A Christmas Yuleblog

Earlier this month ( February 3rd to be precise), I ordered four Christmas CDs from Amazon and I promised full reviews of each when they arrived. The final CD I ordered arrived last week in the midst of my week-long review of homemade Christmas compilations. It was definitely worth the wait. In the early 1990s, an all-girl punk band named Flamenco A Go Go formed in Japan - Petty was the singer in the band, Booka the guitarist. After moderate success, Flamenco disbanded. However, their manager committed them to record "Karma Chameleon" for a 1980s cover compilation. Petty and Booka banded together, recorded an acoustic version, and brought in The Toconuts, a Japanese Hawaiian band for the background. Seizing on a great opportunity, they recorded their first full album of Hawaiian music entitled "Toconut's Hawaii". While on tour, Petty and Booka performed live onstage in hula skirts, playing ukelele, and, in a nod to their punk days, wearing combat boots....

This is the last of six different Christmas comps that I'm reviewing this week. These comps were either sent to me by other Christmas collectors / enthusiasts or download available comps that were created by Christmas collectors / enthusiasts. In a previous review , I mentioned that I welcomed hearing other people's Christmas CD compilations - to hear the different styles of music, types of humor presented, and to make new friends in the process. No other disc that I received this year illustrates this more clearly than this CD I'm about to review. Jonathan Melton hails from the great state of Alabama. When he's not collecting Christmas music or taking care of his family (all of whom make appearances on the CD), he has been a Police Communications Officer for the Alabama Department of Public Safety for the past 26 years. Late last year, Jonathan left two messages at FaLaLaLaLa.com : 1.) he just finished producing his very own Christmas compilation for family and...

This is the fifth of six different Christmas comps that I'm reviewing this week. These comps were either sent to me by other Christmas collectors / enthusiasts or download available comps that were created by Christmas collectors / enthusiasts. In a previous review , I explained how FaLaLaLaLa.com brought together Christmas music lovers from all over the world to one spot on the Internet. Many of these people created their very own year-end Christmas compilations and shared them with their family and friends. It was a shock to realize I wasn't the only person creating annual Christmas CDs - but did that make me normal? Al Aitchison was a fellow collector from New York City who posted this message at FaLaLaLaLa.com on December 21, 2004: " Hey, does anyone out there make annual Christmas CD's? I'm always looking to trade with other collectors. I have extra copies of my latest collection. It's unlikely the CD will arrive by Christmas but who cares? It...

This is the fourth of six different Christmas comps that I'm reviewing this week. These comps were either sent to me by other Christmas collectors / enthusiasts or download available comps that were created by Christmas collectors / enthusiasts. As a Christmas collector, one of the greatest things to ever happen to me was when FaLaLaLaLa.com opened its doors for business back in the fall of 2004. Another one of the greatest things to ever happen to me was when someone brought to everyone's attention at FaLaLaLaLa.com the name of Andy Cirzan. By day, Andy Cirzan is a mild-mannered vice-president working for a great metropolitan concert promoter. By night, he becomes DJ Lo-Fi - a Christmas music collector extraordinaire; spinning incredible Christmas records he found using his Vinyl-Vision all over the world. For the past seventeen years, Cirzan has been issuing his own homemade compilations - 100% all-vinyl - no fillers! In an interview he conducted last year, Andy sta...

This is the third of six different Christmas comps that I'm reviewing this week. These comps were either sent to me by other Christmas collectors / enthusiasts or download available comps that were created by Christmas collectors / enthusiasts. Two year ago, Brad Ross-MacLeod began a website entitled FaLaLaLaLa.com whose mission statement was "Preserving Memories Of Christmas Past". He opened forums where other Christmas music collectors could share their knowledge and MP3s to others, to post links to other Christmas download sites, and answering questions about long lost Christmas music. Brad also dipped into his own vinyl library and offered several classic Christmas albums to download on a weekly basis. He also offered a MP3 a day leading up to Christmas Eve, giving you a custom Christmas CD from the website. The sense of community that was generated from that first year was quite unprecedented. Hundreds of Christmas music collectors, bloggers, internet radio ...

This is the second of six different Christmas comps that I'm reviewing this week. These comps were either sent to me by other Christmas collectors / enthusiasts or download available comps that were created by Christmas collectors / enthusiasts. This review contains a HUGE surprise... read on! In my last review , I recounted how I discovered Jeffco Productions by doing a Google / internet search in 2001 for some Weird Al Yankovic Christmas greetings. In the spring of 2003, I had downloaded some Christmas tracks from the Therapy Sisters and wanted to finish off the album. This led me to yet another Google / deep internet search that dropped me off at the front doorstep of Queer Music Heritage . At first, I was excited to find a site that even knew about the Therapy Sisters. But then I started to look at the other song titles... "Dyke The Halls"? "Jerry Falwell's Coming To Town"? "Rhonda The Lesbo Reindeer"? I knew I was in uncharted waters...

Starting this week, I will reviewing six different Christmas comps that were either sent to me by other Christmas collectors / enthusiasts or download available comps that were created by Christmas collectors / enthusiasts. To start it off, I present to you Canada's very own Jeffco Productions and my very good friend Jeff Fox. One day in the summer of 2001, I was doing some deep searching on Napster and Google for Weird Al Yankovic Christmas greetings (WEIRD AL CHRISTMAS GREETINGS!). This search led me to the website of Jeffco Productions . Upon first look, I discovered a group of people who've known each other for a long time and did fun things together. They held the Jeffco Giveaway every year, they occasionally did ice sculpting , and every Christmas since 1992, they issued Christmas compilations. I immedately e-mailed "To Whom It May Concern", introduced myself, sharing my passion for Christmas music, and, like any other self-respecting Christmas collecto...

It is currently 8:45 AM here at my home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In about three hours, I will be going to the Indiana Lasik Center where I will be strapped down to a table like James Bond and have corrective eye surgery. My Coke bottle glasses are history! By tomorrow, I should be seeing 20/20 again... and I'm not talking about the TV show either! In any event, I will be gone for a few days while my eyes recover. Hope the 3-D vision won't screw anything up! During the week of February 19th - February 25th, I will be reviewing six Christmas compilations sent or downloaded to me from other Christmas enthusiasts like myself! The titles will include: FaLaLaLaLa.com's 2005 ADVENTure In Carols Andy Cirzan's Off In The Christmas Cosmos Vol. XVII - 2005 Jeffco Productions' 2005 Christmas Podcasts Melton Mistletoe Mix 2005 Al's Christmas Ale 2005 Queer Music Heritage - December 19th & December 26th, 2005 radio shows Should be an exciting week because...

Let me go on record and state this: Ann-Margret is the ONLY woman on the planet that I would leave my wife and kids for. She has more sex appeal in one eyelash than any of the current sex symbols in Hollywood, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In January 2005, I discovered she released a Christmas album for the 2004 season that I completely missed. Upon learning this, I immediately went into a coma that lasted several weeks. FINALLY - to spend Christmas with Ann-Margret! It took a long time to gather my strength back after the initial shock. Actually order the CD was a bit of an ordeal. I would visit Amazon.com and start placing the order until I caught site of the cover you see above. The room would always get blurry, I would sink to my knees like a sugar diabetic that desperately needs a chocolate bar, and eventually pass out. This went on for several months. I tried to gather my strength; I watched "Viva Las Vegas" and "Kitten With A Whip" almost daily - li...

Back on February 3rd , I ordered several Christmas CDs from Amazon.com and even though I already own a copy of this album (acquired through a trade with a fellow collector), I wanted the full artwork for this CD and upgraded to this copy. I first saw this album over at Mistletunes.com and was intrigued by the review at that site: " This one's been bubbling under my radar for a couple of years and I finally latched onto a copy of this 1997 Christmas classic. "There's nothing Chinese about these guys, although there are five of them; try rockabilly / folk / country fusion on for size, then consider they wrote all but one of the tunes on this album, and you've got the ingredients for a jumpin' Christmastime. " A fellow collector agreed to a trade and when I saw he had this album, I wanted to hear what all the ruckus was about. The sound is exactly described above and the lyrics are sharp and witty. With such songs like "Rockin' In The Manger" ...

On February 3rd , I placed an order through Amazon.com for four Christmas CDs and promised reviews of each of them. This was the first CD to arrive - one that I already had in my collection that I wanted to upgrade. This Christmas compilation was released in 1994 by Tim/Kerr Records of Portland, Oregon - not too far down the road from Seattle whose grunge music was the flavor of choice on the radio at that time. This album is chock full of grunge, pop, metal, and psychedelic bands with names like Flaps Down, Caveman Shoestore, Hitting Birth, and Smegma. TRACK REVIEWS: 1.) Swoon 23 - Merry Christmas To Me Sounds like someone listened to the Velvet Underground a wee bit too much... 2.) Pond - Gloria In Excelsis Deo A straightforward rendition of "Angels We Have Heard On High" that could have done without the bizarre guitar breaks and the 45 second final feedback filled note. 3.) Dandy Warhols - Little Drummer Boy Before they were even known... One of the better rock versions...

Back in my high school days, a friend of mine stood in front of the history class to read a paper he wrote entitled "JFK Blown Away - What More Do I Have To Say?" - an obvious swipe from Billy Joel. His argument was since November 22, 1963, the cultural and moral status of the United States has declined and will continue to decline. I was too busy trying to make points with the cheerleader sitting next to me to pay attention until he brought up how TV shortly after the assassination went down hill - citing "The Munsters", "The Addams Family", and "Bewitched" - all dealing with monsters, witchcraft, and the occult. That was the only point I agreed with. There was a definite fascination with horror in the 1960s... which leads us to this album. Released in 1964, this album was the brainchild of Len Maxwell, a talented writer and voice actor. Maxwell was best known as the voice of Karate and the Chief of Police on the old "Batfink" cartoo...

Every Christmas, there's one hot toy or game that is all the rage: XBox 360, Tickle Me Elmo, Nintendo, Teddy Ruxpin. People camp out for days ahead, trample over people to get their hands on their item, and pay top dollar to give someone a Merry Christmas. This entire phenomenon can be traced directly back to the Cabbage Patch Dolls. First created in 1976 by an art student named Xavier Roberts, the handmade dolls started off slowly and sold quite well. Roberts came up with the cutesy-wutesy idea of "adoption papers" and "official birth certificates" and people went "Awwww" to the tune of $60 million in the first year. By 1980, the demand had begin to build and dolls were reselling for 100 times over the original price. Toy companies were clamoring for the chance to mass reproduce the toys and Roberts eventually went with Coleco in 1982. The world was about to be flooded with Cabbage Patch dolls. Everyone remembers what happened next: the lines of peop...

The school where my son Alex attends has a wonderful scrip program. You purchase gift certificates from local & national stores and a certain percentage of each scrip goes towards tuition for next year. This is great considering my oldest daughter Maggie will begin kindergarten this fall. This past week, the school held it's annual, one-week only 100% scrip drive - meaning all the dollars spent go directly into our tuition bank. As my wife and I looked over the order form earlier this week, she asked me if I wanted anything from Amazon.com! Suddenly it was Christmas in February! I asked for one $50 gift certificate and she put it down on the order form. I'm betting I could have gotten more since this was a great deal for our kids but I didn't want to get too greedy and take advantage of my wife's generosity. The certificate arrived earlier today... Accessing my wish list , this is what I ordered: Ann Margret's Christmas Carol Collection Petty Booka - Christm...