A Christmas Yuleblog

It is no secret around here that I am not a kiddie Christmas type of guy. While other kids were listening to the Caroleers, Captain Kangaroo, and Peter Pan Christmas records, I was listening to a steady diet of easy listening Christmas music. Over the years, I have shared out a few kiddie Christmas titles that many of you have enjoyed (i.e. A Pink Panther Christmas , The Pac-Man Christmas Album ). Others I've posted because they struck me as odd (i.e. Alex Houston & Elmer , Irwin The Disco Duck ). This one I'm not sure what to think. First, we have the jaw-droppingly inhumane cartoon cover that shows two cops hauling poor St. Nick off to the slammer. Directly above Santa, we can see two kids wailing in agony over the fact that Santa is about to get strip-searched and booked. Add an evil nemesis directly from the Snidley Whiplash School of Villains wringing his hands in delight off to the side and the stage is set. As for the story, you can make up your own sce...

Remember your elementary school Christmas pageant or play? You may or may not remember the name of the classmate who played Scrooge or the kid who threw up onstage. But you probably remember the music that you sang. For many school kids, it was standard Christmas carols and standards. However, some schools went out and spent money from an educational service for a Christmas program, complete with scripts and songs. This is one of those programs. Designed to enrich the musical experience of boys and girls in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, this program came with an illustrated guidebook (lost for all eternity) for staging, costuming, and dramatizing the entire program to make the teacher's job all the more easier. Side one is entirely vocal - one lone female voice singing eight different songs (or "windows") that comprise the entire show (and one of these tracks was used for the 2007 Yuleblog Sampler). Side two is completely instrumental - so if you feel inspire...

Indiana's vinyl bins contain more religious Christmas albums than any other in the Union. If I purchased every one of these albums during my search and rescue missions over the past five years, I would probably have close to 1000 LPs. This is one of those typical albums. Designed with a Sunday School or Bible camp in mind, we listen as "Uncle Earl" (red flag) and two kids named Kathy and Bill share special stories lifted right out of the Bible. Even now and then, Christmas is involved! The Christmas music sandwiched inbetween the stories is mostly standard carols with a choir and organ and I shared a track from this album for the 2007 Yuleblog Sampler. So this year, kids, you get the whole album! Can I get an "Amen"? The Kid's Bible Club - At Christmastime Happy listening... Uncle Capt

This was a from a lot of Christmas records I purchased from a Canadian dealer off eBay earlier this year. If you were a kid growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in the 1960s through the early 1980s, you might have spent some time in front of the television watching Uncle Bob Swarts and his ventriloquist friends - headed by Archie Wood . This album from the mid-1960s brings all these characters into the recording studio to record this album. Shades of Alex Houston & Elmer ! However, this is a fun, witty, and throroughly enjoyable Christmas album for kids of all ages. Uncle Bob keeps the pace quick and has fun shuffling through his characters as well as himself to sing favorite Christmas songs. Even though it's not credited on the album, Uncle Bob even manages to squeeze in a great version of "Silver Bells". Archie Wood & His Friends - Christmas Album Happy listening... Capt

This vintage Christmas single was given to me by my in-laws when they were cleaning out their closets. I'm told this was one of the records that got heavy rotation when they were kids back in the 1950s. There's not much to tell with this one - I found a site online about Royale Records and the design of its logo and a partial discography that covers mostly their classical output. Other than that, zilch. However, if you're looking for a version of Dickens' "Christmas Carol" under seven minutes in length or a version of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" around three minutes, than this is for you! Still having a hard time believing my in-laws listened to this... and that they were kids at one time! The Royale Story Tellers - Christmas EP Happy listening... Capt

Back on October 1st, I wrote two reviews of Christmas disco albums that our friend Ernie shared out. In those reviews, I reiterated my guilty pleasure for Christmas disco and hinted: "And if you think Holiday Disco is bad, just wait until Christmas. For I have obtained what could be the WORST Christmas disco album of all time and I intend to unleash it to the world." Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... here it is. The folks at Peter Pan Records decided to combine their special brand of kiddie Christmas with Christmas disco to disastrous results. Leeching off the success of Rick Dees' novelty hit "Disco Duck", they decided to create the lovable duck on the cover named Irwin! Irwin is your host and narrator and after about 30 seconds into the first track (a remake of "Disco Duck" renamed "Disco Duck II" to avoid paying royalties), you're gonna be looking for a 12-gauge shotgun for some duck hunting. After two competent di...

Today starts a look back at the 125+ Christmas albums (yes, 125 plus!) that I downloaded during the 2006 holiday downloading season. Some will get serious looks. Others will get thumbnail sketches. Will I get to them all? Only time will tell. This was the first full album I clicked. Even wrote down the date, the place, the time, and from who - November 18, 2006 at 9:03 AM from FaLaLaLaLa community member Inkydog . If you look closely at the bottom right hand corner of the album, you'll notice that this is from Design Records , a budget budget division of the budget label Pickwick International. Design Records are the same folks who brought you wonderful Christmas albums like " Dennis Day Sings For The Family ", " Christmas With The Happy Crickets ", and probably the greatest budget Christmas release ever: " Tijuana Christmas " by The Border Brass. Not much info is out there on the Cricketones. But the music is festive, fun, and very ligh...

I was first alerted to the existence of this album by my good friend Jeff at Jeffco Productions (psst... Jeff's posted a NEW Christmas album to download at his site!). Thankfully, I was able to beat Jeff to the punch this time and this was one of the CDs I sent him for Christmas. This was one of the first Christmas CDs that I reviewed at FaLaLaLaLa.com last year. To quote: "All the usual suspects are back for their first Christmas CD since 1992's soundtrack to 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'. Featuring five original Christmas songs, this one has something for everyone. "Who better to record 'Zat You, Santa Claus?' than the Electric Mayhem Band? The title track belongs to Kermit and Miss Piggy and is quite charming. And every time I hear Animal in the background on 'The Man With The Bag' ("JINGLE! JINGLE!"), I break out in laughter! "Want more? How about 'North Pole Comedy Club' with Fozzie Bear, Statler & Waldorf? Mi...

Last December, I was making the rounds online and came across Lee Hartfield's incredible blog Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace . His entry of December 3rd of last year had a picture of the album cover that stayed with me for a long time (thanks Lee!). That image came in handy when I found a copy of this album among a stack of kiddie records at a antique store in Valparaiso, Indiana. I'm not sure which purchase made me giddier; this album or the copy of "Sesame Street Disco"? From the age of five, Alex Houston wanted to be a ventriloquist. He found his future partner in High Point, North Carolina and bought his dummy Elmer from a local sheriff for $50. Their career spanned 50 years! They got their first break in 1954 on Jimmy Dean's first TV show, stayed there for five years, moved to Nashville and worked as an opening act to country stars like Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, and a newcomer named Charley Pride. Pride and Houston w...

You're stunned, right? This cover does have that effect! Here's another album that I posted last year at FaLaLaLaLa - the home of preserved Christmas vinyl memories! Here's what I wrote at the time: The only thing I could find about Kid Stuff Records is that it was active between 1982-1984 and put out about a dozen or so of these albums based on popular video games of the day (Asteroids / Yars’ Revenge / Missle Command / Donkey Kong). I originally bought this album on eBay so I could include the cover in my annual Christmas CD compilation [in 2004] when I saluted the 1980s. I’ve never completely listened to this album but it follows the standard kiddie record formula: tell a story, interrupt it with a song, repeat. I must admit I’m not a huge fan of kiddie records… Maybe it’s because I never had them as a child. I was too busy listening to my mom’s records – Rat Pack, Lawrence Welk, early Elvis & other 50s rock-n-roll albums. Sometimes I would raid my old...

To quote from my review / posting of " A Pink Panther Christmas ": I don't particularly like kiddie Christmas albums. I never had them growing up at Christmas time and until last year, I never understood the fascination with them. "At a Christmas party last year, a friend came up to me who received my annual Christmas compilation and began talking about Christmas music in general. "He distinctly remembered all the Firestone albums that his mother would play repeatedly at Christmas time and wanted me to locate some of them for him. I reminded him there were around 22 volumes of the Firestone albums but he didn't care. "'To me, that's Christmas.' he stated matter of factly. "And there lies the secret of Christmas music. Many of your most intimate, favorite Christmas memories are forever interlinked with the Christmas music you remember as a child. That's why kiddie records like A Merry Monster Christmas and A Cabbage Patch ...

This past weekend, my family and I travelled to Chicago to visit family and celebrate the birthdays of two of my nephews (one of which is my godson - my only chance to be Vito Corleone). The whole family decided to find birthday presents together and went to a local Target store to hunt them down. We were browsing through their toy section which was located dangerously close to their music section. While my wife and my two daughters were "oohing" and "aahing" down the Barbie aisle together, I took my son and quickly cruised through the music section, intent on purchasing nothing - ain't that always the case? Like a moth drawn to a flame, I found their newly installed Christmas music section. While I thumbed through the CDs, my son thumbed through a section as well. Suddenly, I heard him cry "SPONGEBOB! FAIRLY ODDPARENTS!" I immediately thought he was looking at the toy section across the aisle. "DAD! LOOK! IT'S A NICK HOLIDAY!" ...

Here's yet another entry into the "Christmas with small woodland creatures and/or insects that have sped up voices" category. Back in June, I reviewed one of these entries , offered a STEREO version of the same album in July, and this hopefully will be the last entry for quite some time. This one came from Ernie (not Bert)'s blog late last year and he stated at the time: " I have this terrible fear that you folks are going to download whatever I throw up here. So here is a test. Do not download this album! It is bad! The arrangements are terrible. "The singing is monotone clap-trap, and it's often pitched so high that dogs run howlng from the room! If you thought the Chipmunks were bad, these crickets make the Chipmunks look like Elvis being backed by the Beatles. But I'm afraid there is no stopping you ." Well, I downloaded it. It even came with a different cover in a different color, style, and design. Twelve songs in total. How b...

A few blog entries ago, I reviewed this album that I originally discovered at Ernie's blog last year. At that time, I announced I had found the STEREOPHONIC version of this album. I then posted a poll at FaLaLaLaLa.com asking one and all whether or not they would love to hear this version. Seven people voted. Five said yes. Two said no. It took me over two hours to get Blogger to post a photo this morning. They knew this album was on its way and did its best to stop it. This isn't exactly the way I wanted to end "Christmas In July" but a promise is a promise. Woody The Woodchuck - Christmas Sing Song (STEREO) Happy listening... Capt

There hasn't been a rush of children's Christmas albums this summer. So I decided to unveil this little pink gem. This is our second album that we're offering as part of FaLaLaLaLa 's Christmas In July celebration. This album comes from the good folks at Kid Stuff Records, a label that sprouted up back around 1982 and released strictly kiddie fare for a full two years then prompty disappeared. Strawberry Shortcake, The Care Bears, Masters Of The Universe, and the like weren't good enough for these hardy fellows. They soon began released kiddie records based on video games as well: Missle Command, Asteroids, Yars Revenge, and Pac-Man (whose Christmas album I did share late last year over at FaLaLaLaLa.com). Does anyone know more about Kid Stuff Records? Was it another name or separate branch for Peter Pan Records? How about that label that released all those Caroleer Singers albums back in the day? I don't particularly like kiddie Christmas albums. I ne...

I still have a large stack of Christmas CDs next to my computer monitor that I downloaded from my friend Ernie over at his blog . The album you see before you was buried deep inside this stack but I moved it up because of two reasons. One reason I will reveal later. The other reason is our house stoop and back patio have become new homes for a family of chipmunks. They have dug themselves in quite nicely and we're either going to start charging rent or call a pest control guy to give us a quote. Do they make chipmunk traps? Background on this album: In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian was a struggling actor / songwriter /family man who was down to his last $200 - his entire life savings. He spent $190 on a state of the art tape recorder that played and recorded at half speed. Bagdasarian sat down and wrote a song that utilized a gibberish sound that he recorded: OO EE, OO AH AH, TING-TANG, WAL-LA WAL-LA BING BANG. "Witch Doctor" was released by Liberty Records and quickly w...

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...