O Teinenbaum
The presents have been wrapped and the stocking have been hung so now all I have to do is sit back and relax. Okay, there are two more boxes that need to go out and will obviously not get to their destinations by Christmas so why bother til this weekend right? Right.
Today is my last day of work until January 2nd and the day after tomorrow is Christmas Eve, I'm so excited I just might wet myself. I can't believe how much stuff I did this year. I think I may have accidentally been appointed to be Santa Claus. I give you some clues, since the beginning of December I have spent every free minute buying presents, making presents, wrapping presents and sending presents. Plus the fact that I am hairier than I used to be and umm a tad more pudgy I think by next year I'm going to be driving my little blue Escort all over the world handing out Christmas cheer, so you better get your wishes in early.
Meanwhile, back in reality, I finally have a decent picture of our Teinenbaum this year. She is pretty and it was like a little Christmas miracle when we found her. We pulled into the Home Depot, walked into the tree lot, looked at the tree and said, "Come on home to the House Of Leivas," and she did.
So now all I'm going to do is turn on the Christmas lights, put a stiff one in my hands (you filthy one, I'm talking about a drink!) and watch my Christmas twinkle - and count how many presents the Leivas bought me.
The Saddest Christmas Story Ever Told
You know Frosty and Rudolph and Charlie and Linus; You know Santa and the Whos and the Grinch but do you recall the biggest Christmas ass of all? I'm speaking of
Nestor the Long Eared Donkey, a little Christmas special by the boys of Rankin-Bass who gave us all the stop motion specials and brought to life this little gem in 1977. Ever since I was a wee tyke this special would air on tv and every single year I would bawl and bawl like a big old tit baby.
The story is based on another of Gene Autrey's songs this time about Nestor, whose ears are so long he trips and falls and can't do any work for his mean old human boss. So the boss throws Nestor and his mother out in the cold. What transpires after that is absolutely horrible and I can't believe they even made a show like this for kids but I watched it and I bawled. I won't tell you what happens but it's not good I'll tell you that much.
But the story doesn't end there, all through out the show Nestor is accompanied by a little guardian angel and this angel helps Nestor find his path which leads him to Bethleham and yes Nestor is the donkey who leads Mary & Joseph to the manger to give birth to sweet little baby Jesus.
I can't tell you how much this special affected me every year. But the tragedy of it all becomes even worse because the last time I remember it being on TV was when I was probably 13 and I still cried like a baby. That is until my father yelled at me for crying like a baby and that is the day, I do believe my childhood died.
But to recapture my childhood and perhaps a bit of yours, you too can get your hands on Nestor. It's part of a collection and really Christmas just isn't Christmas in my house without a little visit with Nestor.
Rent it or buy it
here.
The 12 Movies Of Christmas
....warped as they may be.
Well the presents have been wrapped and the packages sent out so I am all set for Christmas; okay that's a big fat lie! But the egg nog and the wine are being drunk and I am ever so slowly getting everything done. Three more boxes went out today and I know they won't get to their destinations by Christmas but hey, I tried... in the meantime, I have decided to watch some classic Christmas movies. Okay, they're only classic to me as I do have a strange sense in the film and TV loves but why not try a few of these this Christmas; after all aren't you sick to death of
It's A Wonderful Life and
A Christmas Story? So here are my top 12 picks for the Bradley Christmas Viewing list. You know one for every day of Christmas...
12.
24 Nights (1999)
Okay this one is probably only for a select few but it's the only gay Christmas movie I know of; Jonathon has believed in Santa ever since an encounter with a Salvation Army Santa when he was 4. Now Jonathon is 24 and desperate for a change in his life so he writes a letter to Santa asking for the only thing he wants for Christmas and of course that one thing stands about 6 feet and is a hunk a burning love. When he meets a new co-worker he thinks his Christmas wish is going to come true? But is it? Ooh, I know can I write a trailer or what?
24 Nights is completely low budget but surprisingly fairly touching; if you're into man on man touching and really who isn't?
11.
Surviving Christmas (2004)
Critics be damned, even on Christmas; I know Ben Affleck has a reputation for ruining just about anything he's touched since
Good Will Hunting but I really liked this move. It doesn't hurt that I really really like Christina Applegate and think she can save just about anything she's in, and sure the premise is a tad stretched but hello, aren't most Christmas movies just a tad unrealistic? In this one, Ben is rich rich and doesn't have any family so he hires one to act like his own on Christmas. The scene with him and Christina in the park is just plain pretty so bite me if you don't like it, I mean Merry Christmas. As for me, I like this one so much I bought it so I can watch it this year and every year after; so I only paid $2 for it, so what?
10.
Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986)
Oh Dolly Parton is so Christmas to me; she sings about it, she stars in movies about it, and she kind of just looks like Christmas to me. In this telepic Dolly plays, well pretty much what she plays in every film, a version of herself. This time she decides to head up to the mountain cabin and upon her arrival she discovers a group of orphans need her help and the mean old Bear Man in the woods is really a big old softy who just needs a big pair of bosums to rest is head on. Did I mention she sings?
09.
Black Christmas (1974)
For those who would rather watch sorority sisters being slashed than Dolly take care of orphans this one's for you. The remake opens up next week and from what I've seen of it, it's a lot more violent and crazy than this original but for the record this movie has almost every horror element in it. Think
When A Stranger Calls came up with the phone being dialed from inside the house? Nope. Think
Halloween came up with the slasher point of view filming? Nope. It can be a little slow moving (Alf thought it was terribly boring) but it's actually quite frightening when you think that you can be attacked and killed in the safety of your own home on such a non sinister holiday as Christmas ... by the way Margot Kidder plays a chain smoking, drinking sorority sister (of about 29) and she rocks it, oh and Andrea Martin plays Phyllis and just for the record Ms. Martin returns in the remake as the sorority mother.
08.
Trapped In Paradise (1994)
Put together Jon Lovitz, Nicholas Cage and Dana Carvey and how can you really go wrong? Okay the Leivas doesn't like Nic and I think my pal Amy is afraid of him, but if you watch
Valley Girl or this movie you see a whole new side of Mr. Coppola. In this very funny little Christmas flick, Nic and his brothers try to rob a bank in smalltown Paradise only to find themselves in one obstacle after another trying to get out of town. With the gravelly voiced Florence Stanley as their loud mouth kidnapped mother.
(Kidnapper: Gladys do you want me to put you in the trunk? - Gladys: "Gladys? What are we sleeping together?) This one is classic.
07.
It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
Okay if you must, simply must watch
It's A Wonderful Life then by all means watch this version. Poor Kermie is on the verge of losing the Muppet Theater to mean and greedy Joan Cusack (One of my ultimate favs) and he wonders what it would be like if he had never been born in that swamp. Of course the highlight is Miss Piggy and her endless shenanigans. How I love that pig, plus when it comes to Christmas and the Muppets our only other option is their version of
A Christmas Carol and we can't watch that cuz:
1. Miss Piggy isn't quite as entertaining playing Mrs. Kratchit and 2. Alf hates Michael Caine oh and 3. The Leivas must, simply must watch the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol
(1984) every year and one version is more than enough for me. Then again...
06.
Scrooged (1988)
I never thought I'd actually love a version of
A Christmas Carol but this movie is hilarious. Bill Murray as a crab ass TV executive, Alfre Woodward as his assistant and Carol Kane as the most violent and crazed Ghost of Christmas ever. Plus a sing along at the end, who doesn't like that? I forget how much fun this movie actually is until I put it in the DVD. Of course I have to watch it alone as the Leivas also has an aversion ot Bill Murray.. geez.
05.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
This is another classic. Chevy Chase as Griswold is one of the best characters he's ever created and with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as the yuppy neighbor, a chipmunk in a tree, a cat in a box, and the ultimate kitty shocker. This is hilarious every single time.
04. The Ref (1994)
Another fun family dysfunctional Christmas, this time burglar Dennis Leary in all his top bitterness breaks into the wrong house on Christmas. Instead of finding a bunch of push overs he finds the unhappiest family in the world, full of cattiness, bitchiness and full on fighting which includes Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis as Mom and Dad and Christine Baranski as the loud mouthed sister in law. This is one of my sister's favorite movies and definitely a Christmas classic in the making. By the way, I don't have a copy; hint, hint.
03.
Gremlins (1984)
Poor Zach Galligan, not because of what happened to his career - what did happen to his career? Instead I'm referring to his kindly father buying him a cute little Magwai that must be, I repeat must be kept out of water, not fed after midnight and oh what was the other thing? I guess I'll have to watch it again. Of course none of the warnings are heeded and the little Gizmo has a hundred gremlins pop out all over the little town wreaking havoc at the movie theater and on poor bitchy Flo from
Alice.
I saw this at the theater when I was a kid and loved though the worst part isn't the disgusting demise of one gremlin in a blender but rather the horrible story Phoebe Cates (what happened to her career?), tells about her worst Christmas ever? I won't give all the details but it involves a chimney and the day she discovered Santa Claus wasn't real.
02.
Love Actually (2003)
This is fast replacing every other film ever on Christmas movie lists. Almost everyone I know watches this movie repeatedly, and not always only at this time of year. A multiple layered bunch of characters and their individual stories has some great acting and great actors and if you can get through it without feeling even a little warm in your heart then you are a big old Grinch.
and the number 1 Christmas Movie to make the perfect A Very Bradley Christmas ... 
01.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
I can't believe this movie is this old but every year I love it more and more. At Disneyland they redo the Haunted Mansion to be a whole Nightmare Before Christmas thing, there is a ton of merchandise around the movie, I've tried for years to create the perfect Jack Skullington costume for Halloween, it's now at theaters in 3-D and most of all, it's a kick ass film no matter what time of year it is. Poor Jack who lives in Halloweentown realizes Santa gets all the glory so he decides it's high time he take over Christmas and make it ever so special. Of course his version of the holiday is a tad off kilter, just like mine... oh and they sing and sing. I love it and so do you... I know it.
Random CDs
I guess I'm getting to this a little late today, but this week's 7 Random CD's needed a kick in the pants, so I headed up to Tower Records and it's last 7 days in existance and with that I spent $49 on CD's I probably didn't need but really wanted, plus I saved over $147.00 since they're at 70% discount plus a few were even only a lousy buck. So along with some of my new purchases and the CD's I was listening to this week that struck a chord, I give you this week's 7 Random CDs.
AC/DC - Back In Black (1980; Epic/Atlantic)
This is one of the best albums of all time and if you don't believe me check any registered music critic's top 100 list and you'll see it there somewhere. Not only is it a fun album and one that brings constant memories of high school flooding back to me; it really is a very well put together record. Coming off the death of lead singer Bon Scott, the Young boys and their co-horts hopped onto the Brian Johnson wagon and headed into the studio. With the fists to the air and groin to the ground
"You Shook Me All Night Long" this album was off and running all over the world. A few years ago a brand new remastered addition was put out and that's the copy I have. The sound is excellant and so are the liner notes some of which make you really listen to the album. The mixture of old blues and hard rock is more evident than I originally had even thought of and just the hard rocking fun of the title track, the grinding
"Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and
"Giving The Dog A Bone" is just plain exciting. If you haven't heard it in a while I highly suggest you throw that old cassette into the boom box and give it another go - I know you own it, don't even lie.
*****
Dixie Chicks - HOME (2003; Wide Open Spaces)
The album that launched the tour that launched the tirade, it took me awhile but I finally bought myself a copy of this album. I love, absolutely love
Taking The Long Way, the new defiant album and I loved the song
"Long Time Gone" and to some extent even learned to like their cover of
"Landslide" both of which are from
Home. Plus the album had recieved a ton of praise upon its release and now I know why. After realizing how much I liked the latest album I back tracked and bought the first two albums and despite a few gems here and there
("Goodbye Earl" and a cover of Maria McKee's
"Am I The Only One?") I wasn't overly impressed. But with Home I have that great new love firmly back for these girls. The whole concept of
Home was a return to more grassroots country and there really isn't a drum in any of these songs but that doesn't mean these aren't great songs or even that they're stuffy old country. The hilarious
"White Trash Wedding" ('You can't afford a ring and I shouldn't be wearing white') is full on hoe down music but it's delivered so brilliantly you love it, the heartfelt little ballads including
"Top Of The World" and the straight up brilliance of the girls instrumentations and harmonies is enough to make this a really enjoyable album.
***1/2
Queen Latifah - THE DANA OWENS ALBUM (2004; Universal/A&M)I have always loved me My Queen - from her hefty days as a rap artiste to her sitcom
Living Single, there was just something about her that I liked. Then when she pushed her way through
Chicago and sang her Mama song she had a fan forever. Luckily, she continues to make films that I actually like, that latest one where she thinks she's dying is really, really good and I'm being completely serious. But back to her first (I think) love, the records. After
Chicago, our girl decided she was going to make a full on jazzy contemporary R&B album rather than go back to the streets of her hip hop, so she put forth her real name and created
The Dana Owens Album. After hearing how well she could sing on
Chicago, I wanted to buy this album when it came out but then it immediately left my conciousness and with all the flicks the woman does, I almost forgot she was a recording artist. But then at Tower tonight I found this album and snatched it up. 12 songs of jazzy and rhythm and blues, her vocals are deep and smoky like a good jazz should be. Of course she sounds a little too smooth on a few tunes but the beeatch can carry a tune and with Christmas right around the corner, the whole Cd makes me a little mellow in a very good way. Most of the songs are standard jazzy fare in the vein of the old pros and perhaps more closely to contemporaries like Diana Krall, the set of which include
"Moody's Mood For Love" and the old stand by "
I Put A Spell On You," but there's a little backbeat of soul put in here and there like on
"The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" and then there's a killer little cover of the Mama & Papa's
"California Dreamin'" and the bluesy, pushy and completely explosive
"Mercy Mercy Mercy" is worth hearing over and over again.
The Dana Owens Album isn't something that probably get a ton of airplay around the house Of Bradley, but when you're in the mood for some love and jazz, I think the Queen will put on a little Queen of the Latifah.
***
Kathy Valentine - LIGHT YEARS (2005; Red Eye)I've wanted this album since it came out but it was never, ever on sale and even used copies were going for more than I wanted to pay but once again the closing of a major institution seems to have worked it's magic and I finally got the latest Go-Go's solo album. This time out it's not Belinda or even Jane, but rather Kathy Valentine and with a slew of hot songs I might add. I wanted to expect greatness but then talked myself down as I got home realizing these things are never as good as I want them to be, but lo and behold what I found in Light Years, was an exciting album that is sure to become one of my favorites. First off her voice isn't what I was expecting, the opening track
"Creation Myth" has some awesome bitter lyrics that I like, but her voice seems a little thin but with a repeat listen and as each song progresses I was in constant awe at how much her voice reminds me of Deborah Harry, and that's something to hear. An interesting side note here would be that Blondie drummer Clem Burke plays on a number of these tracks. All in all you get 12 sassy fun catchy not produced enough to give up an indie title but catchy enough to qualify as pop, the title song is great,
"Bad Choice" is a bitchy closer and
"Happy Endingless" is fun in all the right moments. You realize soon enough that Kathy Valentine may have had quite a bit to do with those initial feels of the Go-Go's bouncy fun because it's here on
Light Years, if slightly more bitter and watered down. A definite pick me up should you find it.
****
Boy Kill Boy - CIVILIAN (2006; Vertigo/Mercury)
Okay I got this CD for a measely $1 thinking what the heck if it isn't good who cares, and then I thought hey if it's good what a deal, and according to Amazon and their recommendations for me this CD was in fact something I would enjoy. Well, at first listen I wasn't all that impressed. It began with the catchy enough
"Back Again" but all I kept thinking was,
"Great another pseudo pop punky band trying to catch on the bandwagon," but then by the time
"On And On" rolled in, I started turning up the sound and realized there was so much more happening. It appears Boy Kill Boy reminds me of a 100 different bands, all bands I like - I get Kaiser Chiefs meet The Smiths and Depeche along with a lot of angst moody rock of the best in Duran Duran's back catalog. Needless to say by the time
"Shoot Me Down" came about at the end of the CD, I turned around and played it all again.
****
Cute Is What We Aim For - THE SAME OLD BLOOD RUSH WITH A NEW TOUCH (2006; Fueled by Ramen)According to All Music and their critics, Cute Is What We Aim For and their cheekiness is not much to their liking. But what's really strange to me is there was only a measely second of hesitation on my part to like this CD; by the time the ending of the first track
"Newport Living" came along, this band had a brand new fan.
"You wanted to sell out/ but you couldn't even do that right/ so your price tag has been slashed/ and now you're on a half price clearance rack," umm hello, what a crack up. I love the fact they make fun of everything including themselves, where some critics find that they are perhaps trying to be too hard to be clever, I disagree and think they're just funny enough to be clever -
"The Fourth Drink Instinct" the story of a girl who gets drunk and screws someone and turns around and is surprised when he leaves her in the morning is great. It's a power rock ballad and perhaps it's toned down in terms of lyrics I can surely relate to it (I know friends like that)
(What made you think that he couldn't find the door in the morning/ when he found that bed so easily in the dark?) ;
"There's A Class For This" includes lines
"drama doesn't follow me/ it rides on my back/ I may be ugly/ but they sure love to stare..." and in
"Risque" they give us
"Medically speaking you're adorable/and from what I hear/ you're quite affordable..." I love it. Musically, the band is more poppy than Boy Kill Boy and less tragic guitars a la The Smiths, but they aren't quite as experimental and fun as say Wheatus, in fact they sound a lot like a lot of those bands I don't like that out now a days - the dime a door dozen type with the chugging guitars and the high pitced wincy voice, but this time around it has won me over, the music moves in jaunts and rhythmic motions and the vocals are actually giving me a thrill with the witty lyrics - so critics be damned this is my blog and I'm telling you
The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch is clever and lovable and umm cute.
****
Sandi Thom - SMILE...IT CONFUSES PEOPLE (2006; Viking Legacy/Columbia)Apparantly I live under a rock because this album and singer who I had never ever even heard of has made a fairly big splash in the UK. First let me say I bought this at Tower for like $2 and only bought it cause 1. It's cheap 2. The Album cover boasted "The UK #1 album including the UK #1 single
"I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) and 3. Umm did you just read the title of that single? So I bought it and listened to it and was only a tad impressed. This Sandi is a good enough singer but the single is nothing like I expected and had she written just a tad bit more clever lyrics perhaps that song could've saved the album for me. Instead it's almost the worst song on the album. She does a lot better on more poppy ballad type of things like
"Lonely Girl" and
"Sunset Borderline." After listening to the whole album, it occured to me that upon repeat listenings I learn to like it a bit more, but I'll have to let you know because right now I'm concentrating on albums that grab me the minute I put them on. After all, I've got a list of the best albums of 2006 to come up with - by the way I don't think Miss Thom will be making the cut, but for $2 I may throw her into the CD player one day and see what she does for me.
**And there you finally have our 7 Random Cd's - I'm sorry it took so long I know how you all just flock to see what I've been listening to - well, I have a Christmas tree to decorate and some more boxes to get the hell out of my house and out to the various parts of the US all my pals and family insists they must live in ... til next week
What's A Ciji?
So if you think that guy who sings his own lyrics to the
Knots Landing theme is the only one who takes things a tad too far, let me introduce myself - my name is Bradley and since I love retro so, I created two kewl little T-shirts that depict two of my favorite gals. No not Debbie & Pat - those you can buy real retro shirts of (and if you find any I wear a medium thank you very much)
For this little session with my printer and an iron on I created the
Ciji Dunne T-shirt and the
"Poor Val" shirt showing Miss Joan Van Ark in all her sexy glow of 1980 big hair. Now should you think I wouldn't wear these out in public let me just tell you how very wrong you are. But the best part includes a recent jaunt out in my Ciji Dunne shirt.
As we waited outside for a table at the local Eat Well eatery, the Leivas, my pal Tommy and I were standing outside talking. At one of the outside tables was some big beefy studly boy and his friend. Well this guy kept staring at me, and being the blonde that I am, thought oh, that guy thinks I'm so cute. Yes, I still got it.
As it turns out that wasn't exactly the case; when he was done eating he asked me where I got my shirt. I told him very proudly how I had made it and he said, "I remember her." To which I didn't exactly know what to think other than the fact that yay! someone knew Ciji Dunne and Lisa Hartman and
Knots Landing, and since I made the shirt and he did think it was cool, my ego wasn't completely shattered.
And for all of those of you (both of my readers) wondering what the shirts look like, well look no further. Never fear, I will take any opportunity to put my mug up on the internet.
Slightly Revolting
The Whiskey was filled with high school kids last night to watch My Sweet Revolt and though they were really good, I have to admit I felt a tad bit old and when the 16 year old lead singer took off his shirt I felt completely dirty. I thought for sure any moment an undercover cop was going to arrest me. Apparantly it had the same feel to Luther who opted to concentrate looking at the bass player instead of the shirtless singer.
After that I needed some of age people to leer at so we headed to the Spotlight in Hollywood, the oldest and seediest gay bar in LA where fun was had at the karoke mic with the Bradley sung version of "Fast Car" and a hot duet with Luther of "Don't You Want Me" with me taking on the girl's part. What can I say, I'm versatile.
And of course all that fun means one thing - yes I'm hung over and yes Steak Depot brought me my burger and fries...
and now for some even more mindless chatter, click
here and you will find a bigger Knots Landing Knutt than myself. You won't see him but you'll hear the guy singing his own lyrics to the theme song plus if you really want to see the crazy kook, he has a slew of videos of himself acting out the opening credits. Why? I'm not sure but it will surely crack you up.
Video Won't Kill The Radio Star
Today's blog is all about plugging new indie music so here we go -My pal Patrick and his band
Orange Television has a brand new video for his song
"Royal Jelly Eye Cream" from the forthcoming album
America The Beautiful Dreamer which will be released next month - it's very exciting after all the video is the newest medium right? Just click the Orange Television link and watch it!
Now I want to change all my Christmas lists so someone buys me a video camera that I can use to upload Swivek videos. I have a great idea for a video for the song
"My Wounds" and once upon a time Patrick had mentioned making a video (sans me in real form) for
"Radio" but the boy is very busy.
In fact Flexible Records is just pushing and pushing new music. There are two new bands with debut CD's available now at
Flexible Records - Holp and Air Mail; and if that weren't enough also available is a brand new year end compilation of Flexible artists including Swivek.
Multifarious includes the remix of
"Radio" that Patrick redid for us. So get your butt over there and do some downloading.
And don't forget you can also buy
Darkness + Light, the album at
CD Baby and even if you have it, you can run over there and leave your own mini review of the album. You know I'll take all the kudos you can dish out.
and for an added benefit you can head to Patrick's
Making Flippy Floppy blog where he has a run down of the Best Cd's of 2006. I'm currently working on my more main stream list but Patrick's lists are always better as he has a way of finding the most wonderful and exciting music that's out there.
Tonight I'm headed to the Whiskey to check out
My Sweet Revolt, a punk band from Granada Hills (that's where the real Knots Landing cul-de-sac is by the way). The band is a group of teenagers that are making a bit of a buzz around here. I mean they're playing the Whiskey and were actually asked to come back and play! That's saying something. Plus my pal Luther is friends with one of band members' father. Yieks, I think I'm getting old.
Back To Campus
It may be a little late in the school year to head back to campus but thanx to Oxygen, one of my new all time fav shows is back on the air!
Campus Ladies returned last week for its second season and I just watched the first two episodes and I'm still cracking up. This year seems to be the year of the 'special guest star' as Megan Mullally appeared in the first episode as Barrie & Joan's advisor but it was Sean Hayes and Jason Alexander who appeared in the more hilarious of the two with Barrie dating a 'special' boy and Joan trying to hook a professor and now tomorrow in its normal time slot at 11 pm here on the West Coast, Barrie needs help with her tuition and Penny Marshall & Beverly D'Angelo are showing up. I'm sure it's going to be good so if you haven't caught this show yet, do yourself a favor and laugh with me tomorrow night!
It's Oooh so good..
It's Lovely Weather...
What a freakin' week I've had; for some reason the season is kicking my mistletoed booty and on Tuesday I even had what can only be a stress induced stomach cramp; I'm sure it wasn't the Captain & Cokes I used to wash down my allergy pills.. Regardless of it all, I'm still going to keep my Christmas spirits (and Captain Morgan spirits). Today I sent out three huge boxes two to the Northwoods of Wisconsin and one to the mountainous North Idaho range, but there's two more packages to go out sometime next week; plus I haven't even started shopping for the Leivas. Can you believe it?
To keep my mood up I've been drinking the egg nog and singing along with some Christmas mixes I've made. And to make me feel even better I found these crazy pictures of what winter looks like in other places than California. It all makes me so happy I could pull out my snow boots and jacket and head to the mountains for a Smoky Mountain Christmas... or something like that.
Until I complete my Christmas songs collection and am able to make a bubbatunes that includes such luminaries of the season as Bette Midler (she has a new XMas album out), Carly Simon's Christmas, and what I have read is one of the best all time Christmas CD's - the new one by Twisted Sister (!!??) I am singing along to the following:
CD one:01. All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey (the only Mariah song I like)
02. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - The Pretenders (my fav Xmas song and one of the best performances of it)
03. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
04. Little Drummer Boy - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (the best version of this ever!)
05. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
06. Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
07. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Whitney Houston
08. Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton
09. Mele Kalikimaka - Bing Crosby
10. Homo Christmas - Pansy Division
11. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Dean Martin
12. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - John Mellencamp
13. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
14. Winter Wonderland - Aesp
15. It's Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas - Johnny Mathis
16. Please Come Home For Christmas - Pat Benatar
17. White Christmas - Bing Crosby (the essential XMas song)
18. Santa Baby - Madonna
19. Silent Night - Stevie Nicks featuring Robbie Nevil (my fav version of this one)
20. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Pointer Sisters
21. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Nat King Cole (maybe this is the essential XMas song)
22. Sleigh Ride - Debbie Gibson (for those not prone to panic attacks - this is one crazy version)
23. Silver Bells - Tanya Tucker (I want TT to make a whole XMas CD)
24. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Perry Como
25. Christmas Rapping - The Waitresses
and the second CD:01. Christmas Time Is Here - Charlie Brown Christmas
02. I Believe In Santa Claus - Dolly & Kenny (Dolly Parton is pretty much Christmas to me)
03. Fairytale Of New York - Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues (awesome!)
04. Hark The Herald Angels Sing - Andy Williams
05. Chistmas Is The Time To Say I Love You - Billy Squier
06. What Child Is This? - Tanya Tucker (ooh this one is sooo gooood!)
07. Father Christmas - The Kinks (harsh and hilarious)
08. Frosty The Snowman - The Chipmunks (its the only version I could find and that damn special makes me cry to this day!)
09. Feels Like Christmas - Cyndi Lauper (if Dolly is Christmas then Cyndi is one of her elves)
10. Deck The Halls - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir (they are strange zealots but boy can they sing)
11. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Burl Ives (I can't help but like the man who starred in all of the specials plus 'the bermuda depths')
12. Happy XMas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
13. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - The Muppets (i love me the muppets and this is hilarious as they sing 'bring us some figgy pudding' Miss Piggy hears 'piggy pudding?' and I laugh out loud every time)
14. Hating You For Christmas - Everclear (even more harsh than #3)
15. Linus & Lucy - Vince Gioldi (the essential opening music for Charlie Brown's Christmas - which I'm not a fan of but the music gets me)
16. Here Comes Santa Claus - Elvis Presley (I love this version)
17. The First Noel - Natalie Cole (she goes a tad overboard but it's the only version I have)
18. Jingle Bells Techno Version (I'm not even kidding)
19. Winter Wonderland - Eurythmics (I know but this is a good version too)
20. Christmas In America - Pat Benatar (only cuz it's Pat otherwise not too great of a song - sorry girlie)
21. We Three Kings - Vienna Boys Choir (even better than the Mormans are the Catholics when it comes to singing religion)
22. Sleigh Ride - Harry Connick Jr (a less panicy version)
23. O Christmas Tree - Miles Davis (Instrumental but how I would love to find a copy of a sung version as I sing O Teinenbaum every single time I decorate a Christmas tree)
so there's my list so far, if you all have XMas songs I need or should have, by all means send them to me - this is the season for sharing you greedy bastages.
Til next week when things calm down again and I actually drag the ornaments out of the closet I think I'm off to play with a couple of sistahs..
Random CDs
After a little break from our random CDs of the week, we are finally back. Today's step into Bradley's stereo finds yet another classic 70's CD from my fav of late Ex-Mrs. James Taylor - Carly Simon, plus a new release from an old 80's new wave fav, a classic 90's punk album, a 90's release by an 80's super fun gal, and a brand new release from the man who didn't need to bring sexy back cuz he never let it go...
Kim Wilde - Never Say Never (EMI; 2006)
This album is a most welcome come back from Kim Wilde. To the US market she's only responsible for two 80's hits, the #1 dancy pop version of
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" from 1986 and of course the fierce new wavey
"Kids In America" in 1982. But Kim in her home country became quite an icon, in fact she was up until the days of Kylie, the most succesful of the UK female singers. After releasing three pretty new wave classics in the early 80's she switched to more dance pop fare and continued to score big. But a bit of a sabbitcal left others to claim her throne, but here finally Kim decided to hit the studio again and this time she did it with an interesting concept - some new songs and some newly recorded and rearranged versions of her older classics but all in the new wavey rock vein rather than her dance mode. That is why
Never Say Never had to be a part of my CD collection. Containing new rocking versions of "
Kids In America", "View From A Bridge", "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (with Nena returning a favor as Kim appeared on a chart topping Nena song a few years ago),
"You Came" and
"Four Letter Word" the new songs are just as good including the opener
"Perfect Girl" which would have fit on any of Kim's early albums and the very rocking
"Game Over." Kim is full of sass and crass through these songs and my favorite is the ode to the planet
"Forgive Me" which takes a new wave beat to the lyrics of at least one person feeling horrible for destroying our Earth.
Carly Simon - Hotcakes (Elektra; 1974)
Until I get all the 70's Carly CD's I've been looking for she's going to pop up on this list quite a bit. Hotcakes was recorded while Carly was pregnant with her first baby, the follow up to her highly successful
No Secrets ("You're So Vain") album, this followed along those same lines though I have to say the songs are a tad more peppy and in a happier mode than her previous records. I'm sure this had something to do with the glow of her marriage and pregnancy. Opening with the hilarious yet poignant
"Safe & Sound" Carly describes how the world is going crazy, Hong Kong's divorce rate is high, the Mexican touradors
"have all gone gay, the Roman whores have quit to seek a better way" and motorcycle gangs are driving around naked down Hollywood Boulevard but as long as Carly and her man can stick together through all the madness they'll be safe from all of it.
"I Think I'm Having A Baby" is pretty straight forward though her chorus of
"they're making too many phonograph records" leaves you wondering what's going on in her mind. But in a clever little line she lets us know she
"won't be naughty for the sake of naught/or different just to differ." The excellant
"Grown Up" is typical Carly reflections remembering how she viewed the grown ups at her parent's cocktail parties and now she's one of those people, quite excellant in delivery and lyrical;
"I've just gotten older/ I've just gotten taller" and the crazed little jazz fest that is the title track is something you wouldn't expect to hear. The lyrics are just insanity about making pancakes, which perhaps is a child's nursery rhyme I'm not familar with, no matter what the intent it's a little dose of fun. are quite clever. The two singles released
"Haven't Got Time For The Pain" and the romping duet with husband James Taylor in
"Mockingbird" are nice little additions that don't necessarily take away from the rest of the album. Next to 1975's
Playing Possum, this is probably my favorite of the Carly Simon albums in my collection thus far.
Robbie Williams - Rudebox (Chrysalis; 2006)
Oh my hottie has finally done it; he made a record that I will play just as much as Sing When You're Winning. Not that Robbie's last two CDs were bad it's just that they were familiar, they were just extensions of what he has done before, but with
Rudebox it seems he's headed to a newer dimension, a starkly dark yet thrilling disco where you can both shake your rudebox and do the rudebox all at the same time. The opening title cut is just plain dance fun silliness though so is most of the album, yet it's all together quite catchy -
"Viva Life On Mars" with it's 'uh huhs' reminds me of a ten different songs all great, and the Lily Allen pseudo duet
"Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'aime Plus" is just fun as hell. I'm a tad confused over
"She's Madonna" no matter how many times I hear it, I can't tell if he's telling his girl he has to leave cause Madonna wants him or it's just some strange fantasy, Madonna makes another appearance in
"The Actor" which breaks down in the middle to list a ton of actors working a la Miss M's
"Vogue", "We're The Pet Shop Boys" with the actual Pet Shop Boys is all very well Pet Shop Boys and his two autobiographical takes
"The 80's" and
"The 90's" are better than I expected. All in all,
Rudebox is a much welcome addition to Robbie's post Guy Chambers albums and I think he's finally having some fun.
Tegan & Sara - So Jealous (Vapor/Sanctuary; 2004)
I love these girls and apparantly I'm not the only one as their songs keep popping up on TV shows and commercials. That's not to say that Tegan & Sara are selling out, I just think today's television producers are a tad more hipper than they used to be.
So Jealous actually came out a few years ago but it's taken me this long to decide I had to have it. The album isn't as consistently enjoyable as
If It Was You, their last effort but where So Jealous is good, it's very good. The opening
"You Wouldn't Like Me" with its chugging guitar and the self loathing lyrics are typical T&S.
So Jealous takes all of the greatness that is the sisters and keeps the momentum going. The ambiguous misery of the lyrics is so catchy and enjoyable you can't help but sing and strut along.
"Take Me Anywhere" ,
"Where Does The Good Go" and the single
"Walking With A Ghost" are just as good as anything on
If It Was You. The grinding guitars, hip drum beats and the awesome harmonies and vocals are a nice distraction from anyone's own problems. Let's hope Tegan & Sara get back to the studio very soon. And if you haven't yet discovered these girls get yourself to a CD store now!
Cyndi Lauper - Sisters Of Avalon (Epic; 1996)
I love Cyndi and her 1990's out put is just as good as anything she did in her hey day okay maybe it's even better than 1989's
A Night To Remember. Her only two albums of the 90's were
Hat Full Of Stars (1993) and this one. Both of which found Cyndi taking more control of her music and throwing in every single element of music making sound including what I swear is the kitchen sink in some songs.
Sisters Of Avalon is a call to arms for empowerment, through out the album Cyndi sings the praises of every walk of life, from the construction worker by day who turns to drag queen at night in
"Ballad Of Cleo & Joe" to her own gender in the title track, everyone has something to learn about acceptance. Though Cyndi turns fairly acidic on some songs where the protagantist isn't so welcome -
"Love To Hate" is a rock song in every sense of the word and Cyndi slices through the guitar with her vocals, my favorite song on the album and the first single
"You Don't Know" pokes at the hypocritical of the world;
"Revisions of history fair well in some company/ but push that bullshit down my throat/ you don't know where you belong/ you should be more careful / as you follow blindly along/ you just need to belong somehow/ you just need to belong somehow." Sisters Of Avalon also contains some of Cyndi's best ballads including
"Hot Gets A Little Cold" and
"Fearless" ( a song she recently re-recorded for her acoustic album). Not as fun as the debut album but not as adult contemporary as True Colors, Cyndi is a talent that is overlooked by many but when she gets serious like she does on
Sisters Of Avalon, it's hard to ignore her.
The Muffs - Blonder & Blonder (Reprise; 1995)
I love Kim Shattuck and her boys of the Muffs; I first discoverd them on a compilation from Huh! Magazine that used to come out in the 90's. It was the first single from this album that was included, the slightly poppier punk of
"Sad Tommorrow" and with Kim's slightly twisted bitter lyrics and her crazed delivery I knew I had to buy the album. I found out later that
Blonder & Blonder (named after a comment by Courtney Love to Kim) was actually The Muffs second album, and though I've followed the band since - I saw them perform at Amoeba a few years ago - this will always be my favorite album. If not for only the fact it reminds me of my best pal Lisa. Anytime we were pissed off or depressed over the horrible fate that finds you when you're in your 20's and dating, the Muffs would come out.
"Red Eyed Troll" is still one of our all time favorite songs and just Kim's shouting "
Cause I don't like you /Why can't you see /You piece of shit, now /You fucking jerk /You really bore me /You stupid jerk" makes me feel better even when I'm not particularly down. Full of two minute punk rock
Blonder & Blonder begins with Kim crying out in
"Agony" and it doesn't stop til the last moments of the slighty mellow (compared to the rest)
"Just A Game" plays. In between those two songs is 12 other classic tastes in the late 90's punk rock that revolutionalized the alternative rock scene til those poppier boys came around to make their version of "pop/punk." All of the songs on here are catchy as hell but there's no doubt the Muffs were not playing to the masses. There is no sense of commercialism here, just plain old fun and bitterness. Just like Lisa and I.
Goldfrapp - Supernature (Mute; 2005)
I wanted to love this album I really did. After all, Goldfrapp's last album
Black Cherry is so good I can't help but drag it out of the CD case at least once every couple of months but instead of taking the brilliance of that last album and moving forward but instead it's like they just stopped progressing or even worse regressed a little.
"Ooh La La" opens the album in a fairly promising way but after that it all becomes a bit samey; the highlight to me is the raunchy-ish sounding (in title and music)
"Ride The White Horse" but the lyrics aren't exactly what I thought they'd be. The problem with Supernature isn't that it isn't a good album, because it is, but it's not anywhere near as good as the last album. Where
"Strict Machine", "Train" and
"Twist" from
Black Cherry are practically this millenium's dance anthems, everything off of
Supernature just falls flat compared. If you are looking for some Goldfrapp my advice is to avoid this and get your sweaty dancy hands on
Black Cherry because that album doesn't disappoint in the way
Supernature does.
The presents have been wrapped and the stocking have been hung so now all I have to do is sit back and relax. Okay, there are two more boxes that need to go out and will obviously not get to their destinations by Christmas so why bother til this weekend right? Right.
