International Pop Orchestra / 110 Musicians: Christmas Favorites

One Last Shot Before Santa Get's Here!


Boy Howdy! I've had a Hoot here on Earth over the last few weeks. I got to go to some cool places and see some cool stuff!

This is the barn in Traitor Vic's backyard. I think it looks pretty nice at Christmas Time.


This is the wreath that hangs on the barn at Christmas Time.


I also got to visit a place called Tiny Town (which, of course, we on Mars were already aware of because of it's Extreme Incandescence). It was Marvelous! It was Horrifying! It was Awful!




Now, sadly, it comes to an end. I'll be letting Traitor Vic out of the closet that I've had him locked in in just a few moments. We'll sling up in the den, waiting for that fat dude to tumble down the chimney, and get to work on the remainder of the 12-pack of Yuengling from which Santa's beer was chosen.

This is what we did last year and it didn't turn out so well. Santa arrived to find that I had consumed his beer and eaten his "patè on a cracker" treats and, to say the least, was not happy. He immediately announced that he found me to be "Bad", tossed a lump of coal into my stocking, yanked it from the mantel and began pounding me in the head with it.

I'm learning the Respect that comes with the Fear of that dude. Santa Claus is not to be messed with.

Hope all of you have been good little boys and girls this year! And, whether you have or not, here is my final present to you for 2009. It's a good ol' Wyncote record, so you know it's just perfectly mediocre, but in a marvelous way!

It's 10:10PM, Eastern Standard Time, on Christmas Eve now and NORAD has just reported that Santa has just arrived on the East Coast of the United States, so I need to run now. I've got a long drive tomorrow. Hope to see you all again next year!

International Pops Orchestra / 110 Musicians: Christmas Favorites

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
2. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
3. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
4. O Little Town of Bethlehem
5. Joy to the World
6. Deck the Halls
7. The First Noel
8. Good King Wenceslaus
9. O Holy Night
10. We Three Kings of Orient Are
11. Silent Night
    

Ken Griffin: The Organ Plays at Christmas

Gettin' all ORGANIC at Christmas Time!


This Album Is Good for the Planet! If you Download It, and listen to it, You'll Be Less Likely to Purchase a "Environment Destroying Product".

Ken Griffin was HUGE in the 50s (probably the most popular and biggest selling Organ Player of all). I've never found him to be nearly as interesting as Lenny Dee, but I do like his Holiday Offerings.

I think you will too!

Ken Griffin: The Organ Plays at Christmas

1. Joy to the World
2. Silent Night
3. Silver Bell
4. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Away in a Manger
6. The First Nowell
7. Adeste Fideles
8. O Little Town of Bethlehem
9. Kringle's Jingle
10. Here Comes Santa Claus
11. I'll Be Home for Christmas
12. White Christmas

I gotta admit… This record just Dries Me Right the Hell Out! It makes me Thirsty as Can Be!

I allowed Traitor Vic to come out of his closet earlier tonight and he hit a HOMERUN, boy howdy! We enjoy this drink, too, around The Holidays on Mars. Of course, the Holidays we enjoy it around are different from yours, but that's okay. We call this one The Thing Attached to The Side of The Supersonic Space Rocket. It's a cultural difference.

The Sidecar

Here's how you make it:

2 oz. brandy

½ oz. cuantreau

Juice of ½ lemon

Shake and serve in a Cocktail Glass with a Sugar Rim.

Various Artists: The 2009 Tuna Melt Christmas Mix

Another Big Ol' Pile o' Christmas!

Okay. I've been bad, I suppose. I told Traitor Vic that I'd let him come out of his closet for good if he helped me put my 2009 Christmas Mix together. I lied. I pushed his butt back into the closet and locked the door the second we got done with this. I'll let him come out and stay, though, when it's time for me to leave.

In the meantime, here's our 2009 Christmas Mix! Hope you enjoy some of it!

Various Artists: The Traitor Vic 2009 Christmas Mix

1. We Three Kings of Orient Are - The Boxmasters
2. Santa Claus Is Back in Town - Canned Heat
3. Blue White Christmas - Barely Pink
4. Rasta Reindeer - The Bobs
5. Merry Christmas James Brown - The Peanuts Gang
6. Gettin' Down for Xmas - Milly & Silly
   
7. Christmas Time All Over the World - The Smithereens
8. Psycho - Thirsty Dave's Western Caravan
9. Squat - Shelby Lynne
10. Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk - Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison
11. Merry Christmas from a Bar - Mike Ireland & Holler
12. Santa's Out of Rehab By Christmas - Adam's House Cat
13. Black & Blue Christmas - Unknown Hinson
14. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Rocket Park
15. Something Horrible
16. Hark! The Helter Skelter - Dave aka Tuco
17. Here Comes Santa Claus Back in Black - Elvis vs AC/DC (a Voicedude Mashup)
18. Away in a Manger - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
19. Inglejay Ellsbay - A Pig Latin Christmas
20. The Little Drummer Boy - Kenny Burrell
21. Jingle Bells - Wing
22. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - Eels
23. Chrismastime - The Nourallah Brothers
24. Christmas Boy - The Spongetones
25. Fruity-Cake Fruitcake - Bah & The Humbugs
26. Christmas Rhapsody - Pledge Drive
27. Happy Kwanzaa - Teddy Pendergrass

The Ames Brothers: There'll Always Be a Christmas

Back to Mono for the Holidays!

Here's one that it is possible to find on Compact Disc, but I highly doubt you're gonna run out this week and get it at your local record store. It's one of Traitor Vic's favorite Christmas Records of all time and he's been listening to and loving this monophonic copy for over 45 years.

The Ames Bros.: There'll Always Be a Christmas

1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
2. Deck the Halls
3. O Holy Night! (Cantique de Noël)
4. Silver Bells
5. What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
6. Jingle Bells
7. Good King Wenceslas
8. The Night Before Christmas Song
   
9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
10. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
11. Go Tell It on the Mountain
12. There'll Always Be a Christmas

I have found that some of the tracks on this album can cause one feel a bit dry. If this happens while you're listening to it, I would suggest quenching your thirst with one of these.

The Candy Cane Martini

1½ oz. vodka
1 tsp. peppermint schnapps
1 oz. club soda

Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.
Shake once or twice. Stir. Strain into cocktail glass and garnish with small candy cane.

Various Artists: Happy Sparkly Christmas 2007

More Old-Timey Christmas!

Okay. This isn't THAT Old-Timey, but it IS the Christmas Mix that I made back in 2007. That was only about a year ago on Mars, but its Two Years on Earth and that is A Long Time.

It's silly. It is, just as the one from 2008, the collection that I put together to show my friends on Mars how silly you Earthlings get around the holidays. I think you will enjoy it.

Various Artists: Happy Sparkly Christmas 2007

1. S. Claus Files Unusual Flight Plan - North American Air Defense Command
2. Linus n Lucy - Ursula 1000
3. Santa Claus Done Brought Himself to Town - Justin Wilson
4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Michael Doucet
5. Santa's Got a Bag of Soul - The Soul Saints Orchestra
6. Hang on Rudolph - The Ebenezer Scrooge Appreciation Society
7. Do You Hear What I Hear? / You Really Got Me - Bobby Lloyd & The Skeletons
8. Sock It to Me, Santa - Marshall Crenshaw
9. Santa Had a Wreck - Terry Anderson & The O.A.K. Team
10. Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin' - Mack Rice
11. Soul Christmas - Graham Parker (with Nona Hendryx)
12. Noël - Kees Kraayenoord
13. The Little Drummer Boy - The Dandy Warhols
14. In the Bleak Mid-Winter - Shawn Colvin
15. Boas Festas - Joyce
16. We Three Kings - Cuba L.A.
17. Candy Cane Madness - Lowell George & The Factory
18. Boogie Woogie Christmas - Ricky Godfrey & Rudy Blue Shoes
19. I Hate Christmas - Oscar the Grouch
20. Ho Ho Ho & a Bottle of Rum - The Cucumbers
21. S.A.N.T.A. - The Christmas Jug Band

William Wright & John Reiman: A Christmas Present

It's an Old-Timey Christmas

This record consists of Christmas Tunes played in the Old-Time Music style. Old-Time Music is a term used to refer to real Appalachian Folk Music of the Pre-Bluegrass era and is, actually, just old White Folks' Folk Music. It is the type of music that was made by early Anglo-Celtic settlers in America. The instruments used on this album are Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin, Bells, Triangle and Tambourine.

This album was released on Rooster Records of Bethel, Vermont, in 1980 and includes several "newer" songs (such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" from 1948, and "Frosty the Snowman" from 1950), but the musical arrangements remain true to the Old-Time style throughout.

For more info on Old-Time Music see David Lynch's Old-Time Music Home Page.

William Wright & John Reiman: A Christmas Present

1. Good King Wenceslas
2. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer / Frosty the Snowman
4. O Tannenbaum
5. God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen
6. Oh, Holy Night
7. Jingle Bells
8. Angels We Have Heard on High
9. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
10. We Three Kings
11. Deck the Halls
12. Joy to the World
13. Wassail Song

As you're listening to this Old-Time Music, allow me to suggest an Old-Time Heartwarmer:

Hot Toddy
1 oz. bourbon

4 oz. boiling water
1 tsp. sugar
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon slice, thinly sliced
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Put sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick and lemon slice into a mug or Irish coffee glass.
Add 1 oz. of boiling water. Stir. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Add bourbon and 3 oz. of boiling water. Stir well. Dust with freshly grated nutmeg.

Last Year's News: The 2008 Christmas Mix

I Wish He Would Shut Up!!!


Traitor Vic is raisin' all kinds of hell in that closet I keep him in. He's not tryin' to get out. He's just ticked off 'cause he knows that each year, upon visiting your planet for the Holiday Season, I put together a Mix of Holiday Enjoyments to share with my buddies back on THE RED PLANET. He's pissed 'cause I have not been sharing them with all of you Earth Morons.

I gotta admit… He doesn't like the fact that I'm taking his lousy Earth Music back to Mars and telling all of my friends how coo… uh… I mean Interesting it is, and not sharing such information with Earthbound Humans. He thinks I should begin sharing these items with you! Just to shut him up, I think I'll do it. I prefer a Silent Bartender, for Pete's Sake!

That being said… Here is last year's mix. I'll probably share the one from the year before pretty soon, but don't think that's going to slow the irregularity with which I post Christmas Stuff otherwise.

Various Artists: Merry Christmas 2008

1. Big Red and Cool Yule - Jimmy Bowman
2. Funky Funky Christmas - Electric Jungle
3. Black Christmas - Rose Graham
4. Noel - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
5. The Little Drummer Boy - The Soulful Strings
6. Santa's Got a Brand New Bag - Gary Walker & The Boogie Kings
7. Xmas Twist - The Twistin' Kings
8. Rock 'n' Roll-Y Poly Santa Claus - Lillian Briggs w/ O.B. Masingill & His Orchestra
9. Rockin' Santa Claus - The Martells
10. Christmas Is Pain - The Foremen
11. O Little Town of Bethlehem - Bob Rivers
12. Kill a Tree for Christ - Celtic Elvis
13. Psychedelic Santa - Buzz Zeemer
14. The Little Drummer Boy - The Screaming Santas
15. Jingle Bells - The Fab Four
16. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - The Legendary Shack-Shakers
17. What I Really Want for Christmas - Brian Wilson
18. Purple Reindeer - Steve Altman
19. White Christmas - Corporal Blossom
20. What Child Is This? - Jorma Kaukonen
21. Some Children See Him in Houses of the Holy - James Taylor / Not Led Zeppelin

The Mexicali Brass: Christmas with The Mexicali Brass

Santa's Goin' South of the Border!

This record has been shared numerous times on several sharity sites and blogs over the years, but I thought I'd toss this copy out because, as technology and internet bandwidth have improved, the ability to post files of a higher bitrate has expanded. This is a pretty darn clean copy at 360kbps. I also gave in to my more prurient desire to post this cover on The Tuna Melt. Hubba Hubba!

I have no information whatsoever on The Mexicali Brass except that they were, apparently, created by Crown Records (a subsidiary of the Bihari Brothers' Modern Records) in order to cash in on the popularity of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and The Baja Marimba Band.

All of the budget labels had these bands but The Mexicali Brass put out quite a few albums. This was one of three Christmas collections by them. The other two are called "Jingle Bells" and "Winter Wonderland". Search around the blogosphere and you'll probably be able to find them. Also, get over to Easy Listening World to check out "Tijuana Christmas" by the Torero Band.

Get this one first, though, if you want it.

The Mexicali Brass: Christmas with The Mexicali Brass

1. Jingle Bells
   
2. O' Little Town of Bethlehem
   
3. The First Noel
   
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
   
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
   
6. White Christmas
7. O' Come All Ye Faithful
8. Deck the Halls
   
9. Joy to the World
   
10. Silent Night

Traitor Vic got to come out of his closet again this evening because it got COLD OUTSIDE! I needed something to warm me up and he helped out with a Hot Buttered Rum.

Hot Buttered Rum

1 tsp. brown sugar

4 oz. boiling water
1 whole clove
2 oz. dark Jamaican rum
1 tsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Combine the brown sugar with the boiling water in a mug or Irish coffee glass. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the clove and the rum and float the butter on top. Dust with freshly grated nutmeg.

The Popular Players' Orchestra: The Pop Christmas Melodies

POP goes the Holiday!

Here's one that's a bit lighter and more casual than the Heavy-Handed Sound of Organs and Chimes. It's from 1959 on the Rondo-lette label (an even lower budget division of Rondo Records). It's a nice, simple record that makes for good listening by the fireplace on a cold night.

The liner notes refer to this music as: "popular jazz style with a slight beat, with a little feeling of the intimate jazz, but always in good taste." I don't know about you, but I can't stand intimate jazz that's done in bad taste!

The Popular Players' Orchestra: The Pop Christmas Melodies

1. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
3. Let it Snow
4. White Christmas
5. Little Jack Frost
6. The Christmas Song
7. Silent Night, Holy Night
8. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
9. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
10. O Little Town of Bethlehem
11. Happy Holiday
12. Jingle Bells
    

I decided to allow Traitor Vic to leave the closet that I've had him in for a few minutes in order to help me get in the mood for this record. I put him to work at the bar and this is what he came up with.

He got the recipe from the packaging on a CD by Jaymz Bee & The Royal Jelly Orchestra (1996, Milan Records 7313835820-2) called "A Christmas Cocktail". It's a great record and was sponsored by Smirnoff, who also supplied the included cocktail recipes.

Rudolph's Martini 2¼ oz. Smirnoff vodka
3 oz. cranberry juice cocktail

Pour ingredients into Cocktail Shaker filled with ice and shake.
Strain into Cocktail Glass and garnish with Cranberries.