My Christmas Mixtape: Expanded and Reconfigured for 2012




Does this mix rock? Yes, well maybe,
because there is no Santa Baby.

The same is true, I'll say with pride,
with no Baby It's Cold Outside.

I could play Joni Mitchell all day long,
but River will never be a Christmas song.

Try to make My Favorite Things a yuletide song,
and all I can say is wrong, wrong, wrong.

With my kids this year I'll be a hero,
for leaving out Christmas At Ground Zero.

To Bev I send much Christmas cheer,
and no Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

To all the pets who may say "rats,"
there are no singing dogs or cats.

The mix may be 100 minutes long,
but it won't be complete without Cheech and Chong.
 

For the 2012 Expansion, we add:
 
After walking in the snow
Warm up with a little Keb Mo

 To set the mood on Christmas morn
there's a lovely tune by Tracy Thorn

The season doesn't get much hotter
than a bluesy number from Grace Potter

The funny side stakes its rep
on Stephen Colbert and Yuletide Zep.


To which blog contributor Sara Clancy adds:

I forget the song (it's so appalling)
the one with Yoko caterwauling

is worthy of profound acclaim
next to Mommy Kissing What's-His-Name

To keep away December blues
I've nuked those f***ing Christmas Shoes

before we all break into hives
please have a cup of THIS, Burl Ives!



My Christmas Mixtape:   In 2011 the Christmas mix was a digital update of a Christmas mixtape that had been in the works for over thirty years, a collection of MP3s, 36 songs running 2 hours and 18 minutes.

Wherever you see references to the Capitol Christmas album that my sister and I listened to as kids, I am talking about an album called Merry Christmas To You, released by Capitol Records in 1955. After a long search, I finally located definitive information about this album and re-created it in 2011. You can read all about it and hear some tracks by clicking here.

Expanded and Reconfigured for 2012:  Now two mixes, these are the biggest and best mixes yet. Listening to last year's mix, I realized that the funny songs, no matter how beloved they are, have a more limited capacity for repeat listening during a given Christmas season than the rock songs, unless you are a kid or have kids, then you might want to play the funny songs more often.

In either case, the new mixes will work because I have gone back to the original concept of that mixtape cassette from thirty-some years ago, rock songs on side A, funny songs on side B. This way, you can listen to whichever you want, however often you want. Lots of songs have been added, side A contains 47 songs and runs 2 hours and 48 minutes; side B contains 23 songs and runs 1 hour and 24 minutes;.

The Music:  Although it's called "rock songs", side A includes all genres of music covering seven decades; from the earliest songs of the 1950's right up to some songs that are new for 2012, all the decades are represented. Most of the songs began life as singles, some have been released on CD over the years, and some of them are rarities. I hope you like it.

Through the annotated track lists that follow, I have included some of the songs to listen to while you read. If you would like to hear the mix in it's entirety, drop me an email, wkates@hotmailcom.

Jump to:  Side A: The Rock Songs
Jump to:  Side B: The Funny Songs






Comments

Sara said…
Awesome, Bill! Love the Keb Mo and Leon Redbone.
12/05/2012
Sara said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
12/05/2012
Shayna Zaid said…
Yes! Please send! It'll be the closest thing to feeling/hearing the Christmas spirit in a tropical place. Thank you for taking the time to put this together for all of us. We are so lucky! Hugs from across the ocean.. -Shayna
12/13/2012
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