We keep getting new pieces and campaigns of music to cover, and that does not slow down during the holiday season. Some are totally our bag, some that aren’t but still great, and some are tasteless, rude, and offensive, and we’re still good with those too, as that’s what we need in our Scrooge season. So, here are some more pieces to enjoy, feel the spirit of Christmas, or just something rather off color; it just delivers something the community needed.
1: David Archuleta – “Christmas in California”
Something reminiscent of Archuleta’s last few large scale posts, this one mentions “The middle of December, I got the windows down, in a T-shirt”. Well, he has been posting a lot in a T-shirt lately. I can say, I have a soft spot in my heart for this guy, being Basque and Ex-Mormon just like him.
I covered his Christmas concert in Salt Lake right before the pandemic, so I know for a fact he puts on a hell of a great Christmas show. Here are a few dates, and, wow, it’s even the middle of December (Perfect timing, right?). If any of you see it possible to catch one of these, go get your David Archuleta on.
2: Elvis Francois – “The Sound of Christmas”
This guy is a heart surgeon who makes music and has a lot of fun doing it. I really enjoy listening to his music as he sounds like a sensible human being who kicked Justin Bieber’s ass, so, a winner in my book.
3: Deacon Blue – “Christmas and Glasgow”
Deacon Blue gave us an amazing song, “Christmas and Glasgow”, that somehow gives me a distinct feeling of peace and tranquility. My only time in Glasgow was once in June, and it was STILL freezing and on the verge of snow. I owe so much to this band, Deacon Blue.
4: Pansy Division – “Homo Christmas”
I am a fan of Panzy Division and I’ve had John Ginoli on my show, and a few interviews here, as he’s the frontman for the first queer hardcore punk band. Trailblazers at their time (and still going strong), this song has it all, trashing on Christmas, making fun of bad family get-togethers, and tacky gay sex jokes. They even call out Morrissey. You gotta see it to believe it.
5: The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl – “The Fairytale of New York”
In Q Magazine’s poll of the top 100 Hippest musicians in 1995, they would provide an artist intro, their accomplishments, and then the album and why.
For Shane McGowan, it said, “The guy who wrote ‘The Fairytale of New York’, that’s all you need to know.” Indeed, for anyone to be able to base a band’s entire catalog on one song, you could do it with this one song, and be spot on. I met Shane McGowan at the Guinness Fleadth, at Finnsbury Park in London, 1998. I had viewed this guy as a legend, and meeting him surpassed all I had ever imagined. He passed away sadly on November 30, 2023.
This song also features the goddess Kirsty MacColl, who is the only woman historically to call the shots for the band U2, and exercise some sort of control over their art. We lost Kirsty in December 2000. Their original name was “Pogue Mahone” which means “Kiss My Arse”, forced by the label to change it.
This song uses the term “Faggot” with the English meaning of a sleazy, deadbeat person. It bursts out every year on December first, much to the annoyance of proper English Society. For reasons I can’t explain, I cry when I hear it. So, “Happy Christmas, Your Arse, I thank God it’s our last”.
