Callista Cassady

Hank Thompson - I'd Like to Have an Elephant for Christmas

The "Mighty" Fall - No Xmas for John Quays (Peel Session version)

One, two, "three christmas" by the fabulous mexican singer Queta Garay.



Queta Garay - Tres Navidades (1963)

(NEW UPLOAD)

Natasha, from Radio Oh-la-la-fame, makes a great guestpost on this blog. She says she has more goodies coming up!

Christmas in Québec is a big, cold, snow-covered affair. It starts the day after the Halloween stuff has been cleared from store shelves and lasts until people finally decide to chuck out their drying up Christmas tree onto that big pile of snow by the driveway so it can be recycled into Canadian paper sometime in February. This song by sixties sensation Les Classels has all the trappings of a Christmas song, with lots of neige. And that island rhythm is so much warmer than a fake fireplace!

Les Classels - Le Sentier de Neige (Ohshare)

Everyone remembers their first time.

My first time was with Mae West.

It's not as shocking as you think, dirty minded people.

Last year, this was the very first full Christmas album I recorded, transferred, and offered as sharity anywhere.
This is what my description of the album read as posted at FaLaLaLaLa:

In 1966, Mae West was on a roll! Her earlier album release that year was "Way Out West", a minor hit on college campuses that featured songs like "When A Man Loves A Woman", "Shakin' All Over", and two Beatle covers (everyone was covering the Beatles in '66).

For more info on that album, click here:

Mae West - Way Out West

Quick to act before the momentum ran out, Mae went into the recording studio again to record this album. They probably rushed the recordings in order to get it out on time for Christmas (maybe why there's only eight songs on the album) but she gives each tune the FULL Mae West treatment.

This features 7 Christmas songs and the obligatory Beatle cover (With Love From Me To You).

In later years, this album was re-released under the title "Mae In December" (does anyone know what label it was released on?) and you can find copies of both occasionally on eBay and at MusicStack.

This copy was found in VG to EX condition via eBay and was transferred / restored / encoded using SonicFoundry Sound Forge 4.0.


When I offered this last year (and the Ken Griffin record I referred to in today's earlier yuleblog entry), I actually enjoyed scouring websites via Google and trying to find out info on Christmas releases. It was these two records that planted the seed that inspired me to start up the yuleblog.







Capt

Last year at FaLaLaLaLa, I began my career in Christmas sharity. One of these shares was a 45 single of "Winter Wonderland" and "Up On The Housetop" by Ken Griffin that I had just acquired from my in-laws record collection.

If you look at the Rondo label of "Winter Wonderland", the credited songwriter is Irving Berlin! Fact checking wasn't a huge priority in the music industry back in the 1950s obviously.

When I typed out the description for that record, I didn't know who Ken Griffin was. I did some Google searches for background information and the like. At the time, I stated that Ken released two Christmas albums:

+ Christmas Organ And Chimes (Rondo-Lette A-40), 1950/1951
+ The Organ Plays At Christmas (Columbia CL-692), 1959

Some new research informs us that Griffin did indeed release a Christmas album entitled "Merry Christmas (Organ And Chimes)" (Rondo RLP-10) in 1951. It was a 10" LP that I haven't found... yet!

This Rondo website claims that Eric Silver was the actual credited artist on the "Christmas Organ And Chimes" (Rondo-Lette A-40) released in 1958. The album you are looking at in Rondo-Lette A-38 and was released in 1959 - the same year as the Columbia release listed above.

I don't understand it either.

Want more confusion? One half of the tracks on this album are simply Ken Griffin playing Christmas tunes on the organ, the other half is INDEED organ and chimes! I personally enjoy the solo organ tracks on this album - it places you at a 1940s skating rink at Christmas time when you listen. Considering Griffin got his start playing at roller rinks probably didn't hurt either!

Lace up your skates and take a lap:


Ken Griffin - Christmas Organ


Happy listening... skating... whatever!


Capt

According to the Sheila TVgraphie, this is from a program entitled Douce France and was broadcast on December 18, 1966.

The video truly lives up to this blog's name! Sheila, mercifully out of her insane bouffant phase, and her high-booted friends sing and dance in front of Christmas trees and inside what looks like a department store.



Or watch it at Youtube.

Xmas with the Beatles? Yeah, quite nice. But doesn't Yuletide with a hippo beat the eggnog out of Christmas with, er, Ringo? Judge for yourself . . .

Gayla Peevey - I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Every Christmas playlist needs a bit of Bach for the real Christmas spirrit!

Here's a nice ep by Minekawa Takako (mrs. Cornelius)

(A Little Touch Of) Baroque in Winter.

Tracks:
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (J.S. Bach)
Christmas Wish
La Valse Grise n3 on Aminure
Snow frolic

Christmas in Graceland is nice, but nothing beats Christmas with the Beatles!

Ringo for Christmas - The Rainbow Choir
All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle - Dora Bryan

A real guilty pleasure from those gloriously innocent days of childhood when winter was chilly, snow was high, and each and every Christmas record featured a terribly blaring children's choir: a truly shameless piece of unadulterated heavy pomp from Washington, DC, glamsters Angel's 1977 album White Hot which used to tint my frozen cheeks with a tender touch of glowing scarlet - and still does.

Angel - Winter Song

Here are two great Christmas songs from the king of exotica. They are found on a various artist album called Happy Holidays. Santa Claus' Party appears on the Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails cd and they have it fade into another song. Here it is in it's entirety. Both from 1952.

LES BAXTER AND ORCHESTRA :: SANTA CLAUS' PARTY

LES BAXTER AND ORCHESTRA :: HANG YOUR WISHES ON THE TREE

Great song. To bad they didn't do a whole album of Christmas music.

SERGIO MENDES & BRAIL '66 :: THE CHRISTMAS SONG

Marlene Paul - I Wanna Spend Christmas with Elvis

Yesterday, two Christmas flexis were offered by members of FaLaLaLaLa in their Forums section.

FLLLL member Shemp gave us the first paper record at 78 RPM. "General Motors Songs of Christmas" is a two tracked flexi that features the "General Motors Chorus" singing Christmas favorites. Do you think GM pulled some of these singers off the line to record this?

This prompted FLLLL member PDMan to comment that he had a Lawrence Welk Christmas flexi.

After some urging (and ah-share, and ah-share), he was gracious enough to post "Christmas Music For Your Holiday Pleasure", compliments of your local Dodge dealer.

Back in 1958, if you test drove a new Dodge, you were handed this flexi with Welk introducing the "luvely" Lennon Sisters singing "Merry Christmas From Our House To Your House."

All of this communal sharing touched me deeply (although some think I'm touched in the head already). So I dug deep into my stacks of 33s and 45s and found the one and only flexi in my entire record collection.

In the early 1950s while at the height of his popularity, Liberace recorded several of these Christmas flexis in different years and sent them to fan club members in good standing.

This flexi was one of the very first items I won on eBay many moons ago (paid around $20). Since then, I've only seen one other Liberace Christmas flexi on eBay - a 1952 version that sold for nearly $70 back in 2004.

The recording is short - it clocks in around 1:13. You'll hear Liberace personally thank you for buying his records, attending his concerts, and coercing his brother George to actually speak (a very rare occurrence). You'll either get the warm fuzzies or feel mild nausea; two feelings closely associated with Christmas.

Test out your emotional response here:


Liberace - 1954 Christmas Greetings Flexi (w brother George)


And if you can't get enough Liberace Christmas (and really, who can't?), here is an excerpt from his infamous 1954 Christmas Special:



Happy listening...


Capt

On October 18th, I posted a yuleblog entry that was written entirely in German because I had downloaded an album from my friend Jeff's website that was entirely in German!

I acquired this album from a relative of my wife who had an amazing assortment of Christmas music.

This album features a children's choir singing traditional carols in German backed by Will Glahe and His Orchestra. Glahe also gets his fair share of instrumentals as well.

Not much is known about Glahe. Google searches have pointed to a lot of his records across cyberspace as well as the usual sites that attach onto a musician's name and declare you can find "Will Glahe Ringtones" or "Will Glahe Lyrics".

How does one get lyrics off of instrumentals?

This album has tracks to accommodate anyone even if you're not feeling very Bavarian. Just to hear the kiddie chorus sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in Deutsch is worth the price of admission alone... wait, there IS no admission!

This album was in excellent shape and was one of the more cleaner rips I had this year:


Will Glahe & His Orchestra - Christmas Greetings From Germany


Glückliches Hören... oops, I promised no German! Happy listening...


Capt

On January 2, 2006, a FaLaLaLaLa member named Elaine Zap posted this in the Members Share section of the forums:

"In 1963, Bobby Vinton put out an EP called "The Four Songs of Christmas". Three of the four songs were repeated on other complilations, but "The Christmas Song... (the chestnuts roasting on an open fire song)" never seemed to show up anywhere else.

"I'd really love to have it if someone could post it for me (provided it's not still available somewhere). It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't available, though, because I can barely find mention of it even when I Google it.

After searching in the usual places (eBay, GEMM, Musicstack), I concluded this was indeed a dead end.

One morning this past August, I clicked open my e-mail account and found this little gem on eBay (where else?)  I clicked, I paid, I won it!

I do own Bobby Vinton's "A Very Merry Christmas" which can usually be found on eBay selling for $50 where his version of "White Christmas" can be found. On Vinton's "Great Songs Of Christmas" CD, "Silver Bells" can be found. "Kissin' Christmas: The Bobby Vinton Christmas Album" contains none of the four songs listed here.

Elaine, I believe you are right... this promo 45 (and EP I'm still looking for) is the only place in the world where you can find Bobby Vinton singing "The Christmas Song"!

And through my searches, it also contains the only version of "O Holy Night" Vinton ever recorded!

I lucked out! What better way to share my good fortune than to share my good luck with you:


Bobby Vinton - Christmas Promo EP


Happy listening...


Capt

The very fist song on this blog was "I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You" by the wonderful Claudine Longet. This song was also recorded by Saint Etienne in 1998.

The background chorus was later 'borrowed' by Pizzicato Five for their song 20th century Girl. LaLaLaLa LaLaLaLaaaa!

A lot of searches through endless stacks of Christmas vinyl turned up this little gem that was originally released at Christmas, 1965.

At first, I thought that this was another album marked for my "CD Available" pile. According to all my Google searches and checks, this album was released once on CD back in 1995, has been long out of print, and is much sought after by collectors throughout cyberspace.

Bonus!

Jimmy Dean was always a shrewd businessman. This was a man who once employed Roy Clark (of "Hee Haw" fame) and fired him for being constantly tardy!

Dean had a long recording career throughout the 1950s and 1960s - spawning his only #1 hit "Big Bad John in 1961 - and had not one but TWO TV variety shows named after him (the latter being the more successful one from 1963-1966).

This album was released at the very height of his popularity and it's a wonderful Christmas album. I never realized before what a melodious voice JD possessed - there are some tunes in here that are drop dead good! If you're looking for a change in pace, I would recommend this one.

That's my opinion. Let me know what you think:


Jimmy Dean - Jimmy Dean's Christmas Card


Happy listening...


Capt

Only 0.7% of the Japanese population are Christians*, but... everybody loves Christmas, right?

So, for my first contribution to this blog, here is a song by my favourite group: Pizzicato Five, with their Christmas single "Juni gatsu niju yokka"', or 24 decembre'.

And, as a bonus; here are two versions of Silent night from their 'out-takes'-album Great White Wonder : version 1 and 2.

Captain Beefheart -
There Ain't No Santa Claus on the Evenin' Stage

Frank Sinatra - Santa Claus is coming to town

Here's another yuletide favorite, this time coming from The King of Colchester, ex-head-Cleaner from Venus, "Britain's busiest songsmith, tunesmith and horticultural assassin" and all-round Greatest Living Englishman, Martin Newell, celebrating the "shoe-string saturnalia" of "Christmas in Suburbia", including gallons of "cheap old cherry wine" and bouts of drunken sex . . . now that's what I call Christmas!

Martin Newell - Christmas in Suburbia


PS: Read all about the man (and the Cleaners and just about everything else) in Giles Smith's excellent - and very funny - book "Lost in Music".

This little gem was found on eBay earlier this year. At first, I didn't know anything about it because the auction description was vague at best but the scan of the label is what caught my attention.

I placed a bid and did a Google on "CLM Industries". I scrolled down on the first page of results and it came back:

CLM Industries - Maker of Toronto and Chicago warning sirens during the Cold War. One was most famously featured in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers" used as a vehicle mounted PA system.

So this record had that going for it.

The eBay auction ended without a whimper and several days later I received the record.

The flip side was "The Sounds of Christmas" - reprinted from their 1959 Christmas brochure. It sounded very familiar and I began wondering why it did.

Earlier this month, our neighbor Lee at his blog posted six Line Material 45s released through the years. And those record label scans he posted looked awfully familiar. That fact was confirmed when Brainwerk posted this tidbit at his blog - almost the same exact label!

C is for Canada. L is for Line. M is for Material. I never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed and this proves it folks!

So for all you Line Material completists out there, here is my (unknowing at first) contribution to a subgenre that keeps expanding:


CLM Industries - Christmas 1961 - SINGLE


Happy listening...


Capt

OK. Thanksgiving is over. It is officially time to get this party started. Put on the platforms and get ready to shake it. Here is Yuletide Disco!

MIRROR IMAGE :: YULETIDE DISCO

Hi, folks. First off, thanks for the invite. I'm Roy Black from the infamous Germans Under Cover blog, but don't you fret, I won't post any Germanized cover versions over here. For starters, I'd like to present you with one of my favorite seasonal records, Coldcut's "Christmas Break" which the dynamic dee-jaying duo of Matt Black & Jonathan More put out in 1989, long before the disc-throwing Ninja became their distinctive trademark. Somewhat neglected at the time of its release, here's 6 1/2 minutes of snow-capped, candy-striped turntable wizardry which'll hopefully ring your Christmas bells. Enjoy!

Coldcut - Coldcut's Christmas Break

I like my Christmas to be sexy, and Marilyn is as sexy as it gets...

But... apparently I was fooled and it wasn't Marilyn after all.

Credit for this version should be given to Cynthia Basinet:


Cynthia Basinet - Santa Baby

Song has been removed on instruction of the management of Cynthia Basinet.

Here is a song by Cary Grant called Christmas Lullaby off of a record called Joyous Christmas, Vol. 6.

CARY GRANT :: CHRISTMAS LULLABY

As requested on my blog, a repost of my Christmas mixes from last year:

Spiked Candy Canes Part 1 : (link 1) (link 2)

Claudine Longet - Snow, Dressy Bessy - All the Right Reasons, Deerhoof - Xmas Tree, Isabelle Antenna - Noelle Hawai, Peggy Lee - The Christmas Spell, Stina Nordenstam - Soon After Christmas, The Diskettes - Noel, The Gems - Love For Christmas, The Kinks - Father Christmas, The Knife - Christmas Reindeer, The Pipettes - In The Bleak Midwinter, The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas (46 MB)



Spiked Candy Canes Part 2: (link 1) (link 2)

Belle And Sebastian - I Took Some Time For Christmas, Brian Wilson - On Christmas Day, Ginette Reno - Vive Le Vent, Julie London - I'd Like You For Christmas, Lauren Laverne - In The Bleak Midwinter, Marlene Paul - I Wanna Spend Christmas With Elvis, Nena - Wunder Gescheh'n, Of Montreal - My Favourite Christmas (In A Hundred Words Or Less), The Carpenters - Merry Christmas, Darling, The Shitbirds (ft April March)- Christmas Is A-Coming, Universal Robot Band - Disco Christmas, Yo La Tengo - It's Christmas Time (42 MB)

Two options for downloading - NetFileGo, and SnapDrive. I tried to find hosts that I can directlink to (so no ads, waiting etc) and that are supported by download accelerators (both worked well for me with Free Download Manager). But if you have any other preferred hosts you would recommend for the next large files I plan to share, please leave a comment.

NOBODY is going to top this - the best Christmas-song EVER! Raffaella Cara's Balla Balla, baby! [Grazie Plipp]

Gamine count French film noir and Julie London among their influences, and don't disappoint, bringing just the right amount of drama and style to their beautiful, grand piano-backed torch songs. 'Oh, What A Kiss!' is not strictly a Christmas song as such, but an ode to a passionate and possibly illicit first kiss, the tale taking place on a cold night before Christmas:

And, in French:

Les rues
Sont enneigées
La ville
Est illuminée
Ces décors de Noël
Me paraissent irréels.

Watch 'Oh, Mon Cheri' on YouTube.
Gamine on MySpace.

One of the very first letters that came to my PO box was from Denise of South Charleston, West Virginia. She writes:

"I noticed that your blog had a review and an option to download the album / music in July, 2006. I have been looking for this recording off and on for many years".

Yes and no. I did indeed review a copy of Pete Fountain's "'Candy Clarinet': Merry Christmas From" but never offered it as a download. That job had already been filled by my good friend Ernie when he offered this album at his blog last December.

But...

Shortly after this review was posted, Ernie sent me a link to an eBay auction that was offering a STEREO copy of the Fountain album that he wanted as an upgrade.

Then it hit me - I already had a copy of the stereo version somewhere in the stacks of LPs I owned! After some shuffling, I did indeed find it! I offered to send it to Ernie so he could transfer it over and share it as an upgrade at his blog. Ernie - gracious as always - declined my offer, stating he had way to much stuff lined up already and encouraged me to transfer it over myself.

If I needed anymore convincing, yesterday afternoon we received a comment from John here at the yuleblog:

"I am looking for Pete Fountain's Christmas Album.
Cannot locate it,any help appreciated - Candy Clarinet"

I'm beginning to wonder if someone played this and found a backward masking - the whole Santa - Satan issue confirmed! Perhaps it will tell us the secret of life, where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, or who will win Super Bowl XLI next February.

So before anyone else asks, here is my first offering for the 2006 downloading season:


Pete Fountain - Candy Clarinet: Merry Christmas From (STEREO)


Happy listening...


Capt

Here are three Exciting Christmas Stories. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all save Christmas in their own stories. Sorry this one is so dusty. This one doesn't say Power Records, but it basically is.

SUPERMAN :: LIGHT UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE MR. PRESIDENT

BATMAN :: CHRISTMAS CAROL CAPER PART 1

BATMAN :: CHRISTMAS CAROL CAPER PART 2

WONDER WOMAN :: PRISONER OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND

I’m really glad Lush asked me to participate in this Christmasblog, because I think it’s a real shame what people are listening to in those dark days at the end of the year (in the Netherlands the hideous Skyradio for example).

I’ll start of with my favorite soul singer who nailed some great Christmas classics. But then again, if Otis would have been singing his grocery list it would have sounded great as well…

Otis Redding – Merry Christmas, Baby

One of the most famous Dutch X-mas songs is Fay Lovsky's Christmas was a Friend of Mine. Released in 1981, it became an evergreen and nowadays is on every Christmasplaylist of every Dutch radiostation. Still, it manages to stay fresh, cool and seasonal. Fay Lovsky (real name: Fay Luyendijk) is a multi-instrumentalist, who started out as a singer-songwriter, but generally transferred to music for commercials and films. She worked with famous cartoonists Robert Crumb and Joost Swarte, and plays very funny theatrical shows with her band.

Fay Lovsky - Christmas was a friend of mine

Hey everybody. Let me introduce myself. I'm Brainwerk and I run a blog called Check The Cool Wax. I try to post mostly out of print records that lean toward novelty, tv/movie personality, kitsch, lounge, odd, etc. For a sample of the things you find there, check out Volume One. I'm really excited to be able to contribute to Christmas A Go Go! My first post is a 1961 record from a guy called Lenny Dee. In my humble opinion, he the unsung hero of the lounge-fueled crazy organ. I think the stand-out tracks are Sleigh Ride and Mister Santa (played to the tune of Mr. Sandman). You will either really like this or poke your ears out with a sharp object.

LENNY DEE :: HAPPY HOLI-DEE