Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 8

With just over two and a half weeks to go until Christmas we've already looked at a liuttle more than half of the 42 tracks on my latest holiday mix, Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! You can access this year's mix on my holiday music website, HERE. Today, I've got some background on three more tracks. Let's get started!

Track 25
Dead Cowboys Love Christmas, Too, Simons and Cameron (2008) 

Simons and Cameron are a songwriting team founded in 2002 by Gordon Simons and Lane Cameron. Currently based in Reno, Nevada, the group writes and produces music for television and radio and specializes in Halloween- and Christmas-themed music. Both members have impressive resumes. Simons graduated from UCLA in 1990 and got his start creating jingles for Los Angeles radio station KLA, where he also served as an advertising executive. Cameron, who plays guitar, piano, bass and blues harp, attended Boston's prestigious Berklee School of Music. He has played with Steven Stills, the Allman Brothers Band and former Jefferson Starship lead guitarist Craig Chaquico. 

Hear "Dead Cowboys Love Christmas, Too," by Simons and Cameron

Track 24
Goin' Up to Bethlehem, Bob Rivers as John Fogerty (2000)

A former on-air radio personality who worked primarily in the northwest United States, Bob Rivers is perhaps best known for his recorded parodies, many of which involve holiday-related themes. This is the fourth Bob Rivers parody I've used on my annual mixes. Two of the previous three were send-ups of well-known rock tunes that were remade by Rivers with a holiday twist. In 2015, I included Rivers' song "Sled Zeppelin (D'yer Santa)" on my mix "Deck Those Halls." It was a holiday version of the Led Zeppelin hit "D'yer Mak'er" from their 1973 album "Houses of the Holy." Two years ago, I used a Rivers send-up of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" called "Smells Like the Night Before Christmas" on my mix "All Alone on Christmas." My 2016 mix "Let It Snow" included a comedy bit by Rivers about Elvis Presley called "A Message from the King."

Rivers got his start as a radio DJ in Connecticut where he worked for a number of different stations. From there he went to work on WAAF in Worcester, Massachusetts, a station I used to listen to growing up in suburban Boston. It was there that Rivers started creating parody and novelty songs both for his own shows and the "American Comedy Network" syndication service. In 1987 he released his album Twisted Christmas, which contained a variety of holiday novelties and ultimately went gold. It was followed by five additional albums:  I Am Santa Claus, Twisted Tunes 1994, More Twisted Christmas, Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire, and White Trash Christmas.

This year's Bob Rivers tune is a set-up of the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit "Up Around the Bend," called "Goin' Up to Bethlehem":

Track 23
Silent Night, U.C. Berkeley Free Speechniks (1964)

This is the third of the short holiday tunes I've included in this year's mix prepared by participants in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley. Background on these songs is available in the write-up from December 1, above, and the lyrics for todays entry are as follows:

Hear "God Rest Ye Free Speech" and Other FSM Carols by the U.C. Berkeley Free Speechniks

I'll be back with more holiday cheer within the next few days. I've nearly finished with all of my holiday shopping and I'm as proud as I can be.

Let It Snow!, Part 3

Don't stop me, I'm on a roll! Here are some quick thoughts about the next three tracks from my annual holiday mix for 2016:

Track 9
Holiday Greetings from David Bowie (as Elvis Presley) (2013)

From all outward appearances, it seems as though David Bowie lived a wonderfully rich and happy life. Such statements are often intended as consolation following a premature departure. To me, particularly in the case of David Bowie, this richness of his life only serves to make his passing that much sadder. 

Bowie was an artist, a writer, an actor, a songwriter, and a performance artist, but he will probably be best remembered as a tremendously bold and innovative musician and recording artist. I was a huge fan from as far back as I can remember. In fact, a brief glance at a list of his best-known songs conjures up a series of remarkably specific memories of where I was and what I was doing when each track first registered for me:  Changes, Space Oddity, Young Americans, Ashes to Ashes, Cat People (Putting Out Fires), DJ, Fashion, Let's Dance, Modern Love, Absolute Beginners, This Is Not America — the list goes on.

The track I selected for this year's mix is a short little holiday greeting Bowie recorded in 2013 for the BBC6 program "This Is Radio Clash." Speaking in the unmistakable voice of the late Elvis Presley, Bowie says:

“Hello everybody, this is David Bowie making a telephone call from the US of A. At this time of the year I can’t help but remember my British-ness and all the jolly British folk, so here’s to you and have yourselves a Merry little Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you very much.”

Interestingly enough, Bowie tied one of Elvis's record-breaking statistics shortly after his death this past January when 12 of his albums simultaneously scored spots in Billboard's Top 40 weekly album listings. 

Of course, one of the most beloved David Bowie holiday tracks is a song he recorded with Bing Crosby in 1977 for the holiday television show "Bing Crosby's Olde Fashioned Holiday Special." Unfortunately, Crosby died before the program first aired, but this wonderful recording preserves the memory:

David Bowie was an absolute original, and he died far too soon.

Watch the animated film "The Snowman" with an introduction by David Bowie

Track 8
A Message from the King, by Bob Rivers

I posted about comedian/radio DJ Bob Rivers last year when I included his holiday-themed rendition of the Led Zeppelin classic D'yer Mak'er on last year's mix. This year I included a track brings Elvis Presley back to life and sits him (where else?) at the holiday dinner table:

Track 7

The Season's Upon Us, by The Dropkick Murphys

I like many different styles of music, but what I listen to and probably love most is straight-up rock and roll. Without meaning to do this intentionally, I noticed several days ago that many of my recent holiday CDs feature at least one rock track that serves a personal stand-out cut from the mix. Last year it was "O Christmas Tree," by The Orphan, The Poet. This year, it's the seventh track of the mix, "The Season's Upon Us," by the amazing Boston-based band known as the  Dropkick Murphys.

I was born in Boston myself, and for 17 wonderful years I lived in that city's diverse South End neighborhood. I worked for the City for several years under Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, and I spent a couple of years in the aggregate working on a number of local political campaigns. Boston's political scene is rich and exciting, as demonstrated by the number of Massachusetts natives who have gone on to national office, or at least played in the genuine major leagues.

Boston's also known as a breeding ground for up-and-coming musicians, largely because of the many colleges and universities in the area. I spent a year studying urban government at Boston University in the early 1980s, and there was never a night when some hot new band wasn't playing somewhere.

The Dropkick Murphys started taking off right around the time I was relocating to California, so I don't have any particular history as an early fan of the band, but I love their stuff and really enjoy this holiday track. The band took its name, by the way, from an old-time professional wrestler who competed (performed?) in the area during the 1940s. By the time I hit down, Dropkick was better known for his post-wrestling career as the manager of a well-known sanitarium for hardcore alcoholics. More than a few wonderful people became sober at Dropkick Murphy's, and there's a special place in heaven for him for the good work he did.

Deck Those Halls, Part 5 (Tracks 13-15)

Christmas is fast approaching, like some demented maniac in a third-rate horror film – and I realize that I'd better put a little more time into this project if I'm to have any hope of sharing at least a little something about each of the 42 tracks on my latest holiday mix before Christmas. My latest mix, Deck Those Halls, is available on my holiday music website, where you'll also find a track list, CD label and jewel-box insert card – everything you need to make a copy of your own. But several big projects at work have been taking more time than I'd hoped, which leaves less time than I'd hoped, and, of course, my computer printer chose Thanksgiving weekend to die, just as I was starting to prepare my annual mailing to family and friends. So, yes, I'm running well behind this year. Who isn't? But we'll all survive, I'm sure. There's no sense in letting time pressure or the fear of running late ruin this wonderful time of year!

Track 15
D'yer Santa (Sled Zeppelin), by Bob Rivers (1997)

I've always liked the music of Led Zeppelin, as well as most of the solo and side project stuff released by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. But I'm not the kind of fan who can discuss any of the above with even the slightest degree of confidence. So when I first noticed this holiday number, I believed what I was told, which is that it was the work of the actual Led Zeppelin – well, the surviving members, anyway. Of course, it's not. It's actually the creation of Bob Rivers, who's both a very successful rock radio DJ and a talented musical parody artist who specializes in holiday material, among other things. To date, he's released five studio albums of Christmas parodies, each of which offers at least as much good material as not, which, in this genre, is pretty damn good.

Rivers has been into radio since his early teens, and he's had a long and – well, I was going to call it a "distinguished" career, but that might be pushing it a little. Let's just say it was long and lots of fun. He started doing parody records during a stint at WAAF-FM in Worcester, Massachusetts, and in 1988 he released his first parody album, Twisted Christmas, featuring "The 12 Pains of Christmas." During the next quarter century, Rivers continued to work his day job as a radio announcer but also put out a string of successful parody records, many of which had a decidedly Christmas feel to them. 

This particular track is from Rivers' 1997 release, "More Twisted Christmas," and it's inspired by the classic rock song "D'yer Maker" by Led Zeppelin. 

Rivers retired last year, and currently lives with his wife in Washington State.

Track 14
I Adore Christmas, by Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage (c. 1987)

Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage

This is just a short soundbite I first heard on The Daily Wav, a wonderful website that posts a simple audio clip each day, typically under ten seconds long. This one's a perfect transitional soundbite from one song to another, and I'm always pleased to give Dame Edna a little attention. I've known a number of drag performers over the years, most of whom have been delightful people, and very funny. Dame Edna is the creation of Australian performer Barry Humphries, who first started using the character in the 1950s, believe it or not. The Dame has certainly evolved over the years, but she has always been loved best for her ability to connect with everyday people as she quietly skewers the notions of celebrity that she simultaneously adores and reviles. I will have to add some further thoughts about her another time.

Track 13
Santa's Lost His Mojo, by Jeremy Lister (2008)