A Christmas Yuleblog

All of the 80s intros of this CD are available to listen to. To hear my production skills on the bumpers & breaks, see tracks 37 and 38 of the first disc below. The 2004 playlist: DISC 1: 1.) 2004 intro - Pt. 1 2.) Band Aid II - Do They Know It's Christmas Time? A DJ in Chicago played this on the air exactly one time. I taped it on cassette - the last Christmas song I recorded during the decade of the 1980s. This version was never released officially in America due to legalities. 3.) 2004 intro - Pt. 2 4.) 1980 intro 5.) Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry One of the first Christmas songs to incorporate the New Wave sound. First heard this on the good Doctor Demento Show. 6.) "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" break 7.) 1980 bumper 1 8.) Mirror Image - Sleigh Ride Disco officially died in 1980 - this might have been the cause. For more on Christmas disco, check out my review of The Mistletoe Disco Band . 9.) Richard Simmons - Chri...

The 2003 playlist: 1.) 2003 intro My usual intro with the Flat Duo Jets on "Jingle Bells". 2.) Alex's 2003 greeting This can't be the same kid that's fighting with me for time on the computer... sheesh! 3.) Shakespeare Man - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer A dramatic recitation in full Shakespearean mode of the famed Johnny Marks classic. HILARIOUS! 4.) The Three Tenors - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras take a stab at John & Yoko's holiday hit. No foolin'. 5.) A Christmas Story - Ralphie is asked what he wants for Christmas My brothers and I saw this movie twice at the Glenwood Theater in 1983. Twenty years on, it's become the most popular Christmas movie of its era. 6.) Tori Amos - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas A rare Christmas track from Amos - haunting and melodic. 7.) Starflyer 59 - I'll Be Home For Christmas Ambient version from a Christian rock band. From one of BEC...

The 2002 playlist: 1.) 2002 intro My usual intro with the Flat Duo Jets on "Jingle Bells". 2.) Pennsylvania 6-5000 - The Twelve And One-Half Days Of Christmas Long before Straight No Chaser became a YouTube phenomenon, this song made the rounds of many college glee clubs and fraternities. This version is the third in my collection. 3.) Bob Rivers - Carol Of The Bartenders I've lost two friends at Christmas time thanks to drunk driving. This one gets the message across. A gem from the good folks at Twisted Christmas . 4.) The Osbournes - Sharon & Ozzy discuss plans for Christmas Maybe the last thing I ever watched on MTV. Their Christmas episode ranks up there with any classic sitcom Christmas episode (in my eyes). 5.) R.E.M. - Christmas Griping The boys from Athens, GA have quite a collection of fan-club only Christmas singles. This 1991 offering is their best. 6.) Barenaked Ladies (with Sarah McLachlan) - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We...

The 2001 playlist: 1.) 2001 intro My usual intro with the Flat Duo Jets on "Jingle Bells" mixed together with " Also Sprach Zarathustra ". 2.) Monty Python - Christmas In Heaven I waited years to use this one... it fits perfectly leading off the CD. 3.) Wayne Newton - Jingle Bell Hustle At the time, I thought this was the worst Christmas disco song ever (see 2008 below). 4.) Casey Kasem - American Top 40 Christmas bumper (No. 3) Found on Napster (the pre-legal days) from one of Casey's old radio programs. 5.) Dale Monty & The 2x2's - The Lil' Endless Summer Boy Take a surf guitar version of "Little Drummer Boy" and "Wipeout". You get this track. 6.) The Surfaris - A Surfer's Christmas List The same group who originally did "Wipeout"! Great Christmas surf track. 7.) Sleepless in Seattle - Meg Ryan listening to Christmas radio "Coming up, 'Jingle Bells' backwards!"...

The 2000 playlist: 1.) 2000 intro My usual intro with the Flat Duo Jets on "Jingle Bells". 2.) The Jack Benny Show - Jack buys Rochester's Christmas present Taken from a VHS compilation of Hollywood Christmas. Jack Benny and Rochester always makes me laugh. 3.) Seymour Swine - Blue Christmas This Porky Pig soundalike (voiced by Denny Brownlee on the John Boy & Billy radio show in 1980) remains one of the funniest Christmas novelty tunes ever. Has this ever been released on CD? 4.) Bob Marley & The Wailers - White Christmas Extremely rare Christmas track with Marley on lead and Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer on backup vocals. 5.) The Dating Game - Andy Kaufman as Latka is asked a Christmas dating question This was the same Christmas "Man In The Moon" with Jim Carrey was in theaters. Appropriate. 6.) Louis Prima - Shake Hands With Santa Claus I bought this Prima CD and didn't realize it had a Christmas track on it - BONUS...

It's been 26 years since my Christmas music obsession began. Since beginning this blog nearly four years ago, I've alluded many times to my annual Christmas CDs that I create for family and friends.  By now, many of my family and friends should have received their 2010 copy (scroll down to see this year's entry). This entry is strictly here for reference and for the benefit of those who received the CDs. None of these comps will be posted here in their entirety or made available online or offline . Here is an extensive look at my Christmas comps since the beginning of this decade: (Click on image to enlarge) This was the first year I created my annual Christmas tapes on CD. The cover picture shows how I recorded the Christmas tapes then - two CD players / boom boxes connected to a Radio Shack mixer which fed into a cassette deck. Each of these CDs were numbered; only 25 copies were burned (blank CDs were still $1.50 each) and sent to close family and friends....

We received a comment here at the yuleblog on in the last 24 hours that was unconfirmed until now thanks to the Las Vegas Review Journal : The Fabulous Fay McKay has died in her sleep Friday, April 4, 2008 at the age of 78. We had the pleasure of getting to know Miss McKay last year when we reviewed her Christmas album. Frail in voice but sharp in her thoughts, Miss McKay was a true professional in her letters and phone conversations. To honor her memory, here is Fay singing her trademark Christmas song "The 12 Daze Of Christmas": Capt

What you are looking at is indeed a truly historic document in my household. When I showed this one to the Mrs. the very first time, she stopped dead in her tracks, was completely speechless, and nearly teared up. When I told my family about it, they wanted proof so here it is. This is the first paycheck I've earned and received in 8 1/2 years. When my son Alex was born back in November, 1999, I gave up my less than lucrative career in retail management and officially became a "stay-at-home dad". My wife was in the last few years of a geriatric fellowship in Michigan and looking ahead to the summer of 2000 when we would leave the metro Detroit area and back home again to Indiana. Since moving here, my wife has worked relentlessly for a retirement home as its director of health administration. She had the inevitable task of taking a facility still stuck in the 1950s and transform it into a state-of-the-art, 21st century facility complete with separate areas for a...

We here at the yuleblog are always excited to find new Christmas blogs. We've had a great roster of blogs to choose from in our "Links" section located in the top right hand corner of our template. We're pleased to announce several new blogs have been added: Cheerful Earful - Inkydog, a veteran of FaLaLaLaLa.com , has decided to pitch a tent and open his own blog! Inky has posted several wonderful rare Christmas albums (Hugo & Luigi, Helen O'Connell, Jan Garber) and we heartily welcome him to the neighborhood! Sanity Clause's Shanty - Sanity Clause's blog really caught my eye this year. He has some remarkable stuff like Jimmy Jenson (The Country Singing Swede) and a too-cool-for-words full-length Christmas mix for 2007. This is a comp that makes you sit up and swoon with delight at the amazing sounds assembled. Well done Sanity! Santas Working Overtime - The good people at Senses Working Overtime decided to create a Christmas only blo...