Christmas Cheer - Part 9

Here's a little background on three more of the tracks from my latest holiday mix, Christmas Cheer. 

Willie Nelson at His 90th Birthday Concert

Track 26
Holiday Greetings from Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson celebrated his 90th birthday this past April, and while I can’t claim to be especially familiar with his extensive catalogue, I really like a lot of the stuff I’ve heard. Beyond that, there’s no disputing that he’s a bona fide original — a genuine national treasure. From where I sit, his work ethic, activism and honesty deserve great respect.

A long description of Nelson's myriad contributions to our culture and politics is probably beyond the scope of this blog, and it would take more time than I have available to do justice to the task. I'm just happy he's still "on the road [again], doing well and doing good.

Listen to a Collection of Willie Nelson’s Christmas Songs

Order the New Willie Nelson Bobblehead

Track 27
Christmas Time for Sailors, Green Monkey Christmas Chorale (2019)

Forty years ago, a Seattle musician named Tom Dyer started a fledgling underground record label with the idea of producing and promoting some of his city’s formidable underground music artists. The label, known as Green Monkey Records, has never been terribly successful financially, but it’s a gritty little competitor that sprung back to life after an eight-year hiatus in 2009 and is still releasing new music today (albeit from its new location in Olympia). The label boasts a number of local bands whose sound has been described as "post-punk/pre-grunge Seattle" and "indy pop music—good honest, ballsy, delicate, garage-y, punky, folky, mildly trippy pop music."

Since its resurrection 14 years ago the label has perhaps become best known for its annual holiday compilations, proceeds of which benefit MusicCares, an industry-based charity that supports struggling musicians with health care and other basic needs. Featured artists include such Green Monkey artists as The Green Pajamas, Donovan’s Brain, The Queen Annes and, of course, The Green Monkey Christmas Chorale, featuring Dyer himself. That’s the crew that’s responsible for this wonderful holiday sea shanty, which, as you can see, comes across even better on video:

Review and Order from the Collection of Green Monkey Christmas Comps

Track 28
We Want the Best for You, Radio Station Jingles

This little jingle comes from a short collection called Holiday Radio Station Christmas Jingles, Volume 2, which I found on YouTube. It’s from the Pirate Radio U.S.A. YouTube channel, which features specific audio files collected over the years by Pirate Radio U.S.A., a non-profit internet radio station that broadcasts occasionally on the Mixlr application. The content available on this channel is stated to be for educational purposes only.

YouTube hosts a wide variety of holiday radio promos, bumpers and fillers, as well as lengthier tracks such as holiday recordings played in department stores and shopping centers in the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Links to just a couple of these offerings appear below. If you check them out, be sure to read some of the comments posted about these nostalgic soundtracks. While YouTube comments can sometimes be rather mean-spirited (they’ve cleaned them up a lot in recent years, thankfully), these comments are mostly touching and bittersweet, pining for the simpler times of 30 or 40 years ago. I can certainly understand the appeal.

Check Out Holiday Music Played in K-Mart Stores in the 1970s

Hear 4 Hours of Vintage Department Store Christmas Music

It was good to see Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 again this week, and only a part of my happiness comes from the fact she kept Mariah Carey out of the top spot. Six of the ten top tunes are old Christmas songs again this week, and my favorite holiday song of all time, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," by Darlene Love, is up six spots to #21 on this week's chart!

I'll be back soon with thoughts on the nine remaining tracks on this year's mix. Stay warm and dry and be of good cheer!

Yo! Ho! Ho! to All the Ships at Sea

Yesterday I posted information about a great new Christmas compilation from the folks at Green Monkey Records called Merry Krampus. In the process of putting that together I got sidetracked by the material I found on various sites and blogs about Krampus, and it wasn't until later that I spotted the holiday video Green Monkey shared last year. Credited to the Green Monkey Christmas Chorale, it's called "Christmas Time for Sailors," and it's too delicious not to share:

Green Monkey Records Compilation Includes Holiday Tribute to Lou Reed

Green Monkey Records is a Seattle-based record company that specializes in punk and underground artists, and for the past five years they've been putting out a holiday music compilations each December. This year's release is called Merry Krampus, and it includes both edgy original songs and offbeat versions of holiday classics. The cut that immediately caught my attention is "No Lou this Xmas," by Tom Dyer and His Queen's Pajamas. It's a tribute to the great Lou Reed, who died on October 27, 2013.



Putting together these Green Monkey compilations involves a certain amount of luck, as the songs for each release are solicited by way of a public call for submissions. When the call goes out around October 1 each year, the producers never know what sorts of tracks will be sent in. If you ask me, this year's batch sounds awfully good. Oh yes, this year's proceeds will benefit MusiCares, an organization that provides financial support to musicians in need of assistance. Order your copy of Merry Krampus HERE.

Incidentally, the title of this album deserves a quick explanation, as it references a character who's unfamiliar to many of us in the United States. Krampus is a monster-like figure who serves in many European communities as the antithesis of Saint Nicholas. Where jolly old Saint Nick rewards good little boys and girls with presents and candy, Krampus's job is to terrify and punish the bad – usually by tossing them in a sack and dragging them off somewhere to be beaten with sticks. Delightful, no?

Learn more about Krampus from NPR Radio

Learn more about European holiday traditions  from David Sedaris, whose outrageously funny piece "Six to Eight Black Men" describes Christmas in the Netherlands

Thanks to Stubby's House of Christmas and Lie in the Sound.