So, if you're like me, you've got the Christmas tunes on your empeg in heavy circulation around this time of year. Which brings up a question that was running through my mind tonight... How do you guys categorize your Christmas tunes on your empeg? Specifically, what do you put in the Genre field? I have all mine as "Christmas" since I don't generally want Eazy E's "Merry Muthafuckin' Christmas" coming up in a rap playlist. Does anyone just use the actual type of music (Vocals, Oldies, Rock, Rap, whatever) in the genre field for Xmas tunes?

Also, I can think of no better use of the "Ignore as Child" field than Christmas tunes. I wouldn't want them coming up on a "down-down-down" playlist in July, so I use ignore as child. There are other good uses, but this is yet another reminder that the empeg kicks ass, as if we needed another.

While we're talking Christmas, anyone have any personal favorite Christmas/Holiday tunes? Not lookin so much for the Christmas classics, maybe some of the more obscure or underrated Christmas/Holiday tunes. Here are a few of my faves:

Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
Whigfield - Last Christmas
The Pretenders - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Tori Amos - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Tori Amos - Little Drummer Boy

Anyway just wanted an excuse to start a semi-empeg related Christmas thread since it's that time of year.

I have all mine as "Christmas" since I don't generally want Eazy E's "Merry Muthafuckin' Christmas" coming up in a rap playlist.

Funny, I would have done the opposite choice: Tagging it as Rap so that it didn't come up in the Christmas shuffle when the folks were arround....

there is better use than the empeg to avoid christmas tunes.
if i hear one more elvis christmas tune i might lose it

Wait, you mean there's a use for Genre?

Over here in the UK we have a few "standard offerings", some are a bit "cheesy", but hey..... IT IS CHRISTMAS.

Here's a few of my faves for the "crimbo" party.......

The Pogues Feat. Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York (a classic)
Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (compulsory)
Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody ('avin it large)
Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas (well, I like it)
The Wombles - Wombling Merry Christmas (for when you've had waaaaayyyy tooooo much to drink)

Jimi Hendrix - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

http://www.jimihendrix.com/catalog/catalog,merrychristmas,tracks.html

Perhaps not all of these are "obscure," but here are a few of my holiday favorites not yet mentioned:

Louis Armstrong (1953) - "'Zat You, Santa Claus?"
Jaymz Bee & The Royal Jelly Orchestra (1996) - "Sleigh Ride"
Cheech & Chong - "Santa Claus And His Old Lady"
The Eels (2000) - "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas"
Everything But The Girl (1994) - "25th December"
Arthur Fiedler (1959) - "Sleigh Ride (trad.)"
Babs Gonzales (1955) - "Be-Bop Santa Claus"
Big John Greer (1954) - "We Wanna See Santa Do The Mambo"
Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965) - "O Tannenbaum" (and the rest of "A Charlie Brown Christmas")
Jackson 5 (1970) - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
Spike Jones (1947) - "Happy New Year"
The Kinks (1978) - "Father Christmas"
Eartha Kitt (1953) - "Santa Baby"
Tom Lehrer (1959) - "A Christmas Carol"
Aimee Mann & Michael Penn (1996) - "Christmastime"
Bob & Doug McKenzie (1982) - "12 Days Of Christmas"
Mitch Miller (1961) - "Must Be Santa"
Aaron Neville (1993) - "Please Come Home For Christmas"
The New Christy Minstrels (1966) - "We Need A Little Christmas"
NRBQ (1997) - "A Christmas Wish"
Bob Rivers Comedy Corp (1992) - "Wreck The Malls"
Adam Sandler (1996) - "Chanukah Song"
Jill Sobule (1995) - "Merry Christmas From The Family"
Nancy Wilson (1963) - "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
"Weird Al" Yankovic (1986) - "Christmas At Ground Zero"

... one for each of the Beatles:
George Harrison (1974) - "Ding Dong, Ding Dong"
John Lennon (1971) - "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
Paul McCartney & Wings (1979) - "Wonderful Christmas Time"
Ringo Starr (1999) - "Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On"

... and so on, and so on. See this MetaFilter thread from last year for plenty more.

I always suggest Christmas Party with Eddie G..

Local H - Disgruntled Christmas

And it's me, the man with no personality
Burning down your Christmas tree
Blowing up bombs in the shopping mall
Mistletoe is going to fall
Taking shots at the caroling crowd
Stupid songs sung way too loud
And they're getting dumber all the time
I really don't see why I should spare your friends
Since I can't say I care if I ever see them again
You say shopping spree
I say killing spree
And I can think of Christmas past
Like the Christmas before last
Cousins
Uncles
Aunts
And I could act like I don't care
That all I get is underwear
I'd like to beat you on the head with that ole yule log
Giving a napalm gift gives you a glow
Something to burn away the freezing snow
If you just let me
And I'll be glad to tear your Frosty down
I think Christmas really sucks (x2)
I really don't see why I should spare your friends
'Cause I can't say that I care if I ever see them again
You'll be sorry
That you ever lied to me about Santa Claus

What about the Southpark songs "I'm A Jew" and "Merry F*cking Christmas", great songs.

I'm an oldies man myself. I tend to play Nat's "The Christmas Song" and Bing's "White Christmas" on repeat. I have every minute detail of those albums memorized. I could sing you the violin part to "Mele Kalikimaka."

Well, if we're going for rude but funny....

Kevin Bloody Wilson - Hey Santa

I have to agree, Christmas music is going downhill in popular circles. Artists MAY be cooler or hipper than Nat, but it seems that todays prerequisite for signing with a label is not being able to sing. My favorite Xmas choice is Harry Connick Jr., very good especially if your looking for new arrangements of standard pieces.

While we're talking Christmas, anyone have any personal favorite Christmas/Holiday tunes?

Ever since the BBC used it for The Box Of Delights one year, the one true soundtrack to Christmas for me has been the third movement of The Carol Symphony. The tracks on "Now That's What I Call Christmas" (there may be other albums too, but they all have the same tracks on -- Slade and all that) get so over-used in shops, from October onwards, that I now can't stand any of them. The only Christmassy song on my Empeg is Fairytale Of New York, which somehow escaped pandemic anthologisation.

Peter

One I love is: Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Carol of the Bells

Best Southpark Christmas song is the one where they're teaching Cartman how to sing the song by using an electric cattle prod every time he makes a mistake...

"Oh hooooly niiiiiiiiiight..... The stars were myeeh myeeeh..."
<ZZZZAP>
"HEY!"

What about 'Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry' ?

I was talking to a couple of people in our local coffee shop last night and was reminded of the three asian cooks singing Christmas carols in A Christmas Story. Completely hilarious...

the three asian cooks singing Christmas carols

As long as it's not the Swedish chef...



/Michael - Swedish

[humbug] I hate christmas [/humbug]

"Deeeeck da howls wih bowws of raaawry... fah rah rah rah raaaaaah rahh"

"no no no... sing like this"...

Best Movie Ever.

"Deeeeck da howls wih bowws of raaawry... fah rah rah rah raaaaaah rahh"

OK, quiz time, people. How many of us are old enough to remember (and identify without help from Google!) this classic:

"Deck us all with Boston Charlie
Walla Walla Wash, and Kalamazoo.
Nora's freezin' on the trolley
Swaller dollar cauliflour alley garoo."

tanstaafl.

How many of us are old enough to remember ...

isn't that from Pogo??

Give that man a cookie....http://www.igopogo.com/deck_us_all.htm

isn't that from Pogo??

Right you are!

But... aren't you too young to know that?

tanstaafl.

These are great suggestions. I'd like to add one:

"Last Month of the Year" by the Fairfield Four, on "Standing in the Saftey Zone".

The Fairfield Four is an a capella gospel group.

I'm not a Christian, or a big fan of gospel music except for being interested in its influences on blues, but this entire album absolutely rules.

The first track is an older (50's) recording. The rest is absolutely state of the art recording technology. Stereophile called this disc one of the best recorded albums ever made, which is why I picked it up. On a good system, the difference between track 1 and track 2 will almost knock you down.

I became a fan of the group. They are tremendous and are lauded by musicians from all genres for their musicality.

The voices are phenomenal and the barritone is so low he will tax the sub on a hip hopper's system. "Last Month of the Year" actually has some rather complex polyphony that reminds me of a fugue.

Jim

Here's a great one...

Wesley Willis Christmas Song

If you don't know who Wesley Willis is, here's some info:

Wesley Willis

Wesley Willis kicks serious ass. I have his Alanis Morrissette video on my computer and it cracks me up every time I see it. Everyone should go download it. Hilarious stuff.

Didn't know there was a video for that song. Where can I get it at?

By the way, if you didn't see it...At the bottom of the second link I sent is a way to create your own Wesley Willis song. Here's one about Empeg:

Empeg

by Wesley Willis

Empeg is very special to me.
You really whoop Saddam Hussein's ass.
I like Empeg a lot.
You really whoop a llama's ass.

EMPEG!!!
EMPEG!!!
EMPEG!!!
EMPEG!!!

About 30200 people like Empeg.
You can really get in the groove.
Empeg is the best.
You can really get in the groove.

EMPEG!!!
EMPEG!!!
EMPEG!!!
EMPEG!!!

Empeg really whoops a donkey's ass.
You really whoop the horse's ass.
You really whoop the horse's ass.
You really whoop the horse's ass.

Rock over London,
Rock on Chicago.

American Airlines - we mean business in Chicago.