I needed a quick blog post for today, so I decided to do what I did last year: Curate one of my Youtube playlists. This is, in fact, a playlist I created before the one I covered last year, and it should be easier to cover. Here's a rundown, and the link for the list itself.
1. Christmas At Ground Zero (Weird Al, 1986): As self-explanatory as they get. It's a Weird Al classic I remember from when I was a kid, and a slice of late Cold War paranoia. Now that I think about it, it's in about the same spirit as Night Of The Comet. The line that still resonates: "If you hear someone climbing down your chimney/ You better load your gun and shoot to kill..."
2. Santa Got A DWI (Sherwin Linton, 1996): I remember this one from the Christmas episode of the late, great Schickele Mix, where the Professor drew liberally from an album called A Bummed Out Christmas. That was, in turn, a major source for both this and my really "dark" playlist. By that standard, it's middle of the road, cynical but still actually funny. My favorite line: "I can't raise is bail/ No one will believe..."
3. Rusty Chevrolet (Da Yoopers, 1992): I got tuned into this one by a friend. It's still in "dark" territory, without going over the line, and it's actually high-energy. It's as good a point as any to note as a PHX metro near-native, we don't have to shovel heat. Best line: "I light a match to see the dash, and then I start to praayyy..."
4. Grandma's Killer Fruitcake (Dr. Elmo, 1995): Heard this one on 1990s radio, a kind of sequel to "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer", which the same guy recorded as one half of Patsy And Elmo. I personally find it preferable by a wide margin. My favorite line, "Oh no Grandma, please don't send us more!"
5. Putting Up Decorations (Bob Rivers, 2000): Another gem from the radio, where I first heard it played along with the classic 1950s/ '60s rock it parodies. Apparently, it was released as part of an album that also included the titular song "Chipmunks Roasting On An Open Fire," which would definitely be here if I had heard it back then. I remembered it as just funny, yet there's plenty of cynical edge about consumerism, overseas manufacturing and general kitsch. "God appreciates my plug-in tribute to the savior..."
6. You Ain't Getting Diddly Squat (Heywood Banks, 2003): All I will say is that I must have heard this guy live once, because I'm sure nobody else ever wrote a song in tribute to the pancreas.
7. Christmas In Jail (The Youngsters, 1956): A real oldie, this apparently got contemporary notice as a PSA against drunk driving. Given that it comes from an African-American group in the civil rights era, it's a lot darker in hindsight. "Rocks in my head, I wish I was dead..."
8. R2D2, We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Meco, 1980): Simply harmless, for a change. It's from the infamous Meco Star Wars album series, with Jon Bon Jovi somehow roped in. I still have the album this is from, but I don't think I'd have the heart to play it even if we had something to play it on.
9. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Woody Phillips, 1996): One more from Professor Schickele. The Nutcracker with power tools, what else can I say?
10. The Night Santa Went Crazy (Weird Al, 1996): One more from Weird Al. I have to say, it doesn't hold up as well as "Ground Zero". As often happens with Weird Al, it pulls its punches just a little short of what it advertises. It definitely has more bite with the animation video, especially Santa's "list".
And that's it for another day. It may seem like a "dark" selection in itself, but I was quite carful sorting these out from the ones that ended up on my "depressing" Christmas playlist: No songs about getting dumped, the death of a child, being abandoned on an icy road, etc. (Why not the link for the other one while I'm at it?) I hope your Christmas is merry, whether or not your sense of humor is as warped as mine or these artists. That's all for now, more to come!
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