We get back into our requests backlog, covering two songs that sound very much of their time – 1937’s “The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot” by Vera Lynn and 1996’s “Merry Christmas Eve” by Better than Ezra.
Thanks to Brian for these requests!
In honor of British Columbia Day, we listen to holiday songs by two bands from here in beautiful BC! “Christmas Day In the Sun” by Hot Hot Heat sounds like your typical California-obsessed garage rock despite its Canadian origins, while “Puddleglum” by Said the Whale is unmistakably a Vancouverite creation.
This week we’re beating the heat with two Hanukkah songs in musical styles from the Caribbean… theoretically. “Hanu-calypso” by Kenny Ellis offers a bounty of calypso instrumentation, as well as questionable wordplay and problematic accents. “Hanukkah Mambo” by the Yule Logs swings to another extreme, offering a pretty catchy tune with absolutely no resemblance to anything approaching mambo.
BIRTHDAY BOY’S CHOICE!!
Our beloved co-host Ian has completed another year of this thing called life, and in this episode he receives the gift of picking this week’s songs! He selects two songs from an album that caught his eye – “A Winter Romance” by Dean Martin. We cover the title track in addition to the intriguing “Canadian Sunset” and speculate about just how much swinging is going on.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN
Performers go head-to-head in this week’s back-to-back listener requests! First up, Liza Minnelli and Alan Cumming perform a cheeky, maybe-subversive rendition of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” – then Cyndi Lauper joins The Hives for “A Christmas Duel”, a surprisingly spectacular song about spouses tearing their marriage to shreds.
Thanks to Stuart and anonymous for these requests!
This week we’re celebrating summer blockbuster season with two holiday songs by or pertaining to America’s favorite Will Smith, Will Smith! By request, we begin with a twangy plea from Scott Aukerman and Paul F. Tompkins to show a little kindness this holiday season, titled “Please Don’t Joke About ‘I, Robot’ This Christmas”. Then things get wild as “Will 2k” takes us on a journey through time with the Fresh Prince himself.
Thank you to an anonymous listener for requesting “Please Don’t Joke About ‘I, Robot’ This Christmas'”!
Get ready for double the Dion! We celebrate Canada Day (and Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, kinda) with two songs performed by French-Canada’s favorite diva: “Don’t Save It All For Christmas Day”, a sentimental original that Celine co-wrote, and “Promenade En Traineau”, a francophone version of Sleigh Ride from the very first year of her professional singing career. Joyeuses fêtes!
Hark, Herald Angels! It’s milestone time! For our latest experiment in extremes, Ian tries to claim the highest spot with a special recording by an artist who you may be shocked is not yet on our list. Then RJ runs some calculations to decide which of the world’s worst holiday songs we’re going to expose ourselves to this year and lands on a toxic family drama.
Thanks for listening, and be nice to your pets!
It’s World Oceans Day, and in honor of that big blue sea we listen to “Christmas Under the Sea” by The Aqua Kids, which is impressively heavy on sea creature references but pretty light on non-magical ocean conservation tips. Then we contemplate H20 in a different state of matter with a wildly different winter song – “01 Have You Seen It In the Snow?” by The Magnetic Fields.
Thank you again to Joe for requesting The Magnetic Fields’ song!
National Doughnut Day seems to get earlier every year, eh? This year, instead of celebrating with those delicious sufganiyot, we kick of the episode with a different Hanukkah treat: “My Baby Eats All the Hanukkah Gelt” by Alexis Fishman. Then it’s a another sugary indulgence: “Christmas Cookies” by George Strait, who definitely knows what cookies are but is maybe less clear on sprinkles and also sex.