Songs I Didn't Skip (Holiday Edition)

 At the suggestion of a reader, I present this entry of holiday songs I didn't skip or downright flee from. This installment will be a little different as I don't have nearly enough holiday pop standards in my music library to write anything interesting about. It would be limited to jazz and lounge Christmas tunes and where's the fun in that? Instead, I pulled up a few playlists of popular tracks on Spotify and worked my way through.   Here's the Spotify playlist.

"All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey (1994)

Despite this song being played absolutely to death each year, it's popular for a reason. The song manages to sound somewhat modern while paying tribute to classic acts like The Ronettes. I don't have much of a memory of this song prior to it being used in the 2003 film, "Love Actually". Carey's version is covered constantly and also works well on retail store sound systems. 

"This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway (1970)

I'll bet I've heard this somewhere before but it sounded new to me. This is a good tune and Donny does some good bass playing on it. Nice. 

"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby (1942)

The 800 pound gorilla of holiday songs, written by a Jewish immigrant. Now THAT's American! People forget that the version everyone knows/sings is just the chorus; there's also a verse that no one does that puts the point of view of the song to a Californian. This article has some good background on why Irving writes about palm trees in this famous Christmas song. The song is also the big hit from that same year's film, Holiday Inn, which is IMO, superior to the later "White Christmas" film (yes, even with the blackface number).

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Dean Martin (1959)

If you're going to play this one, Deano seems like the ideal singer. Fun facts:  Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls) wrote this to perform at parties with his wife and the song was first featured in the 1949 Esther Williams movie, Neptune's Daughter, sung by Ricardo Montalbán!

"The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole (1961)

Yes, Cole deserves to be known for "Route 66" or "Unforgettable" over this but that's not how things pan out. It's also a great song and musically one of the best Christmas songs ever written (those chords!).

"Frosty the Snowman" by Ella Fitzgerald (1960)

Ella could have sung the phone book (what's a phone book, Gramps?) and it would sound great. If I never have to hear the TV special line, "Happy Birrrrthday" ever again, it'll be too soon.

"What Christmas Means to Me" by Stevie Wonder (1967)

Huh, I was not aware that Wonder did an entire Christmas album.  Easy on the sleigh bells, there Stevie!

"Feliz Navidad" by José Feliciano (1970)

The autocorrect actually knew Jose's name which tells you all you need to know about this holiday staple. And yeah, I can't un-hear "and from Taco John's" even today from their old ad campaign that used this song.

"A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives (1964)

The version from the old Rudolph special is better; less lethargic. I didn't realize that the song was intended to be sung by Yukon Cornelius. What would THAT have been like?

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams (1963)

Another monster holiday hit.  Andy Williams is far from cool, but this over-the-top jazz waltz soldiers on year after year. From the lyrics of this song, I feel I missed out growing up in that I didn't have Christmas experiences that involved ghost stories or roasting marshmallows. Sad. 

"Step Into Christmas" by Elton John (1973)

I'm not sure I'd listen through this one again but it's fun to hear an EJ song I wasn't familiar with. 

"Jingle Bells" by Frank Sinatra (1957)

There really isn't very much to this song which makes it fun to hear what people do with it. 

"Sleigh Ride" by The Ronettes (1963)

I maintain that this standard works better as an instrumental. The lyrics feel kind of wedged in, so to speak. However, this Spector-ized version is as good as any. 

"Last Christmas" by Wham! (1984)

I don't really recall hearing this until maybe the 1990s and today it's of course everywhere with a ton of covers.

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee (1958)

I forget that Lee was only 13 when she recorded this: crazy. 

"Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms (1957)

This is of course a natural follow up to the Brenda Lee song. I remember singing this one in grade school wearing these white capes that my mom had to cut out of a sheet. Simpler times hahahaha.

"Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley (1957)

We stay in the '50s for this, ahem, chestnut. The thing that always stands out about this version (like many of Elvis' songs, it was a cover) is the background singers that almost steal the show.

"Please Come Home For Christmas" by The Eagles (1978)

I had no idea this was a cover of a 1960 song. I was going to snark on Don Henley for writing the line, "friends and relations send salutations" but alas, Wikipedia steals all my fun. 

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love (1963)

Phil Spector apparently liked a good baritone sax.

"Cool Yule" by Louis Armstrong and The Commanders (1953)

All those cats, warm as toast! "'Zat You, Santa Claus? " is also great, from this same session. This blog entry does a deep dive into the sessions that produced these two Louis Armstrong classics.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by James Taylor (2002)

I cheated on this one as the OG Judy Garland version is what came up in the rotation but this version is too good to pass on. Taylor gets the sadness of the song's meaning across (not that Judy doesn't) from a non-Christmas movie where a family is NOT going to be spending the holidays together. 

"O Tannenbaum" by The Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965)

Truly a staple of my childhood.

"Mele Kalikimaka" by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters (1950)

It's as if Bing's character from Holiday Inn sold out and moved to Hawaii.

"(Everybody's Waiting For) The Man with the Bag" by Kay Starr (1950)

The jazzy, give-me-my-stuff song.

"Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt (1953)

Kitt's vocal (and the dudes singing backgrounds) get across the tongue-in-cheek aspect of this song; the best way to approach it.

"The Christmas Waltz" by The Carpenters (1978)

This is the top of the heap of the many versions of this classic.

Honorable mention:  "Joel The Lump of Coal" by The Killers and Jimmy Kimmel (2014)

As suggested by my brother in-law, this is pretty funny. And who knew a lump of coal could have knees? It truly is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  Happy mistletoe-ing everyone!

Dad's Movies: Emperor of the North

I work my way into the "E" section with Emperor of the North (1973)

I'm fairly confident that Dad sought out this title as it probably reminded him of his time riding the rails as a teenager (somewhat later than this movie depicts). I wonder if he ever saw 1933's Wild Boys of the Road?

Action director, Robert Aldrich, takes on the Great Depression with an epic battle between veteran hobo "A No. 1 (Marvin) and savage train conductor, "Shack" (Borgnine). Lee Marvin's character also picks up the tramp, "Cigaret" played by a very young Keith Carradine who tags along.

The plot is exceedingly simple:  Shack really doesn't like hobos catching rides on his freight train and is willing to use very violent means to repel them. He frequently uses a large hammer or a chain to accomplish this bloody task. A No. 1 is determined to ride Shack's train to Portland, OR and a lot of money is bet on him making it. The stage is set for an action set piece and battle of wills.

The characters and performances here are all caricatures and I feel like the best way to approach this show is that it's more of a fable of even a tall tale and not so much a documentary about life during the Depression. Marvin gives Kerouac-like speeches and Borgnine plays his villain very over the top. Borgnine plays Shack as if he was born angry. It's as if Borgnine's sadistic  "Fatso" character in "From Here to Eternity" went on to have a career at a railroad. If you've only seen Borgnine from his TV roles, this part will surprise you. Carradine's tagalong character doesn't always work for me but it's a necessary part.

The location and production look great. The parts of the film that weren't very effective were the interludes where we see Lee Marvin stealing poultry. These parts were surely meant to give the show some lightness but the clash of tones between the period-slapstick and the grim train scenes feel jarring.

The music score and title song are pretty bad, as if they were intended for a different kind of movie. Fortunately, the action scenes tend to be free of an underscore which helps.

Songs I Didn't Skip (Part 31)

 I suppose one day I'll load all of these songs into a playlist and see how many I'd bypass a second time. At least I'm creating some long-ass road trip playlists for when I drive across the country.

"Don't Get Me Wrong" by The Pretenders (1986)

This very catchy song has a perfect ending at a time where it could have easily taken the easy way and faded out. It's also one of my favorite singles from this band.

"Rockaway Beach" by The Ramones (1977)

The Ramones do surf rock.

"You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want) by Joe Jackson (1984)

A fun, brass and slap bass-centered tune with a pretty awkward title.

"Honky Cat" by Elton John (1972)

I've always liked this track with its banjo and trombone instrumentation.

"Southern Nights" by Glen Campbell (1977)

The same year I saw "Star Wars" in the theater 12 times, this song was on the radio. Glen really had a way with the guitar hooks.

"Rockmaker" by Toto (1978)

Mid-tier Toto is just fine but it sounds like they couldn't come up with any lyrics for the chorus after singing, "Rockmaker...". Artistic license I suppose but it seems out of place for this band.

"Saved by Zero" by The Fixx (1983)

I now have BOTH hits by The Fixx on this list. 

"Hot For Teacher" by Van Halen (1984)

Say what you will about the lyrics, this track is TIGHT with a Deep Purple-esque opening drum solo and none of the synths that people griped about on other tracks from "1984".  I forget sometimes what chops this band had.

"You Dropped a Bomb on Me" by The Gap Band (1982)

On this funky tune, the character of the bomb is played by...the tympani. And props to these guys for resisting the temptation to not use the electronic "falling bomb" sound until midway through.

"Foxy Lady" by Jimi Hendrix (1967)

I almost had to skip this one since it still reminds me of "Wayne's World". Curses!

"I Was Made For Dancin'" by Leif Garrett (1979)

My, this really was peak non-cool white Disco, wasn't it.

"Let the Four Winds Blow" by Fats Domino (1961)

"From the East to the West, I love you the best."

"Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)" by The Alan Parsons Project (1984)

From the sound of this song, it seems like this guy was doing a lot of traveling in elevators.

"Waterloo" by Abba (1974)

It's remarkable how fully-formed this group's sound was on their first single, the sax not withstanding.

"I Can't Get Next to You" by Al Green (1970)

The line, "I've been trying to call you all day but I don't have your number" gives me pause. How, Al, are you trying to call this elusive person? Do you pester the poor operator? So many questions. 

"Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley (1956)

I love the bare-bones production of this track where you can really hear Bill Black and Chet Atkins.

"I'll Be Back" by The Beatles (1964)

In love, some of us are gluttons for punishment.

"Teahouse on the Tracks" by Donald Fagen (1993)

This album was kind of a soft opening for Steely Dan to resume making albums and touring again as Becker played on the album and toured with Fagen to promote it. It's not prime material but does have an extended trombone solo. 

"You & Eye" by David Byrne (1994)

I listened to this album a lot when it came out as I had just moved to Minneapolis and this was one of the first CDs I bought while working at Musicland (during my misspent retail years). The song is one of the better ones on the album with Byrne's fondness for Latin styles and a killer bass solo.

"Things I Miss the Most" by Steely Dan (2003)

This may not be peak-Dan but it's very funny and of course musically impeccable.