17 December 2012 - Amy Grant & Vince Gill - Tennessee Christmas

Y'all know I love Amy Grant.  This song is from her first Christmas album - she's done at least two - but this version is done with her then-future husband Vince Gill.  It's simple, beautiful.... and not Bible-thumping.  Enjoy it.

14 December 2012 - Lucille Ball - We Need A Little Christmas

This Christmas song is from the musical "Mame".  Let me give you some context.  The setting is late November, one week before Thanksgiving.  Everyone thinks Auntie Mame is nuts for wanting to decorate for Christmas.  But she deems it necessary, to raise everyone's spirits.

Now, we see Christmas stuff in stores in early September.  Who's buying this stuff?!

Anyway, as a Christmas song, this works great - it portrays the season as a real morale booster.  And it is!  And Lucy - who we all love - isn't much of a singer, but she is perfect in portraying the improving mood of this delightful song.

13 December 2012 - Sunny Sweeney - One More Christmas Beer

I really don't have much to add here. This hilarious and relatable Sunny Sweeney Christmas song pretty much speaks for itself.

12/12/12 - Everclear - Santa Baby / Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

This is a song meant to be sung by a girl.

Art Alexakis is not a girl.

So why does this version work?

But it does.  It's slightly creepy, and it's still compelling and fun and brings something that others just couldn't.  Plus, it sounds great with guitar (and that bassline!).



And, for those of you who think this version is an abomination.... here's Eartha Kitt.  She wasn't Catwoman yet, but she purrs through this song beautifully!

11 December 2012 - Lady Antebellum - A Holly Jolly Christmas

Here's the ridiculously cute A Holly Jolly Christmas video from Lady Antebellum's recently released On This Winter's Night record (which I still haven't picked up -- yet). The kid in this video is freaking brilliant.

10 December 2012 - Cocteau Twins - Frosty the Snowman

I've always loved Elizabeth Fraser's voice on this classic song.  It practically oozes cool.   As in, a chilly winter.  It's not QUITE as light and airy as other Cocteau Twins tunes, but it's light and airy enough.



I don't usually do this, but here is a link to download this tune yourself.  Have a nice day, and Happy Holidays!

7 December 2012 - Adam Sandler - Chanukah Song

Chanukah is.... a festival of lights.  And it starts tomorrow.

Sure, he's a little schticky, but Adam Sandler certainly has an encyclopedic knowledge of famous people who are Jewish.  This song started off life as a one-off on Saturday Night Live, when he was a cast member, but it has taken on new life, for its celebration of Jewish culture.  Yes, people take this song seriously.  And really, even through it's a joke, it's also a serious assertion that Christmas isn't the only holiday happening this time of year.



Actually, Adam takes it seriously, too.  So seriously that he revisited the same joke twice more.  This is Part 2.  I'm not certain I agree that Courtney + Lenny = a funky, bad-ass Jew.



Here's Part 3.  It might be my favorite of the trilogy, if just for the cameo by Rob Schneider.



He also turned this song into an awful animated movie, called Eight Crazy Nights.  I won't insult your taste by posting anything from that.

(Update: 18 December 2020) Adam did this a FOURTH time...