Well, Christmas is officially here. I love Christmas and all that comes with it. I get hyped for my aunts Baccala Salad, giving gifts, decorating the tree, all kinds of shit flavored with peppermint, the movies and of course the songs. I see people online complain about radio stations playing Christmas music in November and I always scratch my head in disbelief because I love it.
I immediately get excited when I hear Band Aid ask that age old question, “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” You know how many times I’ve seen Scrooged or Gremlins? It doesn’t matter cause I’ll watch them 1000 more times in my life. I’ve even accepted Trading Places as a Christmas movie. If there is snow or any mention of Santa, you have become a Christmas movie to me.
Contrary to what Bruce Willis says, Die Hard and Die Hard 2 are BOTH Christmas movies. If he didn’t want them to be, he should have had them take place over 4th of July weekend. Case closed Mr. Harmonica.
That being said, this blog is dedicated to some of my favorite Christmas songs you may not hear in rotation, or videos that have stuck with me from the moment I saw them. Everyone knows Mariah Carey can shake that booty and became our generations top Christmas diva with her yearly chart topper All I Want for Christmas, but there are a few others that I hold dear to my heart. So, for this Christmas, maybe play some of these greats at your holiday party!
Run DMC – Christmas in Hollis
I remember when this video premiered on MTV in 1987. It was a big deal. Back in the 80s there were a few videos that had that kind of anticipation. I recall Michael Jackson’s Thriller may have been the biggest, but Madonna’s Like A Prayer and Metallica’s very first music video for their song One also were big deals.
I am notorious for singing the wrong lyrics to songs. In DMC’s verse, I always that he said, “Rex is stuffing macaroni and cheese.” Who the hell is Rex, maybe one of their homies? Who was I to question. The lyric is actually, ”Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese…” I swear I have been singing that wrong since 1987 and only found out the correct lyrics from a scene in The Night Before Seth Rogan and his buddies actually sing it.
Gfella – Guido Wonderland
My first introduction to GFella was his video for 12 Days of Guido Christmas almost ten years ago. Me and all my Italian friends passed it around like crazy. He has written a lot more than holiday parodies since and his songs Got A Guy, Guido and his latest track which was just released called Hitzman.
But he did return with another Christmas song called Guido Wonderland and it is amazing!
Vincent Laguardia Gambini – If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas
Joe Pesci released a comedy album many years ago where he sang all these hilarious songs in character as Vincent Laguardia Gambini, his character from the classic movie My Cousin Vinny. There is even a duet with Marisa Tomei. The song Wise Guy which features Blondie’s Rapture as a sample is probably the best on the album. It was released in 1998 with mixed reviews, but I loved it. Here is Pesci’s Christmas track.
Elmo & Patsy – Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer
There’s not a whole lot to say about Elmo & Patsy’s Christmas song that you don’t already know, but it is one of those songs I hold close to my heart. I sang it to my grandparents on both sides of my family every year as a kid. My grandfathers would both sing it too which made it even funnier. For that, this gets a nod in my book.
SNL Digital Short – Dick in a Box
Saturday Night Live has lots of great Christmas songs, but none have come close to Justin Timberlake and Adam Samberg’s Dick in a Box. When this came out in 2006 we all were singing it. This year SNL released a great Eminem parody called Stu which I really enjoyed, but let’s be honest, Dick in a Box is the gift that keeps on giving.
Dropkick Murphy’s – The Season’s Upon Us
I have been a fan of Dropkick Murphy’s from the very beginning. I always admired how they could take so many elements of old Irish folk music and turn them into modern day anthems. The real talent behind these guys is that they do it great. Hands down, Dropkick Murphy’s may be one of my favorite bands to see live. Not to mention, they couldn’t be a nicer group of fellas. The lyrics to this song really hit home for every family. This is a classic.
“Weird Al” Yankovic – Christmas At Ground Zero
I was singing this song well before I had any idea what it was even about. That’s the brilliance of Weird Al, he made a horrible event into a catchy sing along Christmas song that this very impressionable ten-year-old was singing, and my parents seemed to be cool about. I love the video and how it features all the public domain old footage and Al with a chorus of children wearing gas masks at the end. Amazing.
Slayer Wham! Mashup-Last Christmas/Angel of Death
Last year when this this mash up came out, it was in heavy rotation throughout my entire holiday season. Putting Slayer’s Angel of Death and Wham’s Last Christmas together is the act of a mad genius named Andy Rehfeldt. His YouTube Page is awesome and filled with other creations such as Megadeth – Holy Wars (Country Polka Bossanova Version) and Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre Sing Bluegrass.
Lil Jon featuring Kool-Aid Man – All I Really Want For Christmas
Now, everyone know that the other great Holiday hip hop song has to go to Easy E and his classic Merry Muthafuckin’ Xmas about what Christmas in Compton is like. We really short changed by his untimely death. Unfortunately, we never got a Christmas video out of it.
As I was fishing around on Youtube a year or so ago, I stumbled on this Lil Jon Christmas video with him and the Kool-Aid Man singing and dancing around a Christmas tree. It cracks me up cause if I was to do a song about what I want for Christmas and I was dancing around with the Fruit of the Loom Grapes and Apple, people would think I lost my mind. But Lil Jon is rapping, dumping out eggnog and getting wild with the Kool Aid Man! As of this post, the song has over 3,045,116, so clearly I am missing the boat!
Twisted Sister – Oh Come All Ye Faithful
You gotta hand it to Dee Snider, he turned a Christmas classic into We’re Not Gonna Take It. This song is off of their Twisted Sister Twisted Christmas album that was released around ten years ago. The video is entertaining, and the song is on my holiday playlist.
R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas
This ridiculous album was one of my favorites as a kid. Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album was released in 1980. I wore many needles out to this record. I didn’t know this until many years later but the lead on this song was sung by John Bongiovi. Yes, this is the first professional track sung by Jon Bon Jovi. The album was produced by his cousin Tony Bongiovi. How’s that for some NJ Italian shit. “Yea, my cousin’s gonna do a song, ok?!”
Mike KC – Italian Christmas Time
How can I not round out this list with another Italian track. This was another video me and my Italian friends passed around a lot through the years. It’s from a comedian named Mike Kc. The song feels like a mash of the old classics Dominick the Donkey and Funiculì, Funiculà, but he definitely hits the mark on your average Italian family.
