Update – December 15:
Voting is Open until our Meetup Party Group Chat, happening this Friday Night, at:
- 01:00 GMT
- 8:00 PM EST
- 7:00 PM CST
- 6:00 PM MST
- 5:00 PM PST
- 3:00 PM H-AST
If you need a refresher on any of these awesome picks by our readers, scroll down to the comments below, and look for the links!
Thanks so much for such creative nominations, and for joining in the fun! We’ll see you Friday night!
And now, a message from the tnocs.com Full Disclosure and Transparency Desk:
It was not your imagination. The first two rounds were super easy.
Well, data collection not withstanding… we were nominating songs that almost everyone knew.
The only hard part was choosing between so many favorites. But this round will be a bit more challenging. The category is “Christmas Songs That You Love That Aren’t Well-Known, But You Think They Should Be.” (I know, that doesn’t really flow, but you get the idea.)
Fixed it for you, Love!
Nominating the songs will be easy enough. I suspect that most of us have one or two of these among our favorites.
The challenge, (but it will be a fun one) is listening to everyone else’s nominations so that we can vote fairly. Hopefully, we will all add a few new songs to our regular Christmas rotation.
I’ll kick Round 3 off with nominations for:
The Simon Sisters – I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
The Band – Christmas Must Be Tonight (with lyrics)
The format will be the same as last week, a few days for nominations, then a few days for voting. Final results will be revealed on Friday!
And if there’s interest, mt will set up another Live Group Chat. So, name and defend your selections in the comments below!
OK, gang: let’s do it!
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What fun! As you say, though, this will be a challenge to get a winner.
Well, the quirky obscurity begin!
This is my wife’s favorite Christmas tune, by obscuro artist Alvin Dahn. Doesn’t get simpler than this, and sometimes that’s all ya want!
Alvin Dahn: It’s Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fk0-ySQ6wA
Here’s a lovely rendition of the old French carol. It’s as warm as goth gets.
Siouxsie & the Banshees: Il Est Né, Le Divin Enfant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoqXqYiGv9Y
Speaking of goth, every Christmas needs a spooky romp. Best line ever: “Enjoy your Christmas….it might be your last!”
Alien Sex Fiend: Stuff the Turkey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA9TsaK2AwU
On the sweeter side, why not some Italo Disco, by way of Sweden?
Sally Shapiro: Anorak Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxR_JJx50Uw
I humbly turn in my Siouxsie Sioux completist card. I never heard this before.
“It’s as warm as goth gets.”
I watched The Hunger a couple nights ago. Agree.
These are fun, and I had never heard any of them before. I think this category is going to be the best one yet.
Here’s my nomination.
Some of you may remember seeing a rare accompanying video for this one. Because the artist was not a fan of it, I’m linking a newer vid that was blessed by Greg Lake. Most importantly, this version features the original audio recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhzNmEQg0EI
this shows to me the difference between US and UK ‘Christmas classics’. I think everyone here knows this one
Here’s one that will likely never become anyone’s favorite (it kind of takes the dark elements of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and cranks them up to eleven), but it’s worth a listen (and it’s short enough to not wear out its welcome as quickly as the aforementioned Elmo & Patsy monstrosity).
Goodboy should probably cover his ears though.
https://youtu.be/-arTNuuLLto
Elmo and Patsy do get on the nerves rather quickly. This one is new to me. It’s…different.
This one made me snort in delight.
Ah, good topic! I’ll have to scrape my collection when I get home, but this one comes to mind. There’s a possibility that mt58 will know it because The Fools were an early 80s Boston band and they got some airplay on WBCN, his favorite radio station.
This is “I Shot Santa In My Underwear.”
https://youtu.be/GHY3O3a82k0
Gotta love a Groucho reference set to music.
I found a couple more in my collection. Here’s “Merry Christmas, Baby” by Southern Culture On The Skids.
https://youtu.be/SqkYSegYuwQ
And “Christmas Day” by Detroit Junior.
https://youtu.be/REaR2dLfVQ0
Also, “Rock and Roll Christmas” by George Thorogood and the Destroyers.
https://youtu.be/Nifsjw4jp7o
Also also, everyone knows this song but I’ve never heard this version until a friend posted it on Facebook just now.
https://youtu.be/-cUz-zAATNI
Love this, Virgin! Any Christmas song with a saxophone solo
gets my vote.
SCOTS! Haven’t thought about them in years!
I am always predisposed to like SCOTS because I love their name.
Okay, a few more submissions. 😄
This is my wife’s least favorite Christmas song.
Crash Test Dummies: Jingle Bells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w78jlmBQ1Ro
And this shoegazey gem from Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (R.I.P. Mimi).
Low: Little Drummer Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDc0qQTc1hM
Beat me to it with Low. You’ve got my vote!
I’d rather vote for Mimi Parker than any of my three song selections. I also like Low’s original song “If You Were Born Today”.
I can’t agree with your wife as long as The Christmas Shoes is still lurking among us, but I can certainly see that her position is defensible. But I love the Low song.
“The Christmas Shoes” is new to me. I wrote a paper about melodrama in college. It focused on Dancer in the Dark. And Sirk. And Brecht. I went through, I am told, an annoying two-week stretch, in which I used the term “Brechtian distanciation” at least once a day in conversation. I wish I knew about “The Christmas Shoes”. It works on other levels, independent of entertainment.
Yes, “The Christmas Shoes” brecht all of the rules about dramatic narrative, taste, restraint, and maybe grammar too, judging from my comment here.
First, if you had relationships that survived your use of “Brechtian distanciation” on the daily, you are blessed with your loved ones.
Second, the song may work on levels other than entertainment, but it surely fails there. I do wish that you could have incorporated it into your paper somewhere, as it would be nice to think of it serving a purpose for someone.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_AHLRvuwSB8
IF YOU BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS TREES-CARDINAL
https://youtube.com/watch?v=_tDbPF07akE
EVERYONE IS GOOD-THE ROCHES
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qOk6cp68O8I
BLACKOUT CHOIR-THE ROSEBUDS
One for the nostalgists;
The Futureheads – Christmas Was Better in the 80s
https://youtu.be/SHNpS-pnH-M
One for the dream pop connoisseur;
Saint Etienne and Tim Burgess – I Was Born On Christmas Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yd-pfEeHoA
Lovely. I love hearing so many new Christmas songs! Nice to give Rudolph and Frosty a well-deserved break.
bringing this over from the last thread – It’s Cliched to Be Cynical at Christmas, Half Man Half Biscuit (they’re so right)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxqQtUQErhQ
This is perfect for this category. Love it.
And a couple for the those who like their Christmas with a bit of guilt and misery.
Lindisfarne – Winter Song
https://youtu.be/Yg_dsk7u26A
Gruff Rhys – Post Apocalypse Christmas
https://youtu.be/-AWvrUXNAB0
And who doesn’t?
Well, you’re right, it’s hard to get anyone to listen to anyone else’s favorites. And since these are favorites, I imagine that most will vote for their own favorites. But, what the heck…I don’t care if my song wins…I just want the record to show that I love these songs.
The Wexford Carol – Celtic Woman
The Wexford Carol is an ancient song, but I didn’t know it until about 7 years ago or so. We sang it in a community choir I was in. Then at my suggestion we sang it the next year, too. Then when I joined a choir during my short time in Idaho we sang it there, too. (Did everyone except me know this one?). I listened to a ton of versions online and found that my favorite was by Celtic Woman. It sounds 99 45/100 percent pure. If I were king, every child born would be issued a copy of this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjB64wE0zT0
I struggled what to nominate as my second song. Since my first one was reverent, I’ll choose a fun one. On the B-side of Bing Crosby’s “Do You Hear What I Hear?” (already one of my favorite Christmas songs) is the lighthearted “Christmas Dinner Country Style”. It sounds like a song from a variety show where Bing is announcing all of the activities surrounding Christmas dinner, and all of the food they’re eating. It gives me the warm fuzzies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nYAlHSBDdg
I love the Wexford Carol. This is a lovely version. You may have gotten my vote. And Bing could really do no wrong at Christmastime.
Sufjan!
https://youtu.be/XpK-w6_FpY8
“Decatur” is the most fun song ever.
I’m guessing “Mele Kalikimaka” is way too well-known. Alas.
I can resubmit my Debbie Gibson track from last week that’s very new and not well known.
https://youtu.be/mUJi47PqB7c
A perfect fit for this category. Although, I am always up for Mele Kalikimaka as well.
Debbie Gibson wrote her own songs.
I love The Go-Go’s, but you can make the argument that Beauty and the Beat was their only great album, whereas Gibson followed up Out of the Blue with Electric Youth.
Gibson deserves to be in the RR HOF.
Danielle Haim got me out of my guitar, bass, drums in 4/4 time echo chamber. That first Haim album blew my mind. It reminded me of all the mainstream music I hated in the eighties. I started with Gibson, then moved on to Expose.
And then I repeated the same mistake.
I have a friend who returned from a Harry Styles concert in L.A. I threw, maybe, some shade. She sent me Styles covering Christine McVie’s “Songbird”. I liked it. I agreed to give Styles a chance.
I can’t stop listening to “Sign of the Times”. I think it’s better than…
I’ll show myself out.
No, stay. Open mindedness is a virtue, cappie.
I share your retrospective respect for Debbie Gibson. Had no idea about her writing AND producing all her songs – very cool!!! That’s why I nominated the song.
However, the Go-Go’s are all-timers. There’s room for all here. I’d be ok with a Debbie Gibson induction, but never at the Go-Go’s expense.
This song has been bugging my mind since we began this wonderful concept
and I finally figured what song it was.
“What Child Is This” is one of my all time favorites but I’m not sure what category it fits in as I don’t hear very often on the popular Christmas playlists.
If mt58 or Virgin could one again help me out, the Piano Guys do a great version of the song.
https://youtu.be/zqNFBub24FY
Agreed… that tune (“Greensleeves”) gives me so much peace.
Most Christmas songs rely on nostalgia, here’s one that looks to the future. It’s a dark and horrifying future, but still.
Chiron Beta Prime by Jonathan Coulton
https://youtu.be/B3DyxaCYlfg
And here’s “The Man With the Bag” by the Lascivious Biddies.
https://youtu.be/vKF6jpB74Z8
I have heard the song, but this is my introduction to The Lascivious Biddies. Thanks.
Ana Gasteyer sings about the highlights of the season.
https://youtu.be/I6Pf2jOWMx4
Sugar and booze get me through.
Oh, shoot. I would have voted for this. I really miss this era of SNL. Lorne Michaels fired Michaela Watkins and I stopped watching out of protest. Watkins killed as an internet film critic called Angie Tempura.
Merry Christmas? I guess? I think I love it, though.
This is SO hard. I have so many. I’ll start with “A Perfect Christmas Night” by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which may not be obscure enough for this category. It does get played in the wild, but not so much. Not the type of song you would expect from them which is probably why I love it so. If this is too obvious then…
I’ll post two others so no lookup required.
Kelita’s “Let’s Make A Baby King” – so bluesy, so good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8PjmiZ08PU
The Ella’s – “Candy Cane Lane” – classic Andrews Sisters like harmonies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NyokEpJGjw
Okay, two others that always make me smile when shuffle serves them up and then I’ll stop before I get carried away.
“Text Me Merry Christmas” – Straight No Chaser (ft. Kristen Bell)
“Hey Mr. Snowman” – Kim Wilde
But….wait,.. there’s also….Okay…..I’ll stop…..darn.
Excellent nominations.
Note: Alvin Dahn and Siouxsie are sharing a vote slot!
C’mon, “Anorak Christmas”!.
Man, it’s impossible to narrow it down to seven favorites.
Also, I totally did not exploit the loophole that allows one to vote twice so that I could choose 14 songs instead. *cough* 😌