Episode 90: The Gems, Flops, and Follies of Holiday Music

Planet LP host Ted Asregadoo welcomes the founders of Popdose, Jeff Giles and Jason Hare to talk about holiday music. Jeff and Jason were the brains behind a long-running series on Popdose called Mellowmas. If you've ever watched Mystery Science Theater 3000, you'll love Jeff and Jason's snarky take on some of the worst Christmas and holiday-themed music released. The series ran for about 10 years and almost extinguished the love Jeff had for Christmas music. But, Jason seemingly never tires of it.

In the first segment, the guys talk about the genesis of Mellowmas, how it migrated from their blogs to Popdose, how it evolved, and why they decided to end the series. The series got so popular that they had two theme songs written for it. One was by Alan O'Day, whose big hit, "Undercover Angel" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. The other theme song was written by fellow Popdose writer and all-around creative genius, Terje Fjelde. Ted also surprises Jeff and Jason with an AI-generated audiobook reading of a portion of Mellowmas post with Jeff as Santa Claus and Jason as Fin, a vaguely Irish-accented fella. Finally, what "Mellowmas" would be complete without a painfully extended version of "Wonderful Christmastime" and bleating sheep in the holiday classic, "Silent Night."

Segment two is about unironically loving certain holiday songs. The guys each feature five of their favorites that they don't get tired of. And look here's a playlist of them!