Lucy, Skating, Greensleeves (Charlie Brown Christmas)
unknown - You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (both the original and the remake by the Whirling Dervishes)

By the way, I find the Bowie/Crosby song disturbing.

For an alternative, see the Bob Mould/Craig Kilborn version from 1997.

OOoo, I gotta find me the MP3 of that one...

Might be available via Morpheus/MusicCity.

DiGNAN: By the way, I find the Bowie/Crosby song disturbing.

Well, I remember watching the original broadcast of this (1977-78?) in a crowded rec room on a psychiatric ward, and I have to report that it had a very calming effect!

Christmas music? Not the standards? Hmmm. Well, I've got in the habit of listening to XTC and Screamin' Jay Hawkins on Christmas Eve then I kick back in the morning and pop in my Goodfellas DVD.

You can't go without these:

Lou Monte's Dominick The Donkey and Pepino The Italian Mouse.

:-D

Calvin

Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas
Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody

That's all I can think of at the moment. I've been intending putting some Christmas classics on my player for general festive listening pleasure on our last day at work. It's about time I got on with it.

Dominick the Donkey! Greg Lake! Great picks.

Just saw an ad for the new Mannheim Steamroller (nee Chip Davis) Christmas CD, folks. (PaulG, you'll want to keep your collection up-to-date here.)

Greetings!

Actually, I kind of like the Fresh Aire series, but that is really as far as I have gotten. Perhaps later, but for now I am experimenting with some other material.

Dead or Alive:Blue Christmas 2000 on the Fragile album.

Ouh, cool. Don't think I've ever heard that one. Hopefully it isn't just a mix of Jingle Bells and You Spin Me Round. ;)

I think I'd also be right into Hugo's Jona Lewie suggestion. Keep 'em coming guys.

Now I hope I have enough time to find the rest of the tracks I need and get them onto the empeg before Christmas (unfortunately of the ones I mentioned, I only have "Do They Know.."). And that's assuming I have my speakers installed by then too - otherwise it's just for @home listening. :)

Bruno

The U2 track I mentioned comes from volume 1 of the Very Special Christmas. Too bad there are so many artists on the CDs I know I'm not interested in (John Bon Jovi for instance).

I tend to only buy CDs that I know I will like. Most of my discs are not comps and I can usually tell from one or two songs if I'll like the artist in general. That's one of the reasons you'll never see me say something along the lines of "XX GB of storage is more than I'll ever need - There isn't that much music I'd want to listen to" Hell, I want to listen to all my music (right now it would take 17 days straight, 24 hours per day :)

Bruno

the night santa went crazy - wierd al

christmas at ground zero - weird al

Fishbone's "It's a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time)" EP. Contains "It's a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time)", "Slick Nick, You Devil You", "Iration", and "Just Call Me Scrooge". It was marketed (if you can really use that term) as a Christmas record.

Probably out of print now.

Probably out of print now.

Nothing's out of print when you have Morpheus, Gnutella, etc. at your disposal...

Never heard those tunes before, I'll have to look 'em up. Fishbone always had a non-conventional style... I would have expected something like "Bonin' Under the Mistletoe" from them.

One I had forgotten... Eurythmics (or was it just Annie Lenox?) - Winter Wonderland (from Scrooged)

Bruno

Die Toten Hosen have some interesting Christmas songs - the text is often familiar, but the style is *definitely* different!!

Okay -- I got some more for you:

IRS's "Just In Time for Christmas" compilation from 1990. Features some original stuff and some traditional covers by various IRS acts.

Also, Nerf Herder's "Hi-Voltage Christmas Rock" EP, which features such classics as "Santa Has a Mullet" and "I've Got a Boner for Christmas."

You might also want to check out "Christmas Party With Eddie G."