25 Greatest Christmas Songs Countdown: #2 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

December 24, 2011December 21, 2011 Matthew E1 Comment

I’m tempted to put this one higher. Number one. That’s how great it is. But the problem with it is (and it’s the same for yesterday’s song, with which it actually has some things in common) that it’s largely about romantic love, which certainly has its place at Christmastime, but is not the main attraction of Christmas.

Chances are you’re familiar with the U2 version of this song. I’m not here to pick a fight with U2; they did a perfectly good job. There’s nothing wrong with their rendition at all. Darlene Love’s just better at this than they are, that’s all.

Darlene Love was one of the great soul singers of her time. She never got the fame that usually comes with a description like that (although she did okay) so it’s possible that you only know her from playing Trish Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon movies. She was the real thing, though, and she really gets her shoulder behind this song, to an extent perhaps unsurpassed in the human history of singing.

Close your eyes and listen to Darlene Love, backed by Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, unleashing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” upon you.

#25: Sleigh Ride
#24: Huron Carol
#23: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!/Count Your Blessings/We Wish You a Merry Christmas
#22: The Twelve Days of Christmas
#21: I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
#20: Fuck Christmas
#19: Jingle Bell Rock
#18: What’s This? & Making Christmas
#17: Oi! To the World
#16: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
#15: Blue Christmas
#14: Christmas in Hollis
#13: We Need a Little Christmas
#12: Marshmallow World
#11: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
#10: Step Into Christmas
#9: Jingle Bells
#8: Christmas Comes But Once a Year (Christmas in Carrick)
#7: Christmas Wrapping
#6: Silver Bells
#5: O Holy Night
#4: Carol of the Bells
#3: All I Want for Christmas Is You

24/12/2011 Superhero of the Day: the Cosmopolitan

December 24, 2011December 21, 2011 Matthew ELeave a comment

The Cosmopolitan.

25 Greatest Christmas Songs Countdown: #3 All I Want for Christmas Is You

December 23, 2011December 21, 2011 Matthew E2 Comments

If there’s a Christmas movie I keep coming back to more than any other, it’s Love Actually. It’s an interesting movie, in that it’s such a weird mix of strengths and flaws that overall it’s only average but at its best it’s magnificent. (Which means that it’s pretty bad at its worst: it gets mean with the fat jokes, too many of its love stories are similarly shaped from a social-status point of view, some parts don’t go with the other parts, no gay characters when you’d think that this’d be the perfect movie to have some…) Anyway, discover it for yourself if you’re so inclined, but one of the best scenes for me is at the Christmas pageant when Olivia Olson sings, “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.

And she nails it. She sings it more than Mariah Carey did. Some will speak up for the Pipettes cover, and that’s fine, but I’ll take this one. I can’t even listen to the thing without tearing up.

(Incidentally, the movie soundtrack contains a second worthwhile Christmas song you’re not going to come across anywhere else: Bill Nighy, as “Billy Mack”, turning the old Troggs (and Wet Wet Wet) song “Love Is All Around” into “Christmas Is All Around”.)

Sit back, strap yourself in, and prepare yourself for Olivia Olson’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You“.

23/12/2011 Superhero of the Day: Toro

December 23, 2011December 21, 2011 Matthew ELeave a comment

Toro.

25 Greatest Christmas Songs Countdown: #4 Carol of the Bells

December 22, 2011December 21, 2011 Matthew E3 Comments

Like “O Holy Night”, the “Carol of the Bells” is one that I’m still searching for the perfect version of. Only I’m more confident that it exists.

All I want is a full-length choral rendition of the song, with whatever orchestral accompaniment is necessary to make the thing sound right. It’s out there somewhere. The version that’s on the Home Alone soundtrack is excellent; the only problem with it is that it’s short. I also liked the one at the end of the West Wing episode where Josh goes nuts. And I should mention the Barra MacNeils version too: it’s very good, and I like it a lot and am glad to have it, but it’s a different style from what I’m looking for. But too often you get these little one-buttocked instrumental versions, like on the Barenaked Ladies Christmas album, and it’s just don’t even bother.

(What I don’t want is that Mannheim Steamroller/Trans-Siberian Express kind of treatment. I have no time for that stuff at all; it’s the only kind of Christmas music I bar completely.)

But I’ll find it eventually. Someone’s done it. It’s out there. Throw cares away and find your own favourite version of the “Carol of the Bells“.

22/12/2011 Superhero of the Day: Fatale

December 22, 2011December 21, 2011 Matthew ELeave a comment

Fatale.

25 Greatest Christmas Songs Countdown: #5 O Holy Night

December 21, 2011December 20, 2011 Matthew E6 Comments

I have yet to hear the perfect version of “O Holy Night”. But maybe that’s just me. Actually, you know what? I’m going to start talking about all kinds of stuff that by any reasonable standard I know nothing about, so you shouldn’t pay any attention to me. Stop reading now and go do something else.

As previously stated, I like my Christmas to go pretty light on the Jesus. After all, I am not a believer. But I have spent a few decades in western civilization, and as such I’ve formed some opinions on Christianity over the years. One of which is this: whether you believe or not, the Christian religion and all its trappings have a great deal of resonance, of cultural weight. We’ve been groomed to be impressed by that stuff, deep down. (This is why Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were better movies than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Stupid Crystal Skull: they used this phenomenon.)

And that’s what “O Holy Night” can play on. There’s power in that song, and the perfect version of the song should be able to bring it out. When the singer bellows out, “Fall on your knees,” it should drive anybody listening to their knees. But most singers treat it like just another lyric.

Not because Christmas is about domination and subservience. Just because what’s happening here, the incarnation of God on Earth (which is, after all, the story in question), is impressive. It’s, you know, kind of a big thing. And this is exactly the song to put that over. But I don’t know of a case where anybody’s managed the trick.

Carve yourself off a slab of fruitcake and look for such a version of “O Holy Night” here.

21/12/2011 Superhero of the Day: Computo

December 21, 2011December 19, 2011 Matthew ELeave a comment

Danielle Foccart.

25 Greatest Christmas Songs Countdown: #6 Silver Bells

December 20, 2011December 19, 2011 Matthew E5 Comments

It’s my experience that this is the best song for getting into the Christmas spirit. Christmas shopping can be a pain but it’s not so bad if you think about it like this.

“Silver Bells” has been covered by everybody and his dog, of course. I expected the Supremes’ version to be really good, because it’s exactly Diana Ross’s kind of song, but turns out it’s too slow. Anne Murray did okay with it. I prefer a female vocalist for this song but it’s not something I’d make a big deal about.

Dig Santa’s big scene with your favourite rendition of “Silver Bells“.