I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Part 2

I hope everyone survived yesterday's Black Friday festivities, although this post-Thanksgiving ritual doesn't seem to be the kind of all-hands-on-deck event it used to be. I make it a point to stay at home on Black Friday myself each year. Who needs the aggravation?

Time now for a quick look at the next several tracks on my latest holiday music mix, "I Wish It Was Christmas Today!"

Track 4
Holiday Greetings, Steve Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri of “The Sopranos”

Steve Schirripa

I first heard of the HBO series The Sopranos at a 1999 concert by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band when Bruce introduced his longtime pal and lead guitar player Steve Van Zandt as, among other things, one of the stars of the blockbuster mob-related drama. That was 25 years ago, and while I've probably seen bits and pieces of a majority of the show's 86 episodes it was only recently that I finally started to watch the series from start to finish. It's an incredible show, and I guess I'm lucky to be able to have so many dramatic moments to look forward to when they're probably old news for everyone else.

Steve Schirripa plays the character known as Bobby Bacala, a former driver to mob boss Junior Soprano who takes on increasing responsibility and eventually goes to work for Junior's nephew, Tony. Bobby is a fascinating character. Although his family has deep roots in organized crime, he is a quiet and sensitive guy who is deeply devoted to his wife and children. While I haven't reached this point in the story yet, I understand that Bobby will eventually lose his wife in a car accident and marry Tony's hot-tempered sister, Janice. I have a feeling this isn't going to turn out so well.  

Schirripa is a wonderful actor, and he manages to make Bobby Bacala a sympathetic and even likable character. Schirripa has appeared in a range of dramatic and comedic roles on TV and film, many of which involve playing goombas, tough Italian-American guys with possible ties to unsavory organizations. Schirripa has taken advantage of this by authoring a number of books including A Goomba's Guide to Life, The Goomba's Book of Love and The Goomba Diet:  Large and Loving It.

I enjoy Schirripa's work in The Sopranos. It's refreshing to see even the toughest characters acknowledge and appreciate the tenderness and compassion that are such a key part of his character's personality.

Track 5
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, A Mark and Lard Classic Cut, featuring Perry Como (2002)

(L to R): Marc Riley and Marc Radcliffe

I'm not sure where or when I originally found this clip, but I stumbled on it in a folder or assorted tracks while putting together my latest mix this fall. I've since discovered that Mark and Lard are Mark Radcliffe and Marc "Lard" Riley, who hosted several popular radio shows on Britain's Radio 1 network in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

The duo is known for its series of "classic cuts," unique versions of classic songs that have supposedly been modified in various ways while stored in the station's audio vault. These alterations include not only scratches, hiss and other signs of wear and tear, but various comic edits that call attention to aspects of the artist's past or other cultural phenomena. 

I confess that I engaged in a little editing of my own on this track, and I'm still a little torn about whether my changes were appropriate. The track features crooner Perry Como singing the classic "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," but Mark and Lard have replaced the words "Coming to Town" with the word "pissed throughout the tune. It's not clear whether "pissed is supposed to mean angry or intoxicated, but either way it's not exactly something you'd want young children to hear on Christmas Eve. I've gone through and cleaned up their substitutions in all but one instance, and the resulting clip still sounds a lot more interesting than the straight Perry Como version. Can you find the one remaining place where the word "pissed" appears?

Hear the Unmodified Mark and Lard Classic Cut

Hear Perry Como's Original Version of the Song

Visit a Library of Additional Mark and Lard Classic Cuts 

Track 6
Santa, The Garlic Kings (2012)

Formed around 2009, The Garlic Kings were a Russian folk/punk band that tempered a brash punk sensibility with elements of traditional folk, humor and youthful cynicism. It was a mix that appealed to audiences from the disparate punk, skins and folk communities in their native St. Petersburg and beyond. Indeed, their core philosophy — described as "no politics, no racism" — built on this musical pastiche and attracted notice from well outside their native country. While the band broke up less than ten years after getting started, they left a wealth of spirited recordings including a four-track EP titled "Yo-Ho-Ho Motherf**kers!" 

Here's the song I included in this year's mix:

Back some day soon with thoughts on the next several tracks. My latest mix is now available on my holiday music blog.