A Very Special Christmas - Super Boffo Bonus Episode! - Sick Burns!: An 80's Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:05):
Welcome to Sick burns, where to Gen X friends of
corporate PR pro and a collegeEnglish professor delivered
choice critique on 80 songs. I'mMargaret. And I'm Elizabeth.
Let's get into it today.
Hello, hello. What tweet did Isee of yours? Oh, that your

(00:25):
tweet about us Gambit. Have youwatched that show? It's good. I
haven't yet everybody tells meto.

Margaret (00:34):
We're making our way through shits Creek. And so
we're not we're kind of lookingto start a new one. But my
sister she's told me to watchthis show like five times. So we
were talking about it at dinnerone night, and my son said, Oh,
yeah, I watched that. That'sreal good. And I was like, Is
this what you do in your room?
After you're done with yourschoolwork? Apparently, he's on
the chess team. So I guess Oh,yeah, the hidden test team. And

(00:55):
he was like, Yeah, totally.
That's my favorite opening moveis the Queen's gambit. And I was
like, oh, did not even know itwas a chess move. So thank you
for Wow. draw you closer, Iwould have got so, so good for
him. He knows how to play chess.
I don't do you know how I knowthe moves of the pieces? But I
don't know. I don't know how tostrategize or plan or respond or

(01:18):
anything. I know what eachindividual piece can do. But in
the game of chess, or like inlife? Well, I thought you were
asking me about the game ofchess, I am
just being silly. I'm very badat that kind of stuff. Like I'm
bad at even checkers. It's toomuch. I'm a very strategic
person. I think it's what it inthat like, what are your top 50

(01:41):
strengths thing? It's like mynumber six. But I am terrible at
thinking, What are you talkingabout? It's called, it's called
the Gallup or the CliftonStrengths Finder. It's like a,
it's very much like MyersBriggs. And a lot of companies
make you take it. Haha, and youstart and people. So people

(02:02):
introduce themselves in thecorporate world by telling each
other what their top fivestrengths are. Ah, because you
are you, it kind of teaches youhow to relate to each other. in
a way that's a little easier toremember than the NF TJ or
whatever they I don't rememberwhat those things mean. But
if I tell you that one of themmy number two strength is Woo,

(02:25):
which means winning others over,which means I like to talk to
people, I don't know and get toknow them. Okay, I wouldn't be
surprised by that, right? No,I'm not. And guess what, my
friends. So anyway, I'm bad atchess, even though strategies.
I'm my number six, which is Ithink due to my self diagnosed
case of dyscalculia, which isit's like dyslexia, but for

(02:47):
numbers, one of the strengthsthat they read people on is
input, which is the collectionof information and the delight
in sharing that information withothers. Guess where that one is?
For me? Number two is numberone. Oh, I thought you already
told me number one, or else Iwould have guessed that. But if
no woo is number two for me, Ithink. Got it. Yeah. Well, and

(03:08):
here we are sharing. Here youare sharing information. Mm hmm.
delight. I love sharinginformation. That's the idea.
Yeah, delight and or like, oh,fun having a thing ready. Not
just always information, butlike, having the things somebody
needs when they need it. So I'mlike the mom whose purse weighs
30 pounds, because she's got oneof all the things just in case

(03:32):
you need it do have Advil? Yes,I do. Have a bandaid. Yes, I do.
You have that kind of band aidthat goes on the back of my heel
for blisters. I have five ofthem. Yeah, what do you need?
I've got it. Like, I'd be grand.
Um, let's make a deal whereMonty Hall was like, I'll give
you $100 if you have a toothpickin your purse, and the ladies
always like no, I don't haveone. I internalized that as a

(03:53):
young child and was like Reggiefind this this, um, self study
or organization of traits thatseems to have come in handy,
then like you trust it, or Oh,it works. Yeah, there are
certain ones that I'm like, absI totally resonates with me.
Absolutely. And I also know thatI'm bad at. So it also says like

(04:14):
if you're doing a project andyou're really good at ideation,
find somebody to partner withwho's good at activation. So
activator is another one of thestrengths. I'm very low at that.

Unknown (04:28):
I like working with.
Okay, is that surprising? Notjust cuz, just to say I'm low at
activation, like

Elizabeth (04:44):
mad totally, totally.
Yes. Well, I like to find peoplewho are good at it who are
loaded. It's also funny to belike, well, I really don't do
things. So I have to findsomeone who does.

Margaret (04:57):
That is what it sounds like.
I know that I can't do them. Itjust I don't like it. Anyway,
friggin This is why my house isa mess because I like to have
things when you need them. But Idon't like to do things. So I
don't want to put them away ororganize them.

Unknown (05:15):
And then everyone I meet, I'm like, have you taken
this? Can you take it? I want toguess what yours are. I want to
see if I'm right. That's I havefriends who one friend in
particular who's like that withMyers Briggs? Like very strong
like she that's if it would beokay socially, to just ask
people that out. Right? What thefirst time she needs them. She
would I think that stop her. Sheshould just sometimes it

(05:38):
doesn't. Yeah. But then, and Ican't remember what my Myers
Briggs letters are. But Irecently met another good friend
of hers who I had never metbefore. And it turns out that
the other friend and I are thesame Myers Briggs type, which is
relatively rare. Yes. And so myfriend, our mutual friend, was

(06:00):
like, I have a type. And thatis, it is your type. And the
whole time I had been likechatting with this other friend.
And I was like, I kind of likethis woman. What is it about
her? And it turned out we werethe same type, which is
officially incompatible asfriends actually. Oh, maybe it
was more than I was justintrigued. Oh, are you supposed
to find friends who aredifferent than you? I think the

(06:21):
way this word types. Well, Ijust like your types. You know,
you're supposed to findcombinations. And

Elizabeth (06:28):
it's all just like variations on astrology or
something. Totally. But peoplelove that. Yeah, they love
everybody loves. They're like,what type? Am I and like how? I
don't know, some way of justlike organizing their thoughts
about themselves. And we love tocategorize people and dgr. I
mean, yeah, guilty. I love doingit. For sure. I will say that as

(06:53):
a means of segue that I've beentrying to organize the basement
and I have chuckled to myselfthe number of boxes just full of
shit. I have opened that haveincluded a book about
organization,

Margaret (07:07):
which is a nice kind of irony. And anyway, I was down
there poking around because itwas bringing up all the
Christmas stuff, which for acluttery person is a certain
kind of joy because you get toclutter your house more and it's
like socially acceptable. Haveyou decorated at all we just did
this weekend. On Saturday was afrenzy a whirlwind, it was a

(07:28):
hurricane of activity. We wereactive. We were all activators
on that day.

Elizabeth (07:34):
We got we bought lights, we installed lights, we
bought a tree we put up thetree, we decorated the tree, we
got outside ornaments up outsideinside, etc. It was a frenzy.
Sounds awesome. Did you you didit yesterday. Also you did it
last weekend, got the tree anddid all the stuff and then we

(07:55):
also went to a like one of thosedrive through the park and
there's a million light displaysfor you to look at. And you tune
your radio to a station andlisten. Um, I like lights I
remember having to be have beenhauled around as a kid to look
at the neighborhoods that hadremarkable light setups. And I
hated it. I hated it. Like ajumping around. But now I would

(08:17):
love it. I don't know. It's justlike compulsory family time. And
it seems so useless to juststare at lights. But you know,
I'm crazy for the lights now. Imean, I get it because it gets
so dark so early. And then youwant a little bit of joy and
sparkle, you know, and it is theperfect COVID Christmas
activity. Because you're in yourcar, just your bubble and you

(08:40):
don't have to see you know, likeyou're safe, safe and sealed up
in there. Speaking of Christmas,maybe dive in because this one
is chock full of things to saybecause this is sort of a bonus
episode and I guess I'll justsay I'm pausing on the one that
we recorded most recently andsaving it to release later. And

(09:01):
when that comes out, it maysound somewhat dated, but we
wanted to do a very specialChristmas episode
about a very special Christmas.
So get your peppermint mochaready. Hmm. Which I cannot
because my local Starbucks isclosed for two weeks. Why? I
think it's the pandemic I thinksomebody there got sick or
something. Oh dear. Oh, that'stoo bad. It is too bad. But I

(09:25):
did we did get a shipment frommy spouse's brother of gourmet
ice cream and some holidayflavors, including one called
reindeer tracks, which reallytastes like a Girl Scout pigment
cookie but an ice cream form.
And so that's kind of fillingthat need. Okay, that's that's
scratching your mint flavoredchocolate itch. I didn't think I

(09:45):
had one. But I'll tell you thisuntil I had this and it's so
freakin good. You're not tosidebar on food, as we always
do. But when you lived inChicago, did you go to get those
Marshall field mints that werelike chocolate but mint
flavored.

Margaret (10:00):
You know, what are you talking about? Oh, how do you
know about these? You know, likea little square. Oh, chocolate
and it was mint flavored.

Unknown (10:11):
Something it was just mint flavored and nice in the
chocolate itself. Yeah. And it'slike the mint meltaways. Maybe
they're called. Delicious. We'regonna have a bite closer to this
ice cream, actually, now thatwe're talking about it, but
yeah, that sounds delicious. No,I didn't lead a very Marshall
Field's friendly lifestyle. Andit was such a short time I lived

(10:31):
there. But in any case, I'm allabout the mint chocolate holiday
treats. Yeah, yeah. Andpeppermint mocha is one of the
one of the more delicious ones.
Yeah, so listeners Get it. Getit right now. Pause it. Go get
your peppermint mocha. Comeback. We'll be waiting. So today
for our very special Christmasepisode. We're going to talk
about the album. A very specialChristmas. You and I together?

(10:53):
Yes. Which great released in1987 fits squarely in our theme
for this podcast. And certainlyhas some

Margaret (11:07):
memories. For me that resonate. I had the cassette
tape which I didn't have a lotof actual cassette tapes I
mostly copied other people'scassette tapes. Hopefully the
statute of limitations oncopyright is expired but I will
find out that we will I listenedto it on my door dash D player
cassette player all yeah, it wasnot a Walkman It was a Georgia

(11:31):
Gold Georgia Walkman So join usbeing known for its electronics.
Yes, exactly. Did you have thealbum

Elizabeth (11:39):
I this if it came out in 1987 I didn't have the album
However, I'm a little surprisedabout the year because my memory
of it is working in what we callthe record store but really
didn't sell records they soldmostly tapes and CDs but I
didn't start working there until1989 However, this album was

(12:01):
probably still feeling currentand in circulation but we played
it non stop on repeat in thatstore. So I don't think I owned
it and I because I definitelynever felt that need to own it.
But I my life was suffused,suffused with it like very much
so for a few years there OSHthat's a pretty good way to ruin

(12:24):
music for you is to listen to itwhile you work retail oh my god
there's a few songs that werelike that that I really
associate with working therelike also Unchained Melody
because ghost came out and so wecan't we played it like cuz the
singles of Unchained Melody weplayed so much and friends in
low places. The Garth Brookssong. I remember playing that

(12:46):
like very good. Yeah, I think Imentioned working at the store
when we did the episode aboutRichard censorship, censorship.
Oh, because I had to card peopleto buy the two Live Crew. Mm
hmm. Cuz that was like the newthing then. Anyway. Yeah. So I
so familiar with it. And I lovesome parts of it for sure. Yes,

(13:06):
it's got some lows for sure.
Yes. So what we talked about waswe usually take turns doing
songs for each other, but we'llkind of divvy the album up a
little and talk about all of it.
Did you do some looking intowhat how the album came about?
It's kind of a very sweet story.
No, I only know that it was forthe Special Olympics, which is a
great organization and I at thetime, I think what made an

(13:29):
impression on me was the KeithHaring artwork because Keith
Haring and aids were did KeithHaring die of AIDS. Yeah, I
think he also did some artworkthat was to benefit some aids
charities in memory, sir. So Ithink like if I hadn't looked
stuff up before we did thisepisode, I would have thought it

(13:49):
was like an AIDS benefitactually, just because of the
king Hearing Association. That'sfunny. I will tell you my I have
this memory of Keith Haring.
Vanity Fair did a story on him.
Maybe it was after he passed. Idon't know exactly. If it was
while he was alive. But there'sthis like very famous picture of
him. Where he was in hisapartment may be standing on a

(14:12):
piece of furniture he hadpainted his entire body white
with like putting his penis Iremember this photo very
vividly. It was like the firsttime I ever saw male genitalia.
And even though it was allcovered in paint, it was right
there in the middle of normalmagazine, and I was like, What
am I looking at? on thatuncircumcised if I recall? Oh, I
don't I don't remember that. Itjust I just remember it had one

(14:35):
of those black stripes like helooked

Unknown (14:40):
a one of his paintings.
And that made a big impressionon me obviously. But his his
artwork for the album is reallybeautiful and sweet and iconic.
Well, Jimmy Iovine produced itand he's the guy who founded
Interscope Records and alsoFounded Beats by Dre with Dr.
Dre beats electronics. I saw theDefiant Ones. Oh, do you see

(15:05):
that? No, I didn't. I know a bitabout it, but I didn't see it.
No one defies anything in thatmovie, just FYI, Miss titled
movie. But in any case, I knowthe whole beats Dr. Dre story.
Well, there you go. He didn'tmade the record because his dad
died a little bit afterChristmas. He's super close with
his family. He's from New York.

(15:27):
He's like this New York guy. Andhe still has the accent and
everything. And his dad was likea longshoreman. He had a heart
attack around the holidays. Andthen the family gathered around
his bedside over the Christmasholiday. And then he died two
weeks after Christmas. And hewas so moved by that, that he
was like every year Christmas,I'm just going to be sad and

(15:48):
depressed unless I can dosomething that makes a happy
memory out of this. And sobecause the family had like such
strong Christian Christmasmemories, he was like, I'm gonna
make a Christmas album. And thenI'll always think about that.
Yeah. And so that is what hedid. Yeah, just like a lovely
thing. And he couldn't get theartists though to participate,

(16:10):
because all the record companieswanted money. So he was like,
Well, I know what we'll do.
We'll like take money out of theequation and just give it all to
charity. And then the artistsstarted saying yes, and they
couldn't figure out what charityto give it to and his wife,
Vicki, I have been volunteeredwith Special Olympics. That's
how they got connected. He wentto a party at Maria Shriver his

(16:30):
house and met her dad SargentShriver, and
they were behind SpecialOlympics. The future Mrs.
Schwarzenegger? Yes. Well,hello, Eunice founded Special
Olympics. I knew that and Iforgot. Yeah, it's like deep it
does. It's a girl. Really, whatyou need to know is that it all

(16:52):
comes back to the Kennedys everytime. Oh,
yeah. Yunus started it in herbackyard, if I'm not mistaken.
So who was it an honor of rowsof her sister? I feel like I
read that somewhere. RosemaryKennedy. Yeah. They give her a
lobotomy. Right? Yeah, it waslike a very sad and secret story
for a long time. Yeah. Anyway,and it's and it is still to this

(17:14):
day, very special Christmasalbum is like the number one
funding for Special Olympics.
Really? Yeah. Which is there'sbeen like three or four or five
of them right? Yeah. A bunchmedia. I'm almost up to seven. I
think I saw seven album in myresearch, but it's raised like
100 million bucks for them.

(17:35):
Certainly done well, since 1987.
Wow. And they're all for SpecialOlympics right? There is no
separate charities arefascinating to read and super
interesting Mental Floss articleabout it. And a fantastic
article from 1987. From Octoberwhen the when the album came out
from the LA Times which I got totell you this was so

(17:56):
interesting. like half thearticle, the reporter went to
the photo shoot they did withlike Bono and staying and Run
DMC and Annie Lennox, likefamous photo of all of them
together. And this reporter wasthere and he was talking about
how like uncomfortable the photoshoot was. And until Jimmy, I
have been showed up and then andthen Bruce Springsteen got there

(18:20):
late, because Jimmy, I haven'tgiven him the wrong address.
What's the roughly like 30minutes late? Anyway, the whole
the says so much about the 80sthe whole beginning of the
article is about criticism aboutaid fatigue, because there had
been Oh, yeah, right. Yeah, dateand hands across America and

(18:44):
live. Totally, your Mellencampdid and so
borders are all asking themabout it. And like none of the
celebrities wanted to talk aboutthat was almost like they were
being asked to explain why theywere part of another, you know,
yeah. Right. And which, like, Ifeel so weird to me, maybe

(19:05):
because it's become socommonplace, but wow, what jaded
people we were back in 1987.
Right. We're so like, anothercharity record.

Margaret (19:15):
But I feel like they don't do that. And I mean, I
guess there's like telethons,because also you knew of one you
told me about one on an episodehere. Did I don't know. Yeah. I
don't know. Maybe that was like,that seems like a very 80s
phenomenon, though to havecharity. Maybe I just listened
to Farm Aid. Like a month ago.
Brandy. Oh, yeah. Right. Thatdoes happen. Yeah, I get some

(19:38):
money. In fact, it was guy.
Yeah. Great. Well, we have notthat we don't have charity now,
but it feels like it's allGoFundMe, like privatized, you
know, like individualizedthings. Yeah, well, then, like a
big group effort. It would benice. Yeah, totally. Oh my god.

(19:58):
Well, I read well

Elizabeth (20:00):
I was looking stuff up about this that Christmas
music is the like, far and awaynumber one selling genre of
music. And it's certainly theonly reason I've ever heard of
Mannheim steamroller or theTrans Siberian orchestra, you
know, only because of Christmasmusic. And so that it sounds I

(20:21):
guess that makes sense that iftotally are still selling very
special Christmases, which whenyou think about it, it's genius,
because well, some songs comeand go. A Christmas hit comes
back every year. I was readingthe ASCAP holiday song tart.
It's American Society ofComposers, Authors and

(20:43):
Publishers. It's theintellectual property. Yes,
you've got to pay you know, ifyou're gonna like put on a
concert, you have to pay therights to do a song and you pay
it to to ASCAP, they give it tothe artist, or whoever holds the
rights and number one can youguess it in 2020? Can you guess
the number one song on the ASCAPholiday song chart? Is it Elvis

(21:06):
Presley Christmas song? No. Ohgod so this is the one that the
most people are paying therights to. Yeah, Mm hmm. So it's
something that you still have topay for rights to is not like
nighters but it's also likeradio airplay album sales like a
lot goes into it. It's not justwho's you know, it's like the
most popular what's getting themost play it's Mariah Carey All

(21:29):
I want for Christmas is you

Margaret (21:31):
the queen of Christmas Did you see that? Yeah. Oh my
god totally. I did look up theall the best selling Christmas
albums because I think veryspecial Christmas is something
like the 19th of all time Yeah,yeah, that it is behind my
carries for sure. And alsobehind Kenny G's but surprise,
you know, the number one by farbecause it's already like one

(21:55):
format of it was number one, butthen it's also been released and
released so many times indifferent titles and formats is
the Elvis Presley Christmasalbum. Interesting. I would not
have guessed that but if maybeMariah Carey is like a modern
day Elvis Presley

Unknown (22:11):
maybe she is I'd really have to think that
one through. Yeah, but easilybelieve you what you tell me
about that. Also, the The coolthing about it is she's one of
the writers like Yes, right. Idon't believe that Elvis Presley
wrote many of his It's like hedidn't write blue Christmas. I
know that for sure. But she did.

(22:33):
She co wrote All I want forChristmas is you and could for
her. It is a bob? Absolutely.
Yeah. You know, I met a woman atthe swimming pool this summer.
Who's like a total Mariah Careyfan like a huge fan. Like such
we didn't talk about Christmas.
But she did say she has like allthis butterfly themed stuff in
our house. And that's like her,you know, go to like if people

(22:57):
are buying her gifts, that isbutterfly because it's related
to Mariah Carey. She loves sheloves her. So eight ways from
Sunday. And I've never metanyone who said that, but
there's obviously a lot of themout there. And so I just got
like a little because that's whyshe's such a giant, huge star. A
lot of Mariah heads or whateverher fans are called. I'm sure

(23:19):
that there's a special name forthem. And yeah, probably not
Mariah head. Yeah, I don't knowwhat it was. I don't know what
they're they do have a namebecause she said it and I dairy
lover was Mariah maniacs. Mariahmax. Mariah met.
Me.
Riot maniacs. I don't know.
reax, Mary. Harry. Mary. Mary.

(23:43):
Mary. Mary. Carrie.
Carrie Carrie. They're calledHarry Carey. Mariah Carey.
Yep, just going aroundcommitting Harry Mariah Carey on
everyone.
And talking like Carrie Carrie,the sports announcer from
Chicago. All I want forChristmas is terrible. Carrie

(24:10):
was terrible. Let me tell youabout a couple of the songs and
then I'll toss it to you and youcan tell me about a couple of
the songs. So some of the songsare produced by Jimmy I have
been and some of them are notthe first one. It is Santa Claus
is coming to town by the PointerSisters it Phil Spector's
Christmas album from the 60sinspired this album for IBM. And

(24:33):
this song is really meant to belike in the tradition of Phil
Spector. Actually, BruceSpringsteen recorded it as a
beside to his song, my hometown,which we've talked about on this
podcast, and Bruce Springsteenrecorded a Christmas song to be
the beside of my hometown. Yeah.
Wait, what is that he's not theonly artist on this album who

(24:55):
had a Christmas song on a besidewhat's the
Again, I only wrote down my songSanta Claus is coming to town.
And isn't that the name of BruceSpringsteen's autobiography?
No.
Okay, as a Jew, he has a bigtime Christmas memories. He

(25:18):
wrote a whole book about thisnote song. Yeah, I know I love
that about him. I love that he'sknown for all these Christmas
manakala He's so ecumenical. Uhhuh. Oh, yeah, that's him. Um,
he, but but this is the PointerSisters. Right? So they're
singing what's essentially thecrystals 1960 version or 1962

(25:42):
version of the from the PhilSpector Christmas album. That's
the version of this song thatthey're singing with this big
time Phil Spector sound, but theBruce Springsteen tie in is kind
of a fun tidbit because there'sbig saxophone break and it's
Clarence Clemons from the streetband playing saxophone for the
Pointer Sisters fun. I will saythis is one of my least favorite

(26:03):
songs on the album for sure.
There are parts of the song Ilove, love the harmony on the
chorus that they do this thingwhere they talk like little kids
when they're talking about thetoys and you remember there's
like stupid lyrics like it waswritten in 1934. So it's got all
these like really to toot andrummy TomTom. And when they talk
about getting dollies they use alittle boy Yeah, and it's just

(26:23):
like a biI love when our sisters if the

(26:54):
eight Yeah, they were the thePointer Sisters of the 70s are
way better than the PointerSisters of the 80s. Agreed. I
just I'm not and this is ExhibitA Yeah, not a huge fan of this
version of the song but that'sokay. There's better there's
better things to come. Then wego to Winter Wonderland by
eurhythmics. Ah Hmm. Which one?

(27:15):
I really like this one a lot.
And this is one of those thatwas not produced by Jimmy I have
been, they gave it was a B sideon one of their songs and they
gave it to him. So again, thatthey were like, Well, here you
go. You can have this. Theinteresting thing about this
song also written in 19. In along time ago in the 30s was

(27:36):
there's written by this guyRichard Smith, who's from
eastern Pennsylvania. This towncalled hones Dale, Pennsylvania,
and he wrote it about the parkacross the lake. His house was
on the town square. And heremembered seeing like the
beautiful snowfall in the park.
And so he sort of wrote it asthis romantic walking through

(27:57):
the beautiful snowy Park. Hewrote it when he was in a
sanitarium for tuberculosis andsaw kids playing in the snow and
it like reminded him of thispart. That sad. So he entered he
entered it into a like a contestwhen he was in the middle then
eventually it became a song buthe died on his 34th birthday
before he could see it become ahit. He died of tuberculosis.

(28:18):
Yeah, yeah, it is number 11 onthe ass ASCAP holiday song tart
does not the eurhythmics versionbut this song in particular. So
that's nice for him and whoeverhis estate owner is
a Nazi. We can take it away fromcan we do about this? Yeah. But

(28:40):
I love the I love the way anyLinux things on this one It's so
pretty. I cannot think of asingle eurhythmics or any Linux
song but I would not choose tolisten to like
we need to do them as a wholeepisode at some point because
they're so good. And they justcompletely hold up like there's
a few add artists I do thinkthat your ad mix are one of

(29:02):
them. I would say maybe the carstoo. And there's definitely
others that they just stillsound like damn good songs and
like Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Andyou and you don't get tired of
them and they sound current.
Yeah, I agree. I think that's sobeautiful. That song and you can
like picture the silversnowflakes practically in her

(29:22):
voice. Yes, you can. That's agreat way to say it. I love
that. Anyway, number three onthe album is new. You hear what
I hear by Whitney Houston. Ohyeah, the dearly departed
Whitney Houston. She donatedthis recording which she
recorded it for the album. Shewas like a one take gal she went
into the studio. Jimmy I havebeen tells this story. He went

(29:45):
to get a cup of tea. He cameback and she was done recording
like she wasn't she was finishedbecause she kind of just put all
the passion into it and thenright it's complete. One thing
that I love about the herversion of the song is that it
sounds likelike such a, like a gospel song.
And that's, you know how shegrew up singing as a gospel
singer coming from like a wholefamily of singers. I love that

(30:08):
she puts it into that. And oneof the fun facts about like the
production here is thatbackground vocals were by a
woman named Edna right Perry andDarlene love who? She's going to
come up later in my littlegrouping. She's one of my faves.
Yeah, music. I didn't know abouther until this moment. But yeah,

(30:29):
very interesting. The song isfrom 1962. Do you hear what I
hear? It was written by ahusband and wife writing team
and was written in the middle ofthe Cuban Missile Crisis. The
writers were like very emotionalabout that. And the Cold War,
obviously. And there's that linethat says pray for peace people

(30:49):
everywhere. And that is that isbecause they were talking about
the Cuban Missile Crisis. And itreally resonated. It was like a
big hit. After they released it.
The Harry Simeon chorale firstrecorded it and my mom had that
album. So we listened to it alot when I was young. That's a
sweet little detail about thatsong. Number four, Merry

(31:12):
Christmas, maybe by BruceSpringsteen and the E Street
Band. Yeah, Mm hmm. Bruce wasthe first artist to give Jimmy I
have been a song for this album.
Jimmy, I have been had producedmore into run, which is an album
but also the actual name ofBruce Springsteen's automatic
graphy if you didn't know. Andyeah, Springsteen called Jimmy
to give his condolences on hisdad dying. Jimmy was like, hey,

(31:36):
thanks. Listen, I'm gonna do analbum. Can I have a song? And of
course, Bruce was like, I mean,sure. You know, you can't tell
somebody know, when you'vecalled to give your condolences.
So he said, you can have thisunused besides signal signal,
Merry Christmas baby, which hehad recorded in 1980. And so it
had been around for a while, andit was on the B side to a live

(32:00):
version of his song war. It gotreally big, obviously, when it
was on very special Christmas,and it was already seven years
old. The record was already acouple of years old. Mm hmm. It
is. I mean, I think it goes toshow you like a little bit of
marketing can go a long way.

(32:20):
It's one of Bruce's favoritesongs to close his shows with in
November and December. I can'teven imagine how fun it would be
to see him perform this live.
Like I would probably lose mymind. It would have you you've
seen him live, haven't youbefore? Yeah, I saw his Tunnel
of Love tour. Mm. Oh, okay. Itwas in the summer. So he didn't
do this song. Right. It wasright around this time actually,

(32:42):
though, because Tunnel of Lovewas 86 or 87. still the best
concert I ever saw, I think. Imean, he's incredible. I don't
know. I don't know how he doesit. He plays for like three
hours and he I think I read oncehe loses like five pounds just
in sweat every time he performs.
Wow, that man they don't makethem like they used to know him.

(33:05):
This song was from 1947 JohnnyMoore's three blazers sing it.
The pianist and songwriter wasCharles Brown. So this guy, Lou
Baxter brought the song toCharles brown and said, Hey, I
need the song to be a hit. I'vegot to publish the songs. I have
cancer and I need to havesurgery. So I need some money.

(33:25):
So cute. So it became a hitbecause Charles brown took it
and reworked It was called MerryChristmas blues. And then
Charles brown took it andreworked it and called it Merry
Christmas maybe. And then itwent to number three and 1947
and it's a bluesy, r&b. They hadCharles brown record it for a
very special Christmas to withBonnie Raitt. He did it as a

(33:47):
duet. Oh, cool. Isn't thatsweet? So yeah, all your songs
so far, correct me if I'm wrong,they're all 20th century songs,
right? Yes. so far. What? Yeah,okay, I've got one that isn't
interesting one that's olderthan that. They're all newer
songs, because I can't help butthink about, like, what was
happening, like when you weretalking about the Cuban Missile
Crisis, what was happening inthe world when people were

(34:09):
writing Christmas songs andwhether that affected how they
think about Christmas by Oh, ithas to right? Yeah, sure. Well,
I read something. I readrecently, a book review of a new
biography of Charles Dickens.
And the book review was very indepth about Charles Dickens and
about the book and noted as ifeveryone already accepts it,

(34:30):
that we would not think ofChristmas in the same way that
we do. Now. If it hadn't beenfor Charles Dickens. I feel like
that maybe as long as it's posta Christmas, Carol, that all
Christmas songs, you know, startto sound similar as long as it
was after that. And so maybethere's not such a huge like
when you said Do you hear what Ihear from the 60s I feel like it
could have been from a landline.

(34:54):
I thought that song was mucholder. Yeah, plus it's in the
minor key. So I thought it wasmore traditional
And the interesting thing aboutthat song is that the guy who
wrote so husband and wife,right, the wife was a sort of
like a pop writer in the styleof Carole King or something. And
her husband had escaped Europeafter world war two and had like

(35:17):
grown up in France as a youngboy and was kind of haunted by a
lot of what he saw. And thatcomes through in his lyrics. One
of the things I was readingabout it, you can sort of feel
there's like this haunted kindof quality, a little bit about
some of the lyrics. And it alsotalked about him like having
these fond memories of seeing,you know, sheep grazing on the

(35:40):
on the hill. And that's so muchwhy it's about all these sheep.
And so certainly, some of hisexperience from a World War went
into inspiring the way that hewrote that and then certainly,
you know, the threat of a worldwar three was why he was so
worried about but it is funnywith sad Christmas songs, and
even all Christmas songs.
There's so many of them aboutlike being together or being a

(36:02):
part you know, blue Christmas byElvis Presley, I'll have a blue
Christmas because I'm withoutyou.
Or the next song on the list,which is Have yourself a merry
little Christmas by pretenders,which is so sad, because it's
about being apart. There's somuch a streak of that. If it's

(36:24):
not about you know, the birth ofChrist or the Annunciation or
something, then it'sdepression. Yes.
Sad, and I really think peopleare getting into the sad the sad
ones right now with with what'shappening with COVID. And it's
like, an ideal theme for thisyear. I think some of these sad

(36:45):
Christmas songs. Yeah. In fact,meet me in St. Louis, I think is
also excuse me, the pretendersversion of Have yourself a merry
little Christmas, which is fromthe film Meet me in St. Louis.
Starring garland. Oh, really? Itwas written for a musical. Yes,
Maha. Yeah, one of my favoritemovies. I love this movie so

(37:07):
much. The songwriting duo whowrote the song wrote all the
songs in the film, includingclang, clang, clang with the
trolley and the boy next door.
And have you ever seen it? Itfeatures little 10 year old
Margaret Mitchell, MargaretO'Brien, excuse me. Margaret
Mitchell wrote Goma.
And she plays Judy Garland'syounger sister, and it's all

(37:28):
about the the World's Fair inSt. Louis, their family is going
to move they're going to movefrom St. Louis to New York
because their dad is a lawyer,and they're going to move and
it's all you know, like 1897.
And they're very sad. And thelittle girl is sad, because
she's going to have to leave allher friends behind. And Judy
Garland is sad because she'sgonna leave her boyfriend
behind. So that's what they'resinging about. She's trying to

(37:48):
cheer up her little sister whenthey see it, she seems it to
her. And they're both crying.
The first version of the song,and there's like a really good
fresh air episode about this.
Terry Gross interviewed HughMartin who wrote the song. And
the original lyric was Haveyourself a merry little
Christmas, it may be your lastnext year, we all will be living

(38:12):
in the past. So dog, and the guywho played the boy next door,
came came up to the guy whowrote the song and he was like,
Well, first, Judy Garland waslike, I really, I'm having
trouble with this song. It's sodark. And I have to sing it to
this little girl. And she'sgonna think I'm a monster. Like,
I can't sing the song, you'vegot to change the lyrics. And he

(38:33):
was like, Well, no, this is thissong. And this is how you're
going to sing it. And the guy,the act, other actor pulled him
aside. He's like, Are you crazy?
This is your career. This is agreat song, it's gonna wind up
in the dumpster change thelyric. And he's like, he got
over himself, and he changed it.
And it is a real moment in themovie. And then later, Frank

(38:55):
Sinatra wanted to record it forthe song, which was called like,
a very jolly Christmas orsomething. And he's like,
Listen, I love your song, but itisn't very jolly. So is there
anything you can do to changeit? Any change that line? Until
then we'll have to muddlethrough somehow. And he changed
it to Hang a shining star uponthe highest bow for Frank

(39:19):
Sinatra, and that's a greatthing. And a lot of people now
sing both in different verses.
Yeah, I have heard that otherline. Yeah, this is the first
one. This is the first one onvery special Christmas that's
come up that has overlapped withwhat is in my mind that or
Christmas album, which is theMuppets with john Denver

(39:41):
Christmas. Yes. Because I waswhen I was examining the two
albums for correspondence andthis is one of the few that does
Hmm, I just wanted to point thatout. Very interesting. Well,
this and this is sung by Rolfthe dog on that and it's just
very sweet and piano and youknow,

(40:01):
Do you like his version betterthan Chrissy Heinz version?
I guess I like them fordifferent reasons. I don't think
I don't think Rolf and Chrissyhind are in totally different
universes either, you know?
Sure. Like I feel like theywould be friends. They for sure
would. How do we know that theyaren't? Good point? Yeah, they

(40:21):
very they may well be yeah no ilike i like Chrissy Heinz
version a lot but the roleversion will be the standard to
me. Yeah, yeah. I think Rossversion to have to go listen to
it again. It's probably been 30years since I listened to it.
Chrissy Hein said, This isn'tone of my favorite versions on

(40:42):
this album, not one of myfavorite tracks. It's so moglin
and in fact, she said of it thatshe was kind of surprised that
it became popular at all. Andshe said that singing it like
upset her she was near tears.
That actually makes me like itmore because she sounds like
she's near tears. She sounds sosad. She was thinking about the

(41:05):
people that you know, shecouldn't see any more who maybe
she had lost or whatever. SoGosh, yeah, it's dark man.
This song is number 10 on theASCAP 2020 song list of holiday
songs. So then we go from thatto a much more upbeat song.
About mommy cheating on daddywith Santa Claus. I saw mommy

(41:28):
kissing Santa Claus by johnMellencamp
was a be a melon camp. Besidethat he donated to the album,
again, not produced by IBM. It'sgot this cute little part at the
end where there's like a fiddleand some little kids singing. I
saw mommy kissing Santa Claus.
That's, that's melon campsdaughter, which is sweet. One of
the interesting things aboutthat LA Times article I read is

(41:51):
that in the hole, or the wholepiece, or the angle of this
article that talked about, likethe tedium of doing charity
albums, he really took a firmstance about it and said, I got
to read you this quote, becauseit will make you love him even
more. He said, I used to thinkyou and I paid taxes. So we
wouldn't have to do these thingsthat the elected officials were

(42:13):
supposed to take care ofstarving people and the
homeless, but that's not thecase. instead of blaming the
rockstars for asking for help,people should be asking why
people are in such need andstart examining who isn't doing
their job. Mm hmm. That was atthe time. Yeah. That he gave
that quote, he was in that photoshoot. And everybody was like
talking about helping people.

(42:36):
And sting was talking about thenobility of the Special Olympics
and whatever. And johnMellencamp was like, Yeah, like,
get off your ass and fix shit.
Yeah, about him. I do too. And Ialways wish that like Indiana
followed him more, you know, Imean, I know he's the darling of
the state and like, Why? I don'tknow why they don't move when

(42:56):
people think that way.
They let you know, Mike. Mr.
Mike Pence fans? Yeah, maybewe'll say a good 5050 split,
we'll assume a 5050 split.
That's just so nice andgenerous, probably. And I just
most states point out so betweenjohn Mellencamp and Bruce

(43:19):
Springsteen in your group, andthen I have Bon Jovi and Bob
Seger. And my group that youknow, the, the working class
white guy vibe is very strong inthis, which it was in 1987. It
was a denim jacket gang isreally coming out heavy here.
Yeah, we did an episode aboutthat. And
I can't help but feel thatthat's especially suited here

(43:41):
because of the nostalgia that'ssort of built into that. Yeah,
and persona, a lot of that kindof plays into like Ivan's
tastes, he had a real vision forthe record and his personal
tastes I think are really inline with like Springsteen, and
he produced john lennon and Imean people think of him as

(44:01):
Interscope and and rap and allof that but he you know, again,
like coming from a very bluecollar New York family think
that roots rock and true rockand roll is really his alley.
Those are mostly who isinterviewed and the Defiant
Ones, Bruce Springsteen that'sworth seeing it just to see
these people in action, youknow, recommendation, Tom Petty,

(44:23):
I think is there and StevieNicks too. There's, there's some
just people that you like tohear, talk, you know, that are
in it, people with things to sayMellencamp also said the reason
he did this album that he wantedto be part of it is because he
had like a spinal disease as akid. He had an operation as a

(44:44):
kid who he might have been inSpecial Olympics when he was
younger, and he felt like heknew there was a girl he knew
who had the same operationaround the same time. And he
said, like, I just saw her acouple years ago, and I made it
and she didn't, and she's stillin a wheelchair and that's the
reason IDid this how like very personal
for him? You know, the onlyother factoid I'll offer about

(45:04):
the song is that it's kind oflike a little cheeky, obviously
the punchline of the song isSanta Claus is your dad. Okay
little boy. And mommy's notkissing Santa Claus. His dad
dressed up as Santa Claus. Andso all very sweet and funny.
When it was first recorded. Itwas in 1952. This British
songwriter named Tommy Connorwrote it but then it was

(45:25):
recorded by this little boy whowas 13 named Jimmy Boyd. And it
went to number one on Billboard.
And it was, this is so rich. Itwas condemned by the Roman
Catholic Church in Boston, onthe grounds that it mixed
kissing with Christmas and theywere horrified that there was
sexualization of this croissant.
Rich the Boston diet that'srich, rich. Oh, my God. Boyd,

(45:49):
the kid who sang it wasphotographed having a meeting
with the Archdiocese to explainthe song. I'd love that they
might god 13 year old to meetwith the Archdiocese well, to
explain it that has that kind ofhave its own explanation for and
after the meeting, the band waslifted. Mm hmm. So the story of

(46:10):
that song though, or the storythat those lyrics tell reminds
me of of This American Lifeabout the tooth fairy when a kid
saw their I can't remember if itwas their mom or dad doing the
exchange of the money for thetooth, and then put together
that their parent was the toothfairy but that was not a bust.

(46:32):
What the assumption was, wasthat their parent was the tooth
fairy for like all children waslike the tooth fairy.
And like, so the kid like waslike telling their friends like
my my dad. Is there his house?
Yes, exactly. And I wish it wasthat with this song, too. You

(46:52):
know, like, oh, gosh, I'm likethe prince of Christmas. If my
dad is Santa Claus, like I shallassume this mantle and learn to
fly that say like very soon.
Just a melon movie. Yeah. Yeah.
You've assumed the mantle. Ilove it. Yeah, there was a
parody song. Just as a footnote,there was a parody song by spike

(47:15):
Jones, who was like a parody.
parody theist. We might havementioned him when we did the
weird owl episode. But thatversion was called I saw mommy
screwing Santa Claus. So fun.
Little Friday in his amp it upthere. Uh huh. So my last one
that I will hand over to you isGabriel's message by staying

(47:36):
which is the only one in mygrouping that is pre 20th
century. It is a BasqueChristmas folk Carol about the
board.
You think so? Ican't remember. Whatever. I look
at the listing. I go Oh, yeah.

(47:58):
Oh, yeah. And I like fuckingGabriel.
Like, I can't even I don't haveany connection to it. Although,
when I played it recently, I didsay Oh, yeah, so maybe it's just
like that. The title though, isnot contra, though. You know, I
will admit that when I had thecassette. Oh, but fast forward
through this one. More oftenthan not, and oh, wait, is this

(48:21):
the one that goes? most highlyfavored? Lady? glow? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, Lady and I take it back.
It's like kind of, you need alittle bit of like age or
maturity for because it's got avery like, medieval tune to it.
Yes, it was a B side of anearlier single by sting. It was

(48:43):
the B side on his single forRussians. Again, like a very
interesting pairing. You know,that one's all about the Cold
War. And then the other side,flip it over. And there's this
song about the Annunciation. Andthen he also included it on his
I don't know if you'd sayholiday album 2019. If On a
winter's night, which isbeautiful. If you don't, don't

(49:04):
have it, or haven't listened toit, give it a listen. It's
beautiful. He's famously anagnostic, which is kind of
interesting, because he sings alot of songs that it's not the
only kind of medieval soundingsong on that album. He loves
human imagination. He told ajournalist and he likes. He
said, religion is a product ofhuman imagination that is like

(49:27):
literature or music. So to denyreligion is to deny part of what
it means to be human.
It's a magical story, and it haspower. So that's pretty. He's
such a deep thinker. That stingis that so that song is like a
traditional one? Yeah, it's aBasque Christmas folk Carol, so
it's Spanish shot up. I got it.
I saw Spanish it's Basque.

(49:51):
Sorry, you're right. They wantto be separately record. You
want to come and be no, I don'tneed to know if anybody who's
bass Ah,I will let you bask in your
Christmas folk Carol glory.
Baskins baskets. What did theycall themselves? I don't know. I
think that I think just fast.
But I asked her, all I know isthat you do not call them

(50:11):
Spanish furry. That's all Iknow. iberians we'll just
generalize it. Um, so this iswhere I handed over to you.
That's the first half of thevery special Christmas album.
I will say, it's interesting,because I had all my songs of
course, in the back of my mindwhile you were talking about

(50:33):
your songs, and so I wasnoticing some patterns on the
collection. Mm hmm. And also, Ijust think the idea of a
Christmas well, so first of all,you said when you're talking
about the stigma of being abeside, I don't know, I just
feel like all these artists weretold, like just knock out a
Christmas song. Yeah, it's thebiggest selling genre. just plop
it out somewhere and then evenhave it in your catalog. Did you

(50:55):
know when Jimmy Ivonne camealong, they were like, Oh, yeah,
just said I have one. Yeah,totally. But also, while I was
looking up some of these songs,you know, just the idea of a
Christmas song is so doesn'treally mean anything because it
means everything from like, Ihave a song from the 14th
century, and I'm sure that I'msure the Basque song is as old

(51:17):
but then we have these ones thatwere written in the 60s and they
all just like get packagedtogether as Christmas songs. And
so it's kind of like a weirdgenre that doesn't have markers
and the way the other genres do,right, except that it's just
like on this topic are meant tobe played at this time,
basically. Yeah. So weird, isn'tit? I agree with ya. So like the

(51:38):
first song of mine is Christmasand Hollis by Run DMC and that's
not a crisp quote. I mean, youwould say it was just made up
for this occasion right? It wasthe I want to say it was like
the B side maybe to walk thisway or something I didn't I
don't know if it was released Ithink walk this way I guess came
out earlier so maybe it wasrecorded to be that and then

(51:59):
given to the collection in thesame way that some of yours
were? Well, first of all, ofcourse, Run DMC doing Walk This
Way revived Aerosmith career. Sothat's like a side note that is
kind of funny, but also aboutChristmas and Hollis. That video
the video for that song wasdirected by some NYU film
students who just like, got anopportunity to do this video and

(52:21):
took it and it one RollingStones magazines like Best Video
of the Year over MichaelJackson's the video from Michael
Jackson's bad, which wasdirected by Martin Scorsese. So
it's also like one of the manyhilarious losses that Martin
Scorsese has had over the livesof that's like, a theme for you,

(52:42):
too, is talking about hilariousmisses of Yes, like but this you
think this was a big song,listen to what topped it. Yeah,
right. The next one was baby,please come home by you too,
which for some reason, in mymind is the song I primarily
associate with this collection.
Maybe it's the one that getsplayed in the grocery stores the
most or something like that? Idon't know. But in any case, if

(53:04):
and this is the connection withDarlene love, I mean the whole
because that was originallyrecorded by Darlene love, and
also was a beside for you, too,that they then just gave to this
collection. Darlene love thingsback up on this YouTube version.
Oh, I know. It's also a story oflike women getting sort of

(53:27):
shunted to the side but Darleneloves I guess it was maybe 1962
or something that she firstrecorded it I'll just say that
Cher sang backup for her backthen. So cool. I know totally.
But it was part of a PhilSpector I don't know. I mean,
Jimmy Ivan I'm sure could nothelp but think about Phil
Spector once in a while. So thatmaybe there's a reason why he

(53:50):
haunts Yeah, I mean, play ifyou're a music producer in the
80s that's your like modelright? Totally. And we didn't
know he was a murderer at thatpoint. We didn't know but that
wall of sound I love like I it'sso cool, right? It's so cool.
And you can really hear it andRonnie Spector and Darlene love

(54:11):
and all those people have likesuch great voices to hear and
that production context soanyway, I feel like YouTube I
feel like their song was like,maybe it's not total. Exactly
well sound but it is like a veryrich production. I really liked
that song. I thought I readsomewhere that I've been flew to
Glasgow to record this with themwith this album. Yeah, they did

(54:34):
it during a soundcheck. Am Iright? Am I wrong? Oh, it was
during a soundcheck and it wasin the UK. And so yeah, you did
my homework for me a little bitI guess. I mean it was probably
also a beside that for them alsoprobably mixing up some of the
songs with each other but thatdoes sound It was during a

(54:54):
soundcheck. I'm not sure it wasfor the out and and Jimmy I
And you too had a longrelationship. I'm just not sure
it was for this album. Okay, thenext song is like it's Santa
baby which Madonna recorded andit's a little like I saw mommy
like, what's up with the creepyChristmas songs? Although this

(55:16):
one is less creepy than exceptit sounds creepy the way Madonna
I have to say this was maybe alow point for Madonna. Because
she sings it in that like littlegirl Betty boopie voice Yeah,
like her kid. We just talkedabout this in the last episode.
It's around the time she didthat Dick Tracy movie, but I was
sort of assumed she was maybedoing that character. But you're

(55:39):
right. Maybe it's Betty Boop, Idon't know. But the original was
Earth a kit. It was recorded andwas popular in 1953. Just, I'm
just checking Oh, I have tocheck with our helper.
barbarellaOh, will you please check on
that? Okay, let's just see.

(56:01):
Let's just see what she broughtme. 1953. That's right. And I
listened to Earth a kid'sversion, which is legitimately
sexier than the Madonna versionbecause? Well, I don't know.
It's just like the Madonna justseems saccharin. Whereas the
earth a kit is like pushing herthat well. Yeah, totally is it
and it was so sexy. It wasbanned on some radio stations

(56:24):
and be really sex content. Yes.
And also, though, last year, and2019 if anyone can remember that
year at all, there was anewspaper poll done in the UK
about annoying festive songs.
And are the kids Santa baby wasthe most annoying festive song.

(56:47):
It's not a great song I got Imight place it higher on that
list. But yeah, yeah, it's justlike whiny or pain. You know, I
guess you can you know, youcould make the argument that it
is a woman using her powers ofsex appeal to advance her
station in life or make bank youknow, whatever. I I'm just not.

(57:10):
I just yeah, it's I'm just tiredof girls talking about how they
want boxes from Tiffany's? Yes.
Tired of it? Yeah. So don'tlisten to our Material Girl
episode, if you because that iswhat that is all about. So
listeners deleted. I don't knowif you saw this detail anywhere.
But in the LA Times article Iread it said how they got

(57:31):
Madonna for this album, which in1987. She's like, huge shot,
right? Like, these are all hugestars. But she's particularly
one of the bigger stars. Andshe, I think had dated JFK Jr.
and, or, you know, had some sortof relationship with him. And he
reached out to ask her to do itbecause he's triber cousin. And

(57:51):
so therefore, you know, specialand, like, so they were working
those phones and tappingeverybody in the family to work
those phones and they're like,hey, john, john, you know, our
girl match. Give her a littlecall. See if she's got it. And
it's a good choice for hergiven. She's the Material Girl.
But yeah, it just, it's it feelslike it embodies the worst

(58:14):
aspects of the 80s that peoplethink of in some ways, you know,
even though it's from the 50sYes, I mean, that recording
especially because it's so notset. It's not sexy. I can't put
it's like trying so hard to besexy, and it's not sexy. Well,
the song itself sounds playfuland childlike. Like the music
Yeah. Music and I think thatthat the lyrics overlaid with

(58:38):
this like, they do they do likedoo dee doo dee doo. I just
Yeah. It sounds Yes. Yeah, itreally does. I'm having a hard
time articulating why I didn'tlike it, but I don't care for
it. If only if only thinking ofadjectives would have been part
of our homework, our feelings,but they weren't. Nope. So the

(58:59):
next three, I'm actually kind ofgoing to race through Little
Drummer Boy, Bob Seger does itthat was written by a woman it's
where I suppose it's worthpointing out in 1941. Its first
recording was by the Trappfamily singers, which so no
kidding have heard of in anothercontext. And also a lot of our

(59:20):
listeners might remember or knowthe Bing Crosby and David Bowie
Little Drummer Boy from Udemyfrom the 70s it's very
beautiful. It's my favoriteversion of this song. Yeah, the
next one, like really whateverit's run Rudolph run which is
also sometimes called RUN RUNRudolph Bryan Adams sings it,
Chuck Berry made it popular.

(59:44):
Sounds like a totally typicalChuck Berry song which is to say
like really good, but also bynow like kind of standard rock
and roll song. Sure it'smelodically identical to a who's
our What's her name? barbarellabarbarella come to me
melodically identical to theChuck Berry's on little Queenie.
But just with like differentlyrics, whatever but I just

(01:00:07):
don't have anything to say aboutBryan Adams. I think it's kind
of forgettable or Rudolph theRed Nosed Reindeer. I just don't
know how to chop Chuck Berry.
Frankly, hey versions totallyiconic. The next one actually
was replaced later Bon Jovisinging back door Santa.

(01:00:33):
What's that one about?
Explain it to you. Yeah, youknow, so it was written by
Clarence Carter, the bluesmusician, and it actually has
nothing to do with Christmas.
You don't say? Partly an answerto your question, which was so

(01:00:53):
that's why it was replaced laterwith another Bon Jovi song. I
wish every day could be likeChristmas to have more Christmas
content instead of just the wordSanta. Okay, anyway, those three
those three songs are there. Idid see some video clip of Jon
Bon Jovi singing I wish I couldbe what is it called? I all I

(01:01:15):
can think of is the song I wishit could be Christmas every day
by Slade Do you know that one?
The British one Oh, I wish itcould be Christmas every day.
Yeah, that is not the one thatJon Bon Jovi sings and he's like
crooning like boo play orsomething in this clip and I'm
like, What isn't? Jon Bon Jovi?
Yes, yeah, well straight upchanneling his jersey roots and

(01:01:39):
putting on some Sinatra. No,don't say Ah, it was off
putting. I did not care what I'msaying that because, well, first
of all of Bob Seger Bryan Adamsand Bon Jovi if you're what is
Marybeth kill there that's sofucking easy. It's Mary Bon Jovi
kill Bryan Adams and Bob Seger.

(01:02:01):
That's what his answer No,no, no, no. What would you do?
Why are you buffing bug cedar?
Because I want to kill BryanAdams and I want to be married
to Bon Jovi process ofelimination. Yes. I think I'm
gonna do I okay. Also marry BonJovi. Look, the fact that he's

(01:02:25):
been married to his high schoolsweetheart this entire time is
proof that he is a good husband.
So I don't think anybody woulddispute that. Also. I think Bob
Seger is like, famously a littlebit jerky. But
no, so I'm sorry, then I'm gonnaboss Bryan Adams. also killed.
He's looking good. Yeah, didn'tBryan Adams say some Trumpy

(01:02:48):
things on Twitter recently,though? No, I can't believe
that. That would be the case.
No, it must be. Are you thinkingof a different Brian? No. Ryan
Adams, the Canadian pop starsinger of summer of 69 winner of
multiple Juno Awards. We cannotbe talking about the same
person. Yes. It wasn't maybe notTrumpy, maybe Trump esque things

(01:03:12):
he said he said something veryproblematic that we have to get
barbarella to look up for. Canwe just stick marks on that
problem and just have him takehim? I think we have. I think he
did. Yeah, okay. I think wehaven't I think he did. Being
said doesn't mean he deserves tolive in a merry boffin Cal
round. If just because Richardmarks already did his job. I'm

(01:03:34):
gonna give him the benefit ofthe doubt because we can't
substantiate this Barbara Leecan't work quick enough with her
confirmation work. So I'm sorry.
It's gonna have to be Mary johnbongiovi. Off Bryan Adams, and
we'll set Bryan Cranston. That'sa weird and
kill Bob Seger. I'm sorry, Bob.
Yeah, so Little Drummer Boy isone of the more boring Christmas

(01:03:56):
songs. It just goes nowhere.
It's fairly boring. I feel likethe point of it is just to be
like a vocal show off type ofsituation with the voices doing
the drum sound, you know?
Perren. pum, pum. pum. Over andover Yeah, and going like dum,
dum. Oh, like it's uh, you know,like the whole thing as an
acapella they're basicallydescribing what the song is.

(01:04:19):
Yeah, totally. I just want toreiterate, Jon Bon Jovi, if
you're listening, I love you.
Oh, yeah. This is quite anadmission on your part. Jon Bon
Jovi. I feel like anyone whoknew me could have told me this

(01:04:40):
about myself without his nameever coming up course. I love
him. I don't know why this issuch a big revelation for me. I
wouldn't have guessed this.
Well, maybe I'm really coming toterms with it. What are you?
What's the version there? Iknow. I mean, man. Like he's
sewn. I think okay, I just sawAre 15 minutes of the episode of
30 rock that he appears on?

(01:05:04):
where he is? He plays himself.
He is nbcs artist in residence.
Oh my god, I love that show somuch. new gadget again. Yeah,
and I just feel like well, whatas you said he's married to his
childhood sweetheart. I feellike he is a hard working

(01:05:25):
talented, very nice person.
That's all it takes for you.
Hmm. Maybe maybe a nice goodlook. Maybe in my dotage? Yes.
That's all it takes. Okay, good.
I mean, you can that's cool.
Yeah, I'm not disagreeing withyou. I'm just, you know,
probing. Interesting. Oh, usingthis our podcast as the vehicle

(01:05:46):
for making celebrityconnections. Let's be frank.
Okay. Sure. Yeah, I'm gonna moveon now, because the last two
songs are the most interestingto me out of the collection. And
the second last one is Coventry.
Carol, which is sung by Alisonisn't my a, it's more of a Yeah,
I don't know. So this isbeautiful. It's a beautiful
song. It's a traditionalBritish, I guess you would say,

(01:06:12):
Carol, and the first recordedperformance of it was from 1392.
Whoa, and because it featured ina play in a mystery play, which
was about the Nativity and Iguess mystery plays came in
series, and this particular onebegan, which was barbarella,

(01:06:32):
would you please hand me that?
Thank you. This particular onewas called the pageant of
Sheerman and tailors. I don'tknow why it was called that. But
it began with the Annunciation.
And it ended with the massacreof the innocence. So when if you
want to talk about the darknessof holiday songs, let's talk

(01:06:54):
about murdering infant boys ofthe infant boys. Because this
song was written as a lullabyfor all the mothers singing to
their children who are going tobe murdered the next day, oh my
god, as part of the part of hairKing Herod's orders. And that
was part of these mystery playsthat were put on to remind

(01:07:16):
people of the story of theNativity, and this was a song
that was it was probably themost popular one. And people
when they hear it will agree,it's probably due to the beauty
of the song, and it was around1579 that it stopped being
performed because it wassuppressed by Queen Elizabeth,
for Protestant propagandapurposes. They were trying to

(01:07:39):
stamp out the old Catholic ways.
And of course, also Catholicslove blood, blood and guts in
their religion. And so maybethey were, maybe Elizabeth was
trying to clean it up a littlebit. I don't know. I don't know
why people you and I hung out ona street when we were teenagers
called Coventry. And I think wethought it was cool. And I don't

(01:08:00):
know why. And we hung out inCoventry in England to when you
left there when I was at itthere. Why does that word maybe
because of coven. I don't know.
It seems like it attracts thisidea of darkness. And I almost
just said witches but maybe it'sonce again because coven is

(01:08:20):
right there in the title. Idon't know. Yeah, I mean, but
it's just just not do you think?
Do you think that they have thesame etymology? Do you think
they're coming from the sameword? This is only just we need
to get Barbara. We need to gether to look it up for us.
Because I don't know. I sort ofdo think so a little bit. And I
can't help but think aboutcoven,

(01:08:43):
coven movie, or maybe it hassomething to do with the same
route as covenant or gather I'dlike it probably means something
about together. Because that'sthe overlapping meaning between
covenant and coven, and coversmart. You're like an amateur
etymologists right here on theshow. That's awesome. I could be

(01:09:06):
wrong. These are all guesses.
But so is it called CoventryCarroll because the origins of
the song are from that area inEngland. Yes, they were
performed. Apparently Coventrywas the site of where these
plays were performed. wormedYeah, how beautiful and creepy
and scary. It's so creepy andscary and like and but I

(01:09:26):
couldn't help but think of ittoo with the when you were
talking about staying at himbeing an agnostic person, but
loving the idea of religion andimagination. But yes, okay,
great. I get it. But like itseemed like a lot of those
different religious types. Theones that I'm most familiar with
is the Catholic history. Theyreally needed a lot of violence,

(01:09:46):
stories about violence andactual violence to get the point
across. Yeah, I mean, there arecertainly plenty of examples of
violence so it's not hard tofind the stories because he
Human beings are violent bynature. That thing I really like
about this track on the albumtoo is Alison Moyes voice is

(01:10:08):
like it's like nobody else'svoice it's so deep and rich and
I love the way she sings it andit's so cool to hear her do such
an old song because she has avoice that sort of sounds like a
like there's patina to her voicelike there would be too old
metal or something and I let Iget that kind of image when I

(01:10:31):
hear her sing it I if there'sone artist that I feel like
should have been a bigger dealthe guy no we love her because
right kind of an alternativeclean and I always say like
What's she doing on this album?
Do you have any idea how she goton this album? I don't I didn't
look that up but what was herWhat would I norm what's what
what I associate her with whatwas in Yazoo so she sings don't

(01:10:54):
go all of those upstairs thatEric's hits? Are you are you
blanking on that effect play?
Yeah, you the album, you wouldknow all of them. Okay. I will
insert a little clip here right?

(01:11:20):
Oh, if you haven't beenlistening to these songs, you
need to pick them back up.
They're great. Yeah, I guess Ido. I'll do it while I make
dinner tonight. That and alsothat's the last song on the
album too, right? No, becauseit's followed by and I just want
to say like there's partnersongs I know you know cuz
Coventry, Carol. I feel like asa partner to the sting to
Gabriel song. But the very lastsong is silent night the Stevie

(01:11:42):
next Silent Night. which I love.
Listen, I love, love Stevienext. I love her. And I love
Fleetwood Mac. And I love thissong too. I feel bad, but
I also make fun of it. I sookay, I have a few things to say

(01:12:03):
about this number one is yes.
Here's I'm about to make fun ofit because I'll just get out of
the way. Here's how it goes.
Well it was a silent nightYes, it was was

(01:13:09):
like it's a it's a nose song forher. You know it's a real she's
really up here. She's very uphere real. I'd like her to be
down here.
She doesn't have the Clevelandaccent that I do. Because if we
say night, you know, but anyway,the other but it's beautiful. It

(01:13:32):
is beautiful. And I love her andalso I always think of Lucy
Lawless playing her on SaturdayNight Live. Did you ever see
that? I mean, I certainly havebut it's not coming to mind with
God it's yours. She wears a Lacyyou know black lace
outfits and it's like, she Ithink she's seeing an ad for

(01:13:52):
like a like a taco truck orsomething. And she's like,
chicken burritos. 99 cents andWouldn't you love to eat?
I love everything about StevieNicks, including the fact that
it's so easy and fun to make funof her. You know, you know one

(01:14:13):
of my favorite things about herat this point. Did you watch the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fameinduction ceremony like last
year two years ago when she wasinduced inducted? No, she
wasn't.
Shegave her a spinal tap and gave
her some toes and she startedcontracting right in the middle

(01:14:34):
of the stage. She's 75 yearsold.
When she burst a song rightthere in front of
Harry Styles introduced her andokay and a bunch of men sang
songs with her and he calls herhis Fairy Godmother and
apparently they are like superclose buds and he was wearing

(01:14:58):
this likeBlue royal blue velveteen bell
bottom suit and I was like,Hello, who's this?
One Direction but I was like,holy cow Harry Styles. You
really got something going on?
And he was, I mean, they sangtogether like gorgeously. Yeah,
I'm kind of been a giganticHarry Styles fan ever since. And

(01:15:21):
Ben was supposed to see him inconcert this year and it was
delayed and I am pissed. Yeah,he's okay. He's one direction is
he also married to no one? No.
Okay. He is a fellow who justrecently appeared on the front
of Vogue. He was the first manon the front of Vogue. He was
wearing a dress and sort of atuxedo jacket. On some

(01:15:46):
Republican pundits and blowhardCandace Owens tweeted about it
something nasty and said shewished there were more manly
men. People are so dumb, dumb.
Well, he's, uh, yeah. Horrible.
And yeah, musician. And he'slike, besties with Stevie. Yeah,
no, that's adorable. That is.
And she she like she would be afair a really good Fairy

(01:16:08):
Godmother? Yes. Although he sayshe hangs out with her. And he's
like, and then I'm like, I haveto go to bed now. Like, she just
stays up all night. And he'slike, No, I can't party is hard
to see you go to sleep. He'slike she's saying she. Like she
stays up all night. And then shegoes to bed at dawn. Oh, I know.
Why is that cute? It's cute.

(01:16:30):
Yeah, she's like, the early birdspecial for the 75 year old
lady. And she's like, you know,but I'll be having mine at 4pm
we're gonna call it breakfast.
Yeah, just she just to me, Ididn't know I was gonna keep
talking about this but her andTom Petty's, you know, stop
dragging my heart around is abig feature in that. Jimmy
iving. documentary, Dr. Dredocumentary? It's where the

(01:16:55):
Defiant Ones? Yes. That is thesong that she's saying with
Harry Styles during the installand it is Tom Petty had died.
Yeah. I'll just give you aspoiler to the end of that
documentary is then theyinvented the best headphones
ever and became super rich. JustFYI, they got money for it.

(01:17:15):
Hell, yes. And look, I'm wearingmy beats right now. Yeah, you
are good for you Good for dry.
I'm proud of them. Huh? Oh,okay. So I have things to say
also about Silent Night. That isthe other song that corresponds
to the or Christmas album of theMuppets with john Denver, which

(01:17:36):
came out in 1979. So it'susually beyond the scope of this
podcast. However, the songsilentnight has a pretty good
history, which is told by johnDenver on the album, and if you
want to know about it, youbetter go listen to it.
motherfuckers. Give me thehighlight though. It's very old,
right? Did it? Yeah, Henry theEighth read it, or was that just

(01:17:57):
Greensleeves? Henry the Eighthonly wrote Greensleeves? That's
the only song he wrote. Okay. Hedidn't write Silent Night. What
is that? He also wrote Henry theEighth I am I am. It was later
popularized by Herman's Hermits.
Let's round aboutthe word. Anyway. They saw I am
I am. Yeah, here's a here's alittle here's a songwriter. No,

(01:18:22):
this one was written in the 19thcentury in like 1818 or
something like that by I want tosay Franz Gruber. Maybe What's
the name? guy from?
villain?
diehard?

(01:18:49):
Yeah.
This is saying, hang on asecond.
It could have been maybe thevillain After all, the 18th
century author of Silent Nightthat would be kind of an
interesting tip of the hat. ButI feel the Ellen that's the
Ellen. Ellen record character.
Yeah. Oh, my God. Totally. Uh,his name was fucking Franz

(01:19:14):
Gruber. The guy who wrote Silentnight I wasn't really serious
about why they named thecharacter that maybe it was
like, Yes. It's a Christmasmovie. And it's part of how what
makes diehard a Christmas movieif we're sitting in that
conversation.

(01:19:36):
Wait, who do you feel bad foryou that is Margaret. You should
addrechargeable response. That was
a failure. response to me sayingthat syllables Franz Gruber. You
had a very reasonable responseto that and they were

(01:20:00):
Obviously, and obviously thatwas not a silent night on
diehard that was a very loudnight, you know from Hans Gruber
Austrian organist. Yes.
And Joseph Moore. Yeah, youknow, it was like they needed a
saw. Oh, like, Oh, wait, the guyin diehard is named Hans is Hans

(01:20:25):
Gruber and Gruber Okay, sothere's, there's friends, and we
want to pump you up. Hans Gruberwas the mastermind behind the
nakatomi Plaza heist. Listen, Ifeel like this goes so deep.
It's coming back to Austriansand hot including Hans and

(01:20:46):
Franz, who are playing on ArnoldSchwarzenegger. Who later
married driver who is what weare uncovering. Now. This is a
vast conspiracy that has deeproots in both Christmas and the
Kennedys and Austria. Well,that's Silent Night. Oh, I had

(01:21:07):
something. Here's the funnything about me silent.
Yes, exactly.
Okay, so they it's like thislittle it's a real Austria
national treasure the song isyou know, and they have like the

(01:21:28):
little chapel where it wasperformed burned down. And so
they built a little Silent Nightchapel on its site. And also
there was a new translationcommissioned in 1998, where the
translator re translated thelines that say that have
previously been known as aroundyoung virgin mother and child.

(01:21:50):
Holy infant so tender and mild.
Oh, I should have saved themlike CV next. The trick the new
translation is Round yon godlytender pair Holy Infant with
curly hair.
And it's closerto the German Really? Yes. I
mean, I know like the tiniesttouch of German but yes, I can

(01:22:12):
see that that is Hmm. Yeah. Youknow, I always thought round
john virgin was referring to herstomach being around but then I
realized oh, they meant like,people are around her. They're
round the young they're aroundthe young virgin. I'm 100% with
you. And it wasn't until I waslooking at the lyrics for this
that I saw what they mean itbecause you previously to that

(01:22:35):
is All is calm. all is bright.
So that means a route all aroundher is all bright. Yes. Yes,
exactly. Yeah, you got to sortof see it all together in a
written out. My family. singsthis in German. Uh huh. They
sing this in German on the phonetoo. Oh, well, maybe that's how

(01:22:58):
my mom learned.
Just kidding. I think it was herparents who were might her
mother was was German bydescent. So I think that came
down from the family. And theyalso saying Oh, tanenbaum in
German. And still do I get togo. I didn't take German. So I
can't sing it. My mom and daddid well, school. How do you

(01:23:18):
know German? I took a take acollege. I took it in college.
Yeah. And I mean, it's not likeI could have a conversation
ended or anything but I doremember a lot of routes and
rules. And did you speak toClaudia? My German exchange
student my German sister inGerman ever? Definitely.
Definitely not because that wasbefore then. Choose Claudia. If

(01:23:39):
you're listening to Oh, does shelisten? I don't somebody in
Germany is listening. I don'tknow who it is. There is
somebody in Germany listening.
Oh, well, I hope they laugh athim this shabu Oh yeah, me to
have some cookinOh, and I want to say many
things about Silent Night. Yeah,there's a there's a very special

(01:24:00):
Christmas I think it's the thirdone that hat features also a
woman with a I don't know whatyou would call it. What is that?
A vocal fry voice singing a songat the end and that is Petey
Smith singing we three kingsWhoo.

(01:24:21):
That's a treatment. That's acreepy treatment of a song that
everyone should go listen to andnever heard the article. Listen.
Well it just also seems like apartner to this ending with
Stevie Nicks doing singingSilent Night like I don't know.
There's just sort of patternsemerging among the different
very special Christmases. Peoplejust don't that's not a song

(01:24:42):
that you hear a lot. We threekings. People don't record that
as often as they do say runRudolph run.
And so perhaps it's for thatreason that I cannot remember
the actual words to that song.
All I can remember are the jokewords.
We three kings of orient issmoking on a rubber cigarette

(01:25:04):
cigar is it was loaded explodedthing you've never heard that
now oh we three kings of orienare smoking on a rubber cigar it
was loaded it exploded bang wetwo kings of orient are smoking
on the car it was loaded itexploded bang we went king of

(01:25:24):
orient is smoking on rubber sickis it was loaded it exploded
bang. Silent man Ilove that. Go tell him is a
great dad joke that involvesChristmas songs and singing. Yes
love when you sing the law mygod I've really noticed that.
Nothing will please an eightyear old boy more his mother

(01:25:45):
singing. So try it tonight. I'mgonna do it. You should I think
we should all go listen to like,every very special Christmas
album. And we should probablybuy one so that the Special
Olympics get somebody to dotheir good work, right?
Absolutely. I may choose todonate separately rather than
purchase these have an idea?

(01:26:08):
Yeah, but yeah, always do that.
Just make a direct donation. Mmhmm. Well, that was fun, huh?
Well, we did it. We burnedanother song and we hope you
enjoyed it and danced around thefire. If you want to suggest a

(01:26:29):
song or join our conversation.
Find us on Instagram. We're atsick burns pod on twitter at at
sick 80s or on Facebook as sickburns and we'd love to get an
email from you. Send it to us atburning the eighties@gmail.com
and if you haven't yet gottenthe message that we're desperate

(01:26:51):
to interact with you but in atotally cool and standoffish
way. Maybe this will do it. Wealso have a website and you
should definitely use it. VisitSick burns podcast.com to leave
a comment or a voicemail. Ciaofor now.

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A Very Special Christmas - Super Boffo Bonus Episode!

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}A Very Special Christmas - Super Boffo Bonus Episode!