Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof - Part 14 and Out

Well, we've made it to the eve of another Christmas holiday, and I've got a few parting thoughts to share about the three remaining tracks on my latest mix for 2022. As I type this from Los Angeles the weather is balmy and pleasant. It's supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny for Christmas tomorrow. The rest of the country is facing below-zero temperatures and in many places it's looking to be a white Christmas. I'm just fine with our warm California forecast, frankly. A green Christmas is just fine with me

On Christmas Eve I like to imagine what's going on in homes around the world — the anticipation, the warmth, the reverence and the memories being honored and made. I hope everyone is feeling at least some kind of magic in the air tonight. It's a magical evening, and a wondrous world.

Track 42
A Spaceman Came Traveling, Chris de Burgh (1975)

I've been aware of this song almost since it was first released, and I guess I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, it's got a certain amount of emotional punch to it — that's undeniable. On the other hand, as a song it  suffers from a little of the same sort of heavy-handed pretentiousness that plague so many of de Burgh's songs. Many people know him only through his one big hit, 1986's "The Lady in Red," which has topped several surveys as the public's most hated popular song ever. I suppose there are several songs I dislike even more than "The Lady in Red," but I can't put my finger on any of them at this moment. 

By contrast, "A Spaceman Came Traveling" has a number of redeeming features, and I think it's the sort of thought-provoking tune that fits awfully well as the final track on a holiday compilation. I understand de Burgh wrote the song after reading Erich von Däniken’s best-selling book Chariots of the Gods?, which suggests that the technology and religions of many ancient civilizations on Earth may have been brought here by interstellar visitors. According to de Burgh, this led him to wonder, "what if the star [of Bethlehem] was a space craft and what if there is a benevolent being or entity in the universe keeping an eye on the world and our foolish things that we do to each other?"

The lyrics of the song are as follows:

A spaceman came traveling on his ship from afar
'Twas light years of time since his mission did start
And over a village, he halted his craft
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star

He followed a light and came down to a shed
Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed
A bright light of silver shone round his head
And he had the face of an angel and they were afraid

Then the stranger spoke, he said, do not fear
I come from a planet a long way from here
And I bring a message for mankind to hear
And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air

And it went la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la
Peace and goodwill to all men and love for the child
La la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la, oh

This lovely music went trembling through the ground
And many were awakened on hearing that sound
And travelers on the road
The village they found by the light of that ship in the sky
Which shone all around

And just before dawn at the paling of the sky
The stranger returned and said, now I must fly
When two thousand years of your time has gone by
This song will begin once again to a baby's cry

And it went la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la
This song will begin once again to a baby's cry
And it goes la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la
Peace and goodwill to all men and love for the child

Oh the whole world is waiting, waiting to hear the song again (la la la la la la la la la)
There are thousands standing on the edge of the world (la la la la la la la la la)
And a star is moving somewhere, the time is nearly here (la la la la la la la la la)
This song will begin once again to a baby's cry

I don't know if there's anything to the thoughts that gave rise to the song, but I've always felt that we know only the tiniest fraction of what there is out there and how things work, and it's comforting to think that a benevolent force has the upper hand somehow.

 
Watch Chris de Burgh performing "A Spaceman Came Traveling" with choir and orchestra

Track 41
All Your Christmases, Santa's Little Helper (1998)

This little clip's been in my voluminous "miscellaneous clips" file for what seems like forever, It's an excerpt from a longer piece that I seem to recall finding somewhere on the WFMU-FM "Beware of the Blog" site that I've written about previously. WFMU is a New Jersey community radio station that specializes in the unusual and offbeat, and while "Beware of the Blog" is no longer updated regularly, the older postings still available are a treasure trove of interesting material. The original version of the track is a seven-minute montage that lifts the word "Christmas" out of a long list of holiday tunes and then pastes the results together to form a lengthy string of holiday madness. For my mix, I figured a much shorter version would suffice. 

In the interests of full disclosure, I've taken certain liberties with the name of the responsible artist as listed above. The actual name of the artist reorders the letters in the first word of the group's title so that instead of "Santa's Little Helper"  it forms the name of "he who cannot be mentioned" — or at least "he whose name maybe shouldn't be mentioned on Christmas." I trust you can figure it out!

Track 40
A Great Big Sled, The Killers (2006)

Last year, I included an awesome song by The Killers on my 2021 compilation Be A Santa! The song was "I Feel It In My Bones," and it was probably my favorite track on last year's mix. It was also the seventh of the 11 annual Christmas tunes The Killers released each year from 2006 through 2016 to benefit Product RED, and its fight to battle HIV, AIDS and other preventable and treatable diseases. This year, I've chosen another holiday song from The Killers' collection — in fact, it's the song that kicked off the tradition, "A Great Big Sled" from 2006.  

I like this one a lot, too. The Killers ended their series of holiday releases in 2016, which is disappointing, but certainly understandable. All told, the 11 holiday songs they released raised over $1 million for Product Red, and dramatically improved the quality of rock's holiday library. And since I've only used two of The Killers' Christmas songs on my compilations to date we still have nine great tracks to use on future mixes.

Purchase one or more of The Killers' 11 Holiday Classic Tunes on amazon.com

Well, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our presentation of background information on the tracks of this year's mix. A reminder that you should be able to access all of my previous compilations on my holiday music website, HERE.

For those who celebrate the Christmas holiday tomorrow, Merry Christmas! 

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 13

Time is short, so please allow me to share just a little background on two additional tracks from my 2022 holiday mix:

Track 39
Another Christmas Story, The Howling Diablos (1993)

I stumbled across this track late in the process of assembling this year's mix and was immediately taken by both the story and the sound. The Howling Diablos were a Detroit-based blues band that got their start in the late 1980s and maintained a steady schedule of live dates through the 1990s and well into the 2000s. (I say "were" because it's not entirely clear whether the band is still a going concern, but I couldn't find any evidence that they've disbanded either.)  Their sound included heavy doses of rock, funk, blues and gunge, and in addition to their solo shows in clubs and smaller venues they opened for a variety of acts including Alice Cooper, Parliament Funkadelic, Ben Harper, NRBQ and The James Gang. Kid Rock played with the band for a spell, although his current politics seem incongruous with the band's overall style.

Written by Tino Gross, "Another Christmas Story" looks at Christmas Eve from the perspective of a homeless city dweller trying to survive in the face of below-zero weather of the sort that is plaguing cities throughout the nation this year. It features Jim McCarty on lead guitar and guest vocals by Thornetta Davis.

 

The version of the song that I used features a short introduction by legendary activist and blues musician John Sinclair, former manager of the MC5, and founding director of the Detroit Artists Workshop (among dozens of other activities). Sinclair relocated to New Orleans in 1991 and later settled in Amsterdam.

Track 38
Christmas Song, The Raveonettes (2004)

This song is by the Danish indie rock duo The Raveonettes, which formed in 2001 and placed seven consecutive albums on Billboard's Hot 200 from 2003 to 2014. Their music is known for its two-part harmonies that are reminiscent of The Everly Brothers, but many of their tunes include harder edged guitars and lyrics that don't shy from gritty urban issues and the problems of modern life. There's none of that in this track, however — just a lovely, sweet song:

See The Raveonettes' Tips on How to Write a Christmas Song

I'll be back tomorrow with a few thoughts on our final three tracks of this year's mix. Only one final shopping day before Christmas. Bundle up and enjoy the season!

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 12

We're definitely in the home stretch of our review of the 42 tracks on my latest holiday compilation, Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof!  Today we look at Tracks 35-37, which leaves just five more to review between tomorrow and Saturday. Believe it or not, I think we might just make it, so do check back as you scramble to complete your own holiday preparations. 

Track 37
White Christmas, Patti Smith Group (1978)

Patti Smith

The other day, my Twitter feed included an interesting question among the recent flood of lunatic MAGA posts and increasingly pathetic messages from Elon Musk — namely, what female musician would you most like to spend an hour with over a nice meal? An impressive list of talented and interesting women quickly came to mind, but for me there was one clear favorite:  Patti Smith. 

I've been a big fan of Smith's going back to at least 1978, when she had her first and biggest hit single with "Because the Night," a song she wrote with Bruce Springsteen. Since then, she's released eight amazingly great albums, completed numerous successful tours (I'm grateful to have seen her on four of them), written over a dozen books of prose and poetry, and appeared in several films, including a cameo in Jean Luc Godard's Socialism (2010). She's also recorded a couple of great Christmas songs.

The track I've included on this year's mix, "White Christmas," was recorded with the Patti Smith Group on December 20, 1978, at Bearsville Sound Studio in Bearsville, New York, while she was recording what would be her 1979 album "Wave." Longtime band member Lenny Kaye first played this song live that year while guest hosting a Christmas show on WNEW-FM in New York.

Smith will continue her tradition of playing a couple of year-end live dates in New York with shows in Brooklyn on December 29 and 30, followed by shows in Germany and Scandinavia next June. Earlier this month she completed a short run of appearances reading excerpts from her latest book "A Book of Days," which included one date performing songs with her band in Los Angeles. Sadly, that show sold out before I could get tickets. I sure hope she'll be back.

Heat Patti Smith sing "We Three Kings" from the album "A Very Special Christmas 3"

Hear Patti Smith's beautiful rendition of "O Holy Night"

Hear Patti Smith's Compilation "Land (1975-2002)"

Watch the Polyphonic Short "How Patti Smith Saved Rock n' Roll"

Track 36
Deck the Halls, The Dixie Chicks, featuring Sandra Bernhard (2008)

This short track was produced as part of The Gap's 2008 holiday "Merry Mix It" promotional campaign, which included six TV commercials and a series of musical clips that customers could mix, match and send to friends from the store's holiday website. This particular clip featured The Dixie Chicks (now known simply as "The Chicks") who were just finishing a busy few years. In 2003, group member Natalie Maines had sharply criticized President George W. Bush and the planned U.S. invasion of Iraq, which resulted in a sharp backlash against the group, particularly on their home turf in the American south. After a brief hiatus, the group released the album "Taking the Long Way" in 2006, in which they essentially stood their ground. By then, the tide had turned against the Bush administration and their album and its lead single, "Not Ready to Make Nice" were not only top sellers but swept the Grammy Awards, too. Thus, in 2008, The Dixie Chicks were popular enough to star in national ad campaigns.

Track 35
Holiday Greetings, Sandra Bernhard

Appearing with The Chicks on Track 36 and all alone on Track 35 is Sandra Bernhard, one of my favorite entertainers since I first saw her with Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis in Martin Scorsese's 1983 film The King of Comedy. Her 1989 film Without You I'm Nothing, based on her one-woman show of the same name, is an outrageously funny look at American culture. It features an especially funny bit known as "Sandra's White Christmas" in which she imagines herself as part of a traditional American Christian family on Christmas Eve. One of these days I may use it on one of my mixes.

While it's not as well known as it should be, Bernhard wrote and performed a beautiful Hanukkah song called "The Miracle of Lights," which I included in my 2008 mix, "Home for the Holidays." Known primarily for her outrageous comedy and personality, Bernhard has a wonderful singing voice that is on display in the two clips that appear by way of the links below.

Hear Sandra Bernhard's Beautiful Holiday Song "The Miracle of Lights"

Watch Sandra Bernhard's Beautiful Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie

I'll be back soon with background on our five remaining tracks, including one of the annual holiday songs from The Killers.

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 11

Here's some background on the next three tracks on my latest holiday mix, Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof!

Track 34
My Green Christmas Tree, The '60s Invasion (2012)

This year's mix includes two tunes from the New England-based group The '60s Invasion whose album Incense and Chia Pets is chock full of holiday parodies made from hit songs from the 1960s. In a previous post I offered some information about the band and the first of these two songs, "Christmas in New England," based on the Mamas and Papas' hit "California Dreaming." The second is a parody version of "My Green Tambourine," by The Lemon Pipers, called "My Green Christmas Tree":

Hear The Lemon Pipers' Greatest Hits

Watch The '60s Invasion perform "Love Potion Number 9"

Track 33

Ring Out the Bells, Norm Burns and Singers (1970)

This year's mix includes only one true "song poem," which I suspect a good many will say is one song-poem too many. What are song poems? Well, as the old saying goes, if you have to ask you probably don't want to know. Basically, they're just lyrics written by everyday people and set to music by commercial artists for a fee. I've included more than a few of these little gems on various previous mixes and I've written about them here several times, too, including a post from 11 years ago about the song "Santa Claus Polka," Track 31 from my 2011 mix "Gee Whiz . . . It's Christmas (Again)!" 

This year's entry is "Ring Out the Bells," performed by Norm Burns and featuring lyrics by some unknown but no doubt earnest soul who paid a few hundred dollars to Sterling Records to have their poetry turned into a song. You can hear the result just as I did on Bob Purse's wonderful website The Wonderful and the Obscure. Bob's site is a treasure trove for song poem enthusiasts, featuring several hundred different song poems and lots of colorful background and commentary. Heck, there are more than 40 entries on Norm Burns alone, and Norm is just one of the many folks who made a living setting poems to music for regular folk like you and me. 

For those who would like to know more about the wonderful world of song poems, the following video is a playlist that includes 22 different selections. It is not for the faint of heart, and it includes a couple of tunes that may not be safe for work because of adult language. Aw, who am I kidding, none of these tunes is safe for work unless you want your coworkers to think you've lost your damned mind!

Watch the Trailer for the documentary "Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story"

Track 32

Give Me Your Heart for Christmas, Dora Hall  (1965)

This is the second holiday song I've used by aspiring entertainer and corporate trophy wife Dora Hall following "Kissin' by the Mistletoe,"  which can be found on my 2016 mix Let It Snow. Hall is a former vaudeville performer whose dreams of stardom were rekindled when her husband took over the Solo Cup Company and started promoting her records on every package of Solo Cups. I previously provided some background on Hall, which you can find HERE. I love Dora's story and she brings a refreshing enthusiasm to her work as the spouse of a successful corporate executive. And I salute her husband, too. He used his position to advance his wife's singing career and singlehandedly created one of entertainment's greatest supplies of kitsch.

Watch the "Dora's World" TV Special 

Hear Dora Hall sing "I Like It Like That"

It's been mighty cold in Los Angeles lately, at least by Southern California standards. Hope you're keeping warm wherever you are. I'll be back with more sometime soon.

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 10

My latest holiday mix for 2022 is called "Hey! You! Get Off of My Cloud," and it's available for you to listen to or download on my holiday music website. This year's mix contains 42 audio tracks, which range from short celebrity greetings to fine-sounding holiday tunes to purported songs that sound anything but fine. My aim in creating thee mixes is to assemble a grab-bag of noises that will entertain and intrigue a wide range of jaded and open-minded listeners. The main purpose of this blog is to provide some interesting background on the various tracks. Mission accomplished with respect to the first 28 tracks, and today we're going to look at three more. Let's get started.

Track 31

A Lot of Talk About Jesus Christ and Love, Bill Macy as Walter Finley from "Maude" (1975)

Walter and Maude Findlay

I watched a fair amount of television when I was growing up in the 1970s, and as I recall some of it was pretty good. I especially liked the shows created by famed producer Norman Lear, who is still active at age 100. Remarkably, Lear produced, wrote, created or developed more than 100 different shows, many of which were phenomenally successful. His most iconic series, All in the Family, was launched in 1971 and dominated both the Neilson ratings and awards shows throughout the decade. Moreover, it spawned seven additional shows, including the hit series Maude. Maude starred Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay, Edith Bunker's feisty liberal cousin. I don't recall watching Maude during its original run but in recent years I discovered the show on Hulu and binge-watched a couple of seasons' worth. It's not exactly high-brow fare, but it sure brought me back in time. There were more than a few Walter and Maude Findlay types  in our neighborhood in the late '70s.

Stephanie

In any case, the very short clip I've used as Track 31 this year is from Maude, Season 4 Episode 14, "The Christmas Party," which first aired on December 22, 1975. With Christmas approaching, an old school friend of Maude's named Stephanie is staying with Maude and Walter. Stephanie, like Maude is an ardent feminist, although she insists on injecting her views into every conversation to the point where even Maude is put off. Walter and Maude are hosting a Christmas party for Walter's employees and Walter is worried that Stephanie's dogged determination to push her agenda might put a damper on the festivities. This leads to the following exchange:

Walter:    Tonight's not a soapbox, it's a Christmas party!

Stephanie:    Good, what better place? Don't you realize Jesus Christ was the first feminist? He taught the world that love begins with equality.

Walter:    My employees are coming here to have fun. It's Christmas and that's no time for a lot of talk about Jesus Christ and love!

So many of us have conflicting thoughts about the true meaning of Christmas. Part of this is no doubt because we use the holiday for so many purposes. It's a time to express our feelings for those we love and to separate what's important from the trivia of daily life. We're encouraged to think of the plight of the poor and the needy while at the same time being urged to splurge on lavish and showy gifts and parties. We're told it's a time to be joyful and happy to the point where too many feel the need to find relief in the bottle or by way of other drugs. Walter's misguided frustration is as understandable as it is preposterous, and while I don't have any simple solution to the conflicting pressures so many of us face at this time of year, it's probably worthwhile to remember that you're not alone in facing such challenges. Why not play something awful by Red Sovine and count your blessings?!

Watch the Maude episode "The Christmas Party" (1975)

Track 30

Out on the Road for Christmas, Red Simpson (1975)

Red Simpson

Regular listeners will recall that my previous mixes have featured multiple tracks by a trucker named Red — Red Sovine, creator of some of the most depressing songs in music history. Well, believe it or not there's another guy named Red who sings sings songs about truckers and has his own album of Christmas-themed trucker songs around and his name is Red Simpson. His holiday album includes a song called "Out on the Road for Christmas," which is about a poor guy alone behind the wheel on Christmas with only the promise of a quick meal at some some truck stop to look forward to. While this may sound rather poignant at first, Simpson's song sounds like "Happy Days Are Here Again" compared to Sovine's standard fare. There's none of the exaggerated pathos of Red Sovine here. Red Simpson's got a job to do and while his work isn't always easy he's going to take whatever solace he can from the satisfaction of doing it well.

The youngest of 12 children, the Arizona-born Simpson was raised in Bakersfield, California. He was interested in music from a young age and started playing piano in the local music clubs right out of high school. Country music was all the rage in Bakersfield at the time, and a number of local musicians led by Buck Owens were pioneering a style of music that became known as the Bakersfield Sound. Buck was impressed by Simpson and the two wrote a number of songs together in the early 1960s. In 1965, a Capitol Records producer who was looking for someone to put together an album of songs about truckers was introduced to Simpson and his first album release, Roll Truck Roll, was released the following year.

The truck thing seemed to work for Simpson, who followed up his first LP with another 10 albums of truck-related tunes. He enjoyed the business of making music, and didn't mind the extensive travel that was required. He didn't mind being typecast either, although he acknowledged some frustration at being continuously mistaken for Red Sovine. As he noted in his song "My Name Is Simpson," from the album "I Am a Truck":

My name is Red Simpson, not Red Sovine,

So don't ask me to sing "Phantom 309,"

I don't know "Giddy up Go,"

And I won't change my mind

My name is Simpson

Not Sovine.

Check the links below to hear this track. Here's Track 30 from this year's mix:

Join Merz Mark as he pays "A Visit with Country Legend Red Simpson"

Watch Red Simpson Sing "Runaway Truck" and more on the Buck Owens Show

Hear Red Simpson's "My Name is Simpson"

Track 29
Riding Unarmed in a One-Horse Open Sleigh, Jaston Williams (2010)

Texas is an awfully big state with an incredibly diverse population, and one of the few things bigger than the state itself is its reputation among the residents of the other 49 states. Back in the days when the governor of the state was a liberal Democratic woman, at least a small part of its reputation was built on the work of Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, creators of a series of comedic plays about the fictional town of Tuna, purportedly Texas' third smallest town. "A Tuna Christmas" was the second of these plays, following "Greater Tuna" and "Red, White and Tuna." The plays have been described as an affectionate look at small-town southern life and feature more than 20 eccentric characters played by two very busy actors.

The plays were performed in cities and towns across the country from 1981 through 2012, and recorded versions of the performances were produced and sold on videotape and DVD. "Greater Tuna" and "A Tuna Christmas" were performed at the White House at the request of President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush, both of whom gave every indication that they enjoyed the shows.

Track 29 is a short clip from "A Tuna Christmas" featuring Jaston Williams as Didi Snavely, owner of Didi's Used Weapons, a store with the motto "If we Can't Kill It It's Immortal." 

You can enjoy "A Tuna Christmas" in its entirety below:

We've got 11 more tracks to review between now and Christmas, so I'll be back soon with more. Stay warm and dry 'til then!

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 9

Two weeks from today is Christmas Day, and we're well past the half-way mark in our look at the 42 tracks on my latest holiday mix, "Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof!" Today I've got a little background on three more tracks including a new one by an old if somewhat out-of-tune friend. Without further ado, it's up, up and away . . .

Track 28
O Come All Ye Faithful, Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow (2005)

Few artists better typify the sound of my annual holiday mixes than the inimitable Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow, whose unique stylings have been featured on eight of my previous compilations. Sadly, there's not a whole lot of information out there about Barstow and his music, and I've already reported on most of it in previous posts on this blog. But while little of what I offer today is new, it's certainly a pleasure to repost some of the most relevant items again today.

Barstow was discovered in the early 1990s at an open mic night in a New York City neighborhood bar by keyboardist Larry Goldings. Goldings instantly knew that he'd found something special, or at least unique. What is it that separates Barstow from the rest? I guess that depends on your own individual taste and musical sensibilities. But from where I sit, jazz journalist John Kelman captured the magic of Mr. Barstow's oeuvre pretty well in his oft-cited 2005 review of Barstow's classic first (and, to date, only) album, published in All About Jazz:

Every now and then an artist emerges whose vision is so unique that it creates an entirely new musical paradigm. Stretching the realm of technique by introducing harmonic or rhythmic contexts far removed from the norm, they’re often unappreciated in their time, but the passage of years can ultimately bring recognition for their genius. Ornette Coleman was one such artist. Now we have singer Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow.

In the years following his chance discovery of Barstow at some low-end dive, Goldings worked tirelessly to capture the musical essence of this heretofore hidden talent for the enjoyment of a wider audience. The result, recorded in Goldings' home studio, was an album of Christmas classics and non-holiday standards called Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow:  A Bowtie Christmas and More.

The following 2008 infomercial gives the uninitiated a little peek at what they were in for:

As Kelman explained in his groundbreaking review:

Some musicians spend years on technique, working hard to hone accepted skills like pitch and time. Barstow dispenses with such limitations. His interpretive sense is so unorthodox that once you hear his renditions of classic Christmas tunes including "Joy to the World," "The First Noel," and the tongue-in-cheek "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," you’ll never see them the same way again.

This year's "Bowtie" track offers a one-two punch combining his renditions of "O Come All Ye Faithful" in both English and Latin. It's not for the faint of heart, but if you can appreciate the occasional offbeat gem by the likes of Florence Foster Jenkins or Mrs. Miller, Johnny might well be for you, too. (Warning, there are still a couple of Barstow tunes I haven't yet shared, so there may be more to come.)

Hear Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow's "O Come All Ye Faithful"

Track 27

Jingle Bell Rock, University of Michigan Children's Psychiatric Hospital Band (1978)

Way back in 2007, one of my first holiday compilations featured a rather unique version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," the classic holiday song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis." The version I used in my 2007 mix "Let's Trim the Christmas Tree" was performed by patients in the Inpatient Music Therapy Program of the University of Michigan Medical Center's Children's Psychiatric Hospital. I'd found the song on the album "Christmas at C.P.H.," a 1978 release that contained 15 holiday songs performed by young psychiatric patients as part of their musical therapy. Track 27 of this year's mix is another of the 15 songs on that 44-year-old album, "Jingle Bell Rock."

In the 44 years since "Christmas at C.P.H." was recorded, music therapy has become more widely recognized within the medical community. In short, it uses music therapeutically to address physical, psychological, cognitive and/or social functioning for people of all ages. It is typically practiced by credentialed professionals that use clinical and evidence-based music interventions to help set and achieve individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship. Because Music Therapy is a powerful and non-invasive medium, unique outcomes are possible. I suspect that holiday music therapy can be particularly helpful, and it's certainly pleasant to hear.

Track 26

Holiday Greetings, Michael Caine

I've used these short little holiday greetings on pretty much all of my annual mixes as a way of breaking up the longer tracks and giving some quick recognition to various celebrities. But it isn't always easy to find as many of these clips as I'd like. I found a few more about a month ago, including one by famed English actor Michael Caine. Caine has been making movies since 1956, and while he's scheduled to turn 90 years old in March, he isn't ready to retire yet. To date, he's appeared in over 75 feature films, winning Academy Awards as Best Supporting Actor in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and The Cider House Rules (1999).

Caine relocated to the United States for nearly a decade in the 1980s due to escalating British income tax rates, but he has spent most of his life in the United Kingdom and is often cited as one of his native country's archetypical actors and cultural icons. In fact, Caine is frequently parodied for his speaking style and his habit of citing interesting but useless trivia in general conversation. His friend Peter Sellers often did impressions of Caine that frequently included the phrase "not many people know this," which has now become something of a catchphrase for him. 

I'm sure many Americans would happily return Caine's gracious holiday greetings and wish him the very best for 2023.

Hear Michael Caine's Raw Commentary on his film "The Muppet Christmas Carol"

I'll be back with more sometime soon. When will you be decorating your Christmas tree this year?

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.

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 7

Today we take a look at Tracks 19-22 of this year's holiday mix, Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof!

Track 22
Yoko Ono Holiday Album Parody (2008)

I've always been a big Beatles fan — whether the exuberant innocence of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," the trippy psychedelia of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," or the long medley on the second side of "Abbey Road," I love them all. I like most of their solo stuff, too, with the one sad exception of Paul's "Wonderful Christmastime," which I find utterly unlistenable. In fact, not only do I love everything by The Beatles, I like songs that feature Linda McCartney's vocals. And I'll do you one better. I'm a big fan of Yoko Ono.

I figure most people think I'm joking when I make that claim but it's the God's honest truth. Unfortunately, Ono has been ridiculed and slandered almost constantly since she first became famous worldwide as John Lennon's lady, To some, she's the dragon lady who broke up the Beatles. To others, she's a talentless social climber who used Lennon's wealth and fame to promote her inferior art and atrocious "music." In fact, Ono was a highly respected conceptual artist before she ever met Lennon and her work has long been celebrated in avant gard circles for its originality, insight and wit. She certainly isn't responsible for the disbanding of the Beatles. And while some of her music can be an acquired taste, much of it is profoundly moving and meaningful. You can dance to a lot of it, too. From 2003-2016, remixed versions of 13 of Ono's songs topped the Billboard Dance Club chart. Not bad for a woman who turns 90 years old in February.

Anyway, Track 22 is a short parody purporting to be a commercial for a Yoko Ono holiday album. Clips of the various holiday standards are played and they all consist of a woman screaming indecipherably for five or six seconds. Terrible. So why did I include this track? Well, for one thing it gives me a chance to sing Yoko's praises and I like such opportunities. It's also sort of funny if you're aware enough to see through the preposterous claim that her music sounds alike and sounds awful. Finally, I know Yoko's got a sense of humor and likes to deal with criticism head-on. I doubt she'd be offended.

Watch the "The Case for Yoko Ono" from PBS Digital Studios

Listen to the Album "Between My Head and the Sky" by Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band

Track 21
I Want a Beatle for Christmas, The Fans (1964)

One measure of the size of the cultural tidal wave that hit with the arrival of the Beatles in February 1964 is the number of holiday novelty songs about the group that were released later that same year. I've featured half a dozen on my previous mixes as listed a bunch more in previous posts about the phenomenon, and I've got two more on this year's compilation. 

Track 21 is by a London-based duo called The Fans, which is made up of two friends named Gita Renik and Jeanette Ross. I haven't been able to find out much more about the song or the group than that, however — the song can be found all over the internet but it typically appears with nothing more than the song, artist and year of release.

Hear "I Want a Beatle for Christmas," by The Fans

Track 20
Christmas Song (A John and Yoko Parody), Guppy Pie Productions (2014)

I don't have much of anything to offer about this track either. It's a clip I found on YouTube featured on The Great Movie Channel page. According to the clip itself, it was created by Guppy Pie Productions, which is apparently affiliated with a North Hollywood outfit called Pie Town Productions. I don't know that the singer sounds or looks too much like John Lennon, but it's a cute little clip that suggests both the movie industry and the Bush family are impediments to world peace and I think that's something John and Yoko would probably endorse.

Track 19
(I Want) a Beatle for Christmas, Patty Surbey and The Canadian VIPs (1964)

The last of this year's four Beatles-related tracks (actually the first of the four since we list each day's tracks in reverse order) is by Canadian Patty Surbey, who has been described by the Canadian music website Canuckistan Music as a "perky amalgam of Connie Francis and Brenda Lee, with maybe a bit of Annette Funicello or Cathy Carroll thrown in for good measure." The website gives high marks to this record, too. "Buoyed by a rollicking backbeat supplied by the Canadian V.I.P.s and peppered with Surbey's hiccupy vocals, "(I Want) a Beatle for Christmas" is a fine record on its own and could probably have done well enough without the Xmas or Beatles references."

The song did well in some parts of Canada, but delays in mailing the production master prevented a timely pressing in the United States and Christmas arrived before the record caught on in this country. 

Surbey followed-up this record with another single recorded with The Canadian VIPs called "Hey Boy" that was released in early 1965, but that was pretty much the end of Surbey's music career. She eventually resurfaced in Ontario as an active member of a born-again Christian church.

I'll be back sometime soon with the start of the second half of this year's mix. How's your holiday shopping going?

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 6

Today's post looks at the next four tracks on my latest annual holiday mix and offers a bit of background on each.

Track 18
Holiday Greetings, Shirley Jones

Shirley Jones in 1960

Shirley Jones is one of those legendary entertainers who seems to have been around forever and worked and excelled in nearly every corner of the industry. But there's one other thing about this star that sets her apart from most others — everybody likes her. Just this morning, as it happens, a tweet from her son, singer and former teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy, appeared in my Twitter feed that reads:

Took both my wife and mother to dinner tonight and we all ordered martinis. As it turns out, only one of us learned to imbibe with the likes of Sinatra, Bogie and Bacall. Well played, Mom. Well played.

That's a sweet note for a celebrity to write about his 88-year-old mother, to be sure, but what I found amazing is the flood of replies from fans and folks who know her personally all attesting to what a wonderful person Jones is and how kind and generous she is to those around her. My faith in humankind was at least somewhat restored and I'm grateful.

Born in rural Pennsylvania, Jones began to sing in her church choir and studied singing throughout her school years. After winning the Miss Pittsburgh contest in 1952, Jones was spotted at a Broadway audition by the casting director for Rodgers and Hammerstein who, quickly put her under contract. After several minor Broadway roles she was cast in 1955 as the lead in the film adaptation of Oklahoma! Other film roles followed, including leading parts in Carousel and The Music Man. In 1961, she won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Elmer Gantry.

Jones is probably best remembered for her role as Shirley Partridge on the ABC musical sitcom The Partridge Family. In the show, Jones played a single mother who formed a popular singing group with  her four children. In addition to the situational comedy, each episode featured a song or two purportedly performed by the talented family band, two of whom — Jones and her real-life stepson, David Cassidy, playing Keith Partridge — were actually performing. by the family group. The Partridge Family were soon topping the music charts in addition to the Neilson ratings, and Jones added pop sensation to her stage, film and television credits.

Unfortunately, Jones' success with The Partridge Family limited her ability to land other roles once that series went off the air. While she's continued to work, particularly on the stage, The Partridge Family  will likely remain her biggest hit. 

Of course, Jones has kept busy with a variety of other activities. She raised the three sons she had with her former husband, the late actor Jack Cassidy. She also has ten grandchildren, and she spent considerable time with the actors who played her children on TV. She also keeps busy with industry and charitable work, particularly on behalf of PETA. By all accounts, Shirley Jones is one terrific lady.

Watch "The Partridge Family," Season 2, Episode 1

Listen to "The Partridge Family's Greatest Hits"

Track 17
Christmas Time Is (Comin' Around Again), The Mavericks (2017)

I love running across bands whose holiday spirit is palpable and evidenced by specific holiday activities. Some artists perform special holiday shows, for example. Others — like the Beatles, R.E.M. and The Killers — famously release special holiday singles each year. The Mavericks, a Grammy Award-winning, genre-defying band from Miami, Florida, seem to do a little bit of both these things. In 2018, they released a popular Christmas album called Hey! Merry Christmas!, which included eight original holiday songs. Further, they are currently on their "2022 Very Merry Christmas Tour," which will include a stop right up the street from me at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, December 17. Give these guys a jolly "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

The Mavericks

The band was founded by guitarist Raul Malo and drummer Paul Deakin in 1989. Robert Reynolds (bass guitar) and Ben Peeler (lead guitar) joined soon after. They started playing local clubs in the Miami area almost immediately and in 1990 they produced their first album independently. The record's success led to the band being invited to a country music showcase in Nashville at which they were signed by MCA Nashville. There were problems describing The Maverick's style of music right from the start. They were signed as a country western act, but Malo's Cuban heritage and the fact they came from Miami complicated things. The band itself understood that they couldn't fairly be put in any particular category.

No matter what label you use, The Mavericks have had 11 hit albums since they signed with MCA. They've been nominated for eight Grammy Awards and won one in 1996 for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group for their album Here Comes the Rain. The group disbanded for several years in 2000 but since reforming in 2003 they've continued to tour and release new albums. 

I selected "Christmas Time Is (Comin' Around Again)" for this year's mix, but any of the tunes on their holiday album would have also worked well. Here, for example are The Mavericks performing the title song from that album, "Hey! Merry Christmas!

 

Listen to "Christmas Time Is (Comin' Around Again)," by The Mavericks

Buy The Mavericks' holiday album on amazon.com

Details on The Mavericks December 17 Show at The Ace Hotel in DTLA

Track 16
Santa's Got a Brand New Bag, Jim and Cathy (1965)

The third and final version of "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" on this year's mix is by a group called Jim and Cathy. While this seems to have been the only record Jim and Cathy ever recorded under that name, the duo resurfaced in 1967 under the new name Friend and Lover, and promptly released a new album called Reach Out of the Darkness. The title track of the album was released as a single inn he Summer of 1967 (the fabled "Summer of Love") and became a Top 10 hit. I don't recall ever reading or hearing about Friend and Lover or "Reach Out of the Darkness, but I recognized the song immediately when I played it a few minutes ago and I'm sure you will, too (see link, below). Over time, according to the Song Facts website, the song has become "one of the canonical Flower Power songs, almost to the point of being a stereotypical parody of itself." Because of its strong association with the San Francisco hippie scene of the late 1960s, it was been used as background music in numerous films to conjure up a 1960s feel.  

Jim and Cathy

Friend and Lover and its earlier incarnation, Jim and Cathy, was made up of singers Jim Post and Cathy Conn. The couple married in 1966, and Cathy Conn became Cathy Post. Unfortunately, neither the marriage nor the band lasted too long after their first album's chart run. Jim continued to record and perform through the 1970s and '80s, though he never equaled the initial success of Friends and Lovers. He died just this past September at the age of 82. Cathy died in 2019 at the age of 73.

Hear Jim and Cathy's version of "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag"

Hear the Top 10 Hit "Reach Out of the Darkness, by Friend and Lover

Track 15
O Come All Ye Mindless, U.C. Berkeley Free Speechniks (1964)

Tracks 13, 15 and 23 are short variations on traditional Christmas carols repurposed by the Free Speechniks of the University of California at Berkeley as part of their Free Speech Movement (FSM). The story of the FSM is briefly described in the summary of Track 13, below.

The lyrics to the tune at Track 15 are as follows:

Hang on until our third of these little ditties, which will appear as Track 23 in a few days.

That's all for now. I'll be back next week with more.

Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! - Part 5

The principal raison d'être for this blog is to provide background on the various tracks on each of my annual holiday mixes. The current business at hand is a review of the 42 tracks on my latest mix, which is titled Hey! You! Get Off of My Roof! It's currently available to one and all on my holiday music website under the Tab marked "Latest." If you'd like to hear mixes from previous years, there are 17 of them available under the "Archive" Tab. Feeling adventuresome? Be sure to check out the tab marked "Extras."

Now, back to the task at hand:

Track 14

Christmas in New England, The '60s Invasion (2015)

The '60s Invasion

I grew up in a house where music was almost always playing, and the first music I remember getting excited about was the stuff I heard coming out of my AM transistor radio in the late 1960s. Popular music in those days was exciting, novel and diverse. Stations weren't hyper-focused on narrow demographics as they are today — you'd often hear songs by such disparate acts as the Doors, the Temptations, Herb Albert, Cream and The Lemon Pipers one after the other on the very same station. To this day I'm not sure there's ever been a time when there was better music coming over the radio airwaves. Small wonder then that I was immediately taken by the sounds of a New England-based covers band called The '60s Invasion when I first heard them several years ago. I was even more excited to learn that they'd recorded an entire album of holiday songs based on various '60s classics. The album, released in 2012, is called Incense and Chia Pets, and it features 13 clever holiday take-offs on popular '60s hits that even most Millennials are sure to know. I've used two selections from this great album on my 2022 mix, the first of which, "Christmas in New England," is a holiday version of the Mamas and the Papas smash hit "California Dreaming." 

The '60s Invasion consists of Gino DiMaio on keyboard and vocals; Jack Little on bass and vocals; Artie Shannon on drums and vocals; Rich Ranalli on guitar and vocals; and Jake Smith on guitar, keyboard and vocals. The guys are primarily based in Massachusetts and Maine, and you can find out more about each of the members on their website, HERE.

Another song from the '60s Invasion pops up as Track 34 of this year's mix, which still leaves 11 other holiday-themed songs from the '60s to mine from their album. I have to confess, they're all great songs, so picking even two tracks to feature was no easy task.

Purchase selections from The '60s Invasion's "Incense and Chia Pets" from amazon.com

Hear "Christmas in New England," by The '60s Invasion

Track 13

God Rest Ye Free Speech, U.C. Berkeley Free Speechniks (1964)

While it didn't really start off this way, the 1960s also became known as a time of increasing activism and political protest, and one of the first major protests to attract widespread and serious attention was the so-called Free Speech Movement (FSM) that began at the University of California's Berkeley campus in 1964. Historians have noted that the FSM was the first significant protest to utilize some of the tactics developed in the civil rights movement on a university campus. 

Prior to the Fall of 1964, the corner of Bancroft and Telegraph in front of the southern entrance to the Berkeley campus had served as an informal gathering place for students to distribute political information and set-up tables for petitions and the distribution of literature. With increasing numbers of students becoming active in off-campus causes, however, the area had become somewhat unruly. In addition, increasing numbers of the activists who gathered there had no connection to the university. In late September, the school administration announced that tables would no longer be permitted in the area and collecting money or distributing information for or about outside causes would no longer be allowed.

Mario Savio Addresses Protestors

On September 30, students set up tables for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality.(CORE) in violation of the new rules. The students staffing the tables were referred for formal discipline by the school. The next day, a former student named Jack Weinberg who was staffing a table for CORE was arrested when he refused to take down the table. Hundreds of students mobilized in response to these actions and the FSM was born.

Describing the events that played out at Berkeley that Fall would require hundreds of pages and obviously take us far from the focus of this blog. Suffice it to say that while it took until the Christmas vacation, the forces that opposed the school's crack-down ultimately gained the upper hand. But it was a difficult fight that required the hard work of many committed participants. One of the most forceful and articulate of these was Mario Savio, whose remarks on the steps of Sproul Hall on December 2, 1964, are often cited as among the most powerful orations of the 20th century. 

As events neared their climax in December, a group of students who called themselves the Berkeley Free Speechniks reworked the words to a number of Christmas carols to press some of the points they were arguing in their struggle against the administration. I happened to discover a number of these short clips this year and I've included three of them in this year's mix. Each clip lasts only about 30 seconds, and I thought it would be useful to have these short snippets from history to remind us of what a dedicated group of students was able to accomplish against a powerful university administration 58 years ago.

It may be worth noting that the Free Speechniks released the following statement at the time their short carols were released:

In the spirit of farce, and of Christmas, these songs were written and sung. We of the FSM are serious, but we hope we are still able to laugh at ourselves, as well as those who would restrict our Constitutional freedoms.

The first clip is based on the familiar carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and while the name of this clip strikes me as odd, it really is titled "God Rest Ye Free Speech." The lyrics are as follows:

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

See the FSM's "Free Speech Songbook"

Track 12
Santa's New Bag, Rudi and the Rain Dearz (1966)

As noted in yesterday's posting this year's mix includes three different versions of "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag," and that count does not include "Santa's Got a Bag of Soul," at Track 4, or this number at Track 12, "Santa's New Bag," by Rudi and the Rain Dearz. In fact, a close listen to this tune reveals that it seems to be based more on "Jingle Bells" than anything by James Brown.

This tune appears on Volume 3 of the terrific compilation series "Santa's Funk and Soul Christmas Party," released on the Tramp Records label in 2015. Unfortunately, Rudi and the Rain Dearz appear to have released only this one tune before calling it quits. They didn't even record the B side of their own single — that went to a song called "I Stole Away on Christmas Day," by a group called Pretty Polly Pinecone. 

I'll be back with more before too long. Only 24 more shopping days until Christmas!