I am a big fan of Christmas. Less the baby Jesus part, more the Santa part. These are my top picks for Xmas entertainment:
Music: A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector. Best of all time.
Hanson: Snowed In Great album, though Otis Redding's "Merry Chistmas, Baby" far surpasses anyone elses.
Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole display the best voices for Christmas songs. I do listen to Bing and Frankie, though only at Christmas.
TV: Rankin Bass kicks ass! Esp. Rudolph, natch, but I also love "Year Without A Santa Claus." Skip Frosty and some of the other very strange ones. And can't beat the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi.
Film: I like some of the Classics, okay, but not devoted to them: It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th St., Holiday Inn. Some of the more recent ones that wear well are Home Alone (one of my favorites), the Santa Clause movies with Tim Allen (surprisingly), and maybe even Elf, which I liked better on second viewing this year than I did originally.
But the only one that really counts in my book is Christmas Carol, and here debates rage over which is the best one. I am a fan of the Muppet Christmas Carol, believe it or not. Most people would go with the 1951 version Scrooge with Alastair Sim. Hard to quibble with that, and I have seen all the old ones. The 1938 version with Reginald Owen has some good ghosts, as I recall. Those old ones (and I think I have a couple of even earlier versions on tape somewhere) are often scary just for being in black and white. I remember as a child (long before cable tv) watching several versions in a row every Christmas eve, so I always went to bed dreaming not of sugar plum fairies but of Marley and Cratchit.
My favorite, however, is often overlooked by critics and fans, and is pretty much unknown: 1970's musical Scrooge with 34 year old Albert Finney. To my eyes, Finney is the greatest Scrooge ever. He even plays Scrooge as a young man and the transformation is amazing, with his crooked mouth, misanthropy and pathos. Incredible performance, and even some great songs (and I pretty much eschew musicals). I especially like the song Scrooge sings, "I Hate People."
Anyone else have recommendations?
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I can't tell if you're joking or serious. HANSON? HOME ALONE? TIM ALLEN? These are just too damn fruity! As for your overall Christmas philosophy, I take it step further. About eight years ago I became so discusted with the commericilization of Christmas and whole religious thing in general, I sent all the presents I got back and told my friends and family to stop buying me gifts. Some did, some didn't. The ones that didn't claimed that Christmas, for the most part, isn't about Jesus but family instead. I don't buy it but still accept their gifts now that they know my stance. My suggestion for you would be to ask for the greatest gift you forgot to mention in this blog-Good Old American Greenbacks.
I forgot to add one little detail to the last comment for this blog-ABT.
ABT
Music: You've gotta admit that Elvis' Christmas album has stood up pretty well over the years. His version of "Blue Christmas" is now the standard, I think, and he does fine readings of the other chestnuts, but the reason to get this record is for the two original cuts. The jaunty "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" cruises along at a brisk pace, with the Jordanaires earning their money on backup at that session. And there's no way you can argue with the raunchy blues of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," yet another stroke of genius from Leiber and Stoller apparently tossed off on the spot.
I dig the Spector album too, especially Darlene Love's powerhouse performance on the Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector-penned "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." I rediscovered this tune with U2's version of it on the '89 "Very Special Christmas" album. Never heard Dion DiMucci or Joey Ramone's version of it, but I bet they're pretty good too. There's a funny anecdote about the original recording on allmusic.com:
"[Darlene] Love...recalls that pianist Leon Russell, too, excelled at that session. He threw one line into the mix that so thrilled Spector that he leaped out of the control room and handed the stunned Russell a check for $100 on the spot."
I don't have any particular opinion about Christmas movies - the majority of them are forgettable, formulaic crap [have a look at this list, http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/christmas_movie.html, for a hefty helping of garbage amidst the goodies]. The Albert Finney Scrooge is pretty good; haven't seen it in a long time, but I can recall the song "Thank You Very Much" used in two good scenes, the more entertaining one being where the fellow singing it is dancing on Scrooge's coffin as it's being paraded down the street. Wicked!!
I thought of another thing. How about more downloaded songs from thepartyparty.com. I see some new ones posted.
ABT
So, did Santa leave you what you wanted?
ABT
'Fraid not. I wanted the complete withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Iraq, but I didn't get that. Maybe next year...
...or maybe earlier, if me and my pals get REAL UPPITY!!!
After all, things aren't looking too good for the administration, what with MOST Americans now opposed to the U.S. having launched a war on Iraq in the first place; and with MOST Americans disapproving of the way the U.S. has handled the situation in Iraq in the past few months; and with more Americans holding the view that the situation for the United States in Iraq is WORSE than a year ago; and with Americans almost evenly split on the idea of sending more troops to Iraq to prop up the SHAM "election" in January.
But don't take my word for it. Just go to: http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm.
Gotta run...lots of organizing work to do......
Well merry Christmas to all from Baghdad. As for those apposed to troops in Iraq let me tell you nothing is like Christmas in Bagdad. A full day of missions standing in the rain couldn't dampen our spirits. We spent those dreary hours trying to remember Christmas carols and dreaming of sugar plums that weren't coming. Santa did come though, in the form of a full bird cavalry colonel who toured Baghdad Christmas day to wish all the troops out on missions a merry Christmas. Now that's a good leader! I ended the day late in the evening at the chow hall with buddies drinking leftover eggnog so it wasn't all bad. Oh, and my three favorite Christmas movies: Scrooge (Albert Finny), Muppet's Christmas Carol, and good old animated version of The Grinch.
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