Like the Radio Times, all good publications have a Christmas Special and WeekInSound is going to follow that tradition in its own way. Enjoy!

First Word

Christmas music is now ubiquitous but, in my humble opinion, there is only one festive compilation worth having in your collection (apart from this one, of course!) and that’s A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector. It was released back in 1963 when I was only three and, while anything with Darlene Love singing on it is great, this album really hits the spot. I discovered it in later years, finding the link to the Spector-like wall of sound created by Roy Wood on my favourite Christmas single from when I was 13. Like their other hits at the time, Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday thundered out the radio at me with a sound that other records didn’t have. When Wood’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink production techniques were applied to his favoured late 50s rock’n’roll song structures, it brought great joy to my young ears, particularly with added sleighbells, a French horn solo and a school choir, ferchrissakes! Indeed, towards the end of the tune, when he shouts to the kids “OK you lot – take it!”, it can still make this old cynic smile even now, after countless hearings.

But WIS doesn’t want to give you that well-known stuff. So, I have playlisted a selection of seasonal tunes which are rarely, if ever, heard on the radio or feature on these interminable Christmas playlists full of the same old songs. The tracks have been provided with slightly shorter commentaries because I know you are busy. But, take five minutes, pour a glass of red and press play…

---

Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas – Eels (1998)

I first heard this cracking festive ditty on Useless Trinkets, Eels’ lavishly packaged two-disc collection of B-sides and rarities released back in 2006. It’s one of three Eels Christmas songs and was first released as the B-side to Cancer For The Cure, their second single from their second LP Electro-Shock Blues released in 1998. The sleevenotes to the 2006 compilation state: “Like many Christmas songs, this was recorded on a sweltering Southern Californian afternoon.” The absence of snow and the requirement to “throw another log on the fire” has not impacted what is a classic Eels sound, with E’s distorted guitar being driven along by Butch’s thumping drum patterns. But, like Roy Wood’s shout-out in the Wizzard song noted above, the key moment in this tune comes halfway through. In the drop just before the start of the instrumental break, E makes the wonderful proclamation: “Baby Jesus – born to rock!”. Makes perfect sense to me.      

---

Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (2011)

Sharon Jones had sung as a part-time session singer from the mid-70s while she worked in security jobs but had a late career boost when she was teamed up to record with the relatively youthful Soul Providers in the late 90s. Part of a wider soul revival scene at that time, they went on to become the Dap-Kings. I have a memory of them appearing on the Jools Holland Hogmanay Hootenany but research has shown this is a false memory. They did appear twice on Later… in 2008 and 2014, the latter appearance supporting their album Give the People What They Want, which was nominated for that year’s Best R&B Album Grammy. Sadly, Jones was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and a film about her battle with the disease was released in 2016 – she died the same year at the age of 60. I’ve chosen a great track for the playlist which comes from the band’s 2011 LP Soul Time! and showcases Jones’ strong and deeply soulful voice. It tells the tale of a youngster wondering how Santa delivered her presents when her home lacked the requisite access, all backed by a louche groove with some splendid horn and string arrangements. Tune!

---

Santa Claus is Back In Town – Dwight Yoakam (1997)

The only one of the six tracks this week not to have been written by the performer, this is Dwight Yoakam’s take on the festive rock’n’roll tune written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for Elvis Presley’s Elvis’ Christmas Album released back in 1957. Although a hit single in the UK that year, it seems to have been eclipsed by Presley’s Blue Christmas and is rarely heard on the endless loops as you walk round department stores looking for inspiration to buy gifts. Forty years after Presley, Yoakam recorded the song for his own seasonal offering, Come On Christmas and released it as a single. Unsurprisingly, the Kentucky-born country singer injects some serious twang into his version, utilising his distinctive tenor voice and adopting a honky-tonk piano and some mean fiddle playing to set it off. The backing vocals are pure Nashville and there is another Roy Wood-style spoken word insert about half way through just before the fiddle solo where Yoakam drawls “Ho-Ho-Ho Honey” in a manner that gives you the impression he’s not taking this particularly seriously.

---

Nothing Left To Do (Lets Make This Christmas Blue) – The Both (2014)

This is a track that I heard for the first time this December when it appeared on 6Music at some point and I immediately recognised the vocal as being singer/songwriter Aimee Mann. I saw her perform in Glasgow in 1993 supporting World Party and promoting her excellent debut LP Whatever which I immediately went out and bought. I’ve dipped in and out her records since then but I hadn’t spotted the side project called The Both she had formed while touring with singer Ted Leo in 2014. The partnership resulted in a self-titled album that year where their contrasting styles merged to produce what critics noted as ‘a late-career high’ for them both – I found Milwaukee a particularly good listen. Nothing Left To Do was a one-off Christmas single release and is a melodic but mournful tale of a post-breakup Christmas with songs playing on the radio: “But it’s awful lonely listening/To all that joy and mistletoe”. There had to be at least one downbeat festive tune on the playlist but it’s got some nice guitar playing and the harmonies between the two singers are really good.  

---

The Christmas Song – The Raveonettes (2003)

I knew hee-haw about The Raveonettes but when I recently heard this song from 2003, the melody lodged itself in my head and I knew then it was going to make the final six for this seasonal playlist. Yes – there were more than six to choose from! Turns out The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo (it says here), known for their close two-part harmonies and their love of 50s/60s song structures. They like to develop dark themes in their lyrics and often overlay their songs with guitar driven noise. A quick dip into their back catalogue confirms this, although the track selected for the playlist is a 2003 seasonal release and is more Everly Brothers than The Jesus & Mary Chain. It’s an echo-drenched joy of thumping drums, tremolo guitar parts and breathy vocals – just what the doctor ordered for this time of year. Its apparently used in Christmas With The Kranks, one of those god-awful family festive movies with Tim Allen in it. But don’t let that turn you against it – it really is a great tune.  

---

Everything Is Cool – John Prine (2000)

Christmas album covers can be fairly ropey but A John Prine Christmas seems to plumb new depths with this weird Santa’s grotto image. It must be ironic, eh? However, don’t let it put you off the chosen tune as consummate songwriter Prine delivers as usual. As if to confirm the prediction of the Eels festive track at the start of the blog, we finish with Prine confirming in his seasonal song that everything is indeed “cool”. And this is despite having lost his girl just before last Christmas – although he does say: “And I find it real surprising/For myself to hear me say/That everything is cool/ Everything’s OK.” While the jolly opening sleighbells let you know what time of year it is, the switch to the minor chord in the fifth bar of the opening strummed guitar starts to signal that this may not be the happiest of Christmas songs. The subtle use of a pedal steel guitar adds to the melancholy undertow as do some beautiful lines picked out on the acoustic guitar. What sounds like a dobro on the solo gives added resonance as Prine’s trademark world-weary voice guides us through his tale of self-deception. You know, it’s just possible that things aren’t that cool after all…   

---

Last Word

So that was the WeekInSound Special Christmas Edition. And it’s one where I am going to break with tradition and not add these tunes to the Master Playlist. No-one needs to hear a Christmas song coming up on shuffle in June! However, by way of compensation, this week’s playlist is a… erm… “bumper edition” with the six songs discussed above supplemented by a further twelve (count ’em, 12!) little-heard festive tunes from unusual sources providing an hour of seasonal listening. Tune in when you are hidden away wrapping presents or stuck in the kitchen on your own peeling the spuds. Or force it on your extended family on the day itself. The bonus tracks are listed below. 

All that remains is for me to thank everyone who wades through this nonsense every week and wish all WIS readers a very merry Christmas!

AR

A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn’t So) – The Flaming Lips

Step Into Christmas – The Wedding Present

Space Christmas – Allo Darlin’

It’s Clichéd To Be Cynical At Christmas – Half Man Half Biscuit

That Was The Worst Christmas Ever! – Sufjan Stevens

I Wish it Was Christmas Today – Julian Casablancas

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis – Tom Waits

Spotlight On Christmas – Rufus Wainwright

I Want An Alien For Christmas – Fountains Of Wayne

River – Tracey Thorn

Cartwheels – The Reindeer Section

My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) – Regina Spektor