Totally Rad Christmas!
It's a show about the raddest time of year in the baddest decade ever! That's right! We talk all things Christmas in the '80s to the max! Toys, movies, specials, music, books, games, comics, decorations, food, fashion, and fads--if it was gnarly during Christmas in the '80s, we got it covered!
Totally Rad Christmas!
Chris Stamey Group “Christmas Time” (w/ Ken and Scott)
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What's up, dudes? I've got Ken Kessler from Sounds of Christmas and Scott Leopold from Holly Jolly X'masu here to talk the jangle pop/alternative rock album by the Chris Stamey Group “Christmas Time!” After a stint with the dB's, Chris Stamey went out on his own as a solo artist. He invited his former bandmates back for a fun Christmas album.
"Christmas Time" was released as a 7-song vinyl EP under the credit Chris Stamey Group with Special Guests The dB’s. The EP mixed original songs with inventive takes on Christmas music, emphasizing chorused and reverbed guitars, melodic power pop, and quirky holiday charm. The record was mostly comprised of original tunes, the exception being a reworking of Deck the Hall by Cathy Harrington called Sha La La (Deck the Halls). Something Came Over Me is a reflective, melodic original that balances bittersweet lyrics with shimmering guitars and sophisticated pop arrangements. The opening title track is a bright, jangly power-pop original featuring Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple’s harmonies, chiming guitars, and an infectious holiday hook that perfectly captures the warmth and excitement of Christmas.
The Only Law That Santa Claus Understood is a witty folk-pop original by Ted Lyons that pairs clever storytelling with acoustic instrumentation and understated charm, offering one of the collection’s most unique lyrical perspectives. Snow Is Falling is a lush, atmospheric ballad featuring bass ostinato and Mary’s haunting lead vocal, slowly building into a dreamy meditation on the quiet beauty and peaceful solitude of a snowy Christmas evening. Both are followed by the acoustic guitar instrumental It's a Wonderful Life which quotes What Child is This? to end on a remarkable, intriguing disquiet.
Keyboards? Yep. Guitars? Got ‘em. Outlaw wild west Santa? For sure! So grab your record player, put on “Christmas Time,” and listen to this episode!
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It was 1985. Voltron debuted in America. The Goonies was in theaters, and Chris Staby and Friends released a cool Christmas album a few times. I'm your host, Jerry D with another episode of Totally Rad Christmas, the podcast that talks all things Christmas in the 80s, toys, movies, specials, music, and fads. If it was gnarly during Christmas in the 80s, we got it covered. Now joining me are two Totally Rad Christmas All-Stars and Ratty winners. My first guest you'll know from Sounds of Christmas is Ken Kessler. Ken, how's it going? That's me. It is you. It's this is a Jerry Davila group in friends.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I am I'm I'm looking forward to talking about this because I've I've loved this album and it's many incarnations since it first came out for a long time. So this will be fun. Yeah. So thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_04Well, I'm glad you're here. This is a good one. It's one I discovered later. Like I didn't find this one until about 10 years ago. But yeah, it's it's good. It's good. And my next guest you'll know is a host of Holly Jolly Xmasu. It's Scott Leopold. Scott, what's happening?
SPEAKER_03Hey hey Jerry, how's it going? Uh you know, I'm all right. Like Ken, I have really loved this album and all its incarnations for quite a long time.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I I think when you first mention it, I believe my response was you'd better have me on. So I think that's right.
SPEAKER_04I definitely, I think that's right. Well, I'm glad. I love talking music with you guys. You're you're music guys, you're also Christmas music guys, which makes it even more special because you know all the deep cuts and everything. It's it's just it's really fantastic. So it's good to see. It's been a while, it's been a crazy season so far for me, crazy year. So it's great to see some familiar faces, and I'm excited to talk this one. But before we do, just like Carol Kane did to Bill Murray and Scrooged, I want you to hit me with the toaster. So I'll ask you a few questions and just hit me with the first answer you think of. Okay, you don't have to think too hard about it. So let's say that Chris Stamy is Scrooge. Recast the ghosts of Christmas, so past, present, and future, with Adam Ant, Michael Stipe, and Billy Idol.
SPEAKER_02Okay, Adam Ant, the Ghost of Christmas past. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Billy Idol's gotta be future.
SPEAKER_02Okay. That that works. Michael Stipe is a ghost of Christmas present. That kind of works too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I could see. I I tell you what though, I really want to see this movie.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that would be cool.
SPEAKER_04Oh man. Yeah. Uh so what other rock band or artist would you like to hear on this album? Because you know, they release one of these every like 10, 15 years or so. So on this next one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we do.
SPEAKER_04On this next one, who what other band would you like to hear? Or artist. It doesn't have to be a full band.
SPEAKER_02That hasn't been on any of them.
SPEAKER_03Right. Well, they had Michael Mills on you know, the uh re-recording of Jesus Christ. So if they could pull together at least get Michael Stipe, maybe the rest of REM for the uh for the next one, that that might be fun.
SPEAKER_04That would be cool.
SPEAKER_02That would be really cool. I'm trying to think of artists from that era that would fit. Because Billy, I I love Billy Idol, but Billy Idol didn't really fit with this.
SPEAKER_04No, no.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, everybody I come up with, Chris Damie and the DBBs were a North Carolina band. And I grew up in North Carolina. Nice. So I think about a lot of like Dave Adams from Glass Moon would be would would fit in this, but I don't know if a lot of your audience would know who Dave and Glass Moon are. You know what? Look them up.
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say, I don't know if a lot of the audience knows who Chris Stamy or the or the DBs are either.
SPEAKER_02Fair enough. But I think about that, I think about maybe the guys in Nantucket, which is another band that you know outside of North Carolina, maybe people don't know. They should. Nantucket had a great had a giant monster hit in the 70s called Heartbreaker, and you would know it if you heard it. So, so okay, so Jerry's audience, I'm giving you some homework. Go find Glass Moon Records and Nantucket. And I think they're all streaming. So go ahead. Go do that and then report back.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, check it out for sure. Okay, and finally, this album includes a spin on the classic Deck of the Hall, right? Which other Christmas Carol do you wish they could have included on this album?
SPEAKER_02The first.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we'll talk about the first release. The first, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02The Grinch, although the only law that Santa Claus understood. Kinda kinda fit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03See, and that's tough because I like the the originals on these albums so much better than the covers. So it's it's hard to pick a you know something I'd want to hear them cover when when the original songs are just I I mean that those are all the highlights for me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, the originals are terrific on these.
SPEAKER_04They really are. Yeah, and it's a shame that it just got buried. Like no one really knows anything about this album. You know, mainstream, I mean, like no one knows this these songs, really. It's it's it's a shame. Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah. Uh well, that's just a way for our listeners to get to know y'all a little bit better. So thank you for that. Now, tonight we're here to talk about Chris Stamy and the DBs or decibels, however you want to say it, and and friends. We're specifically, we're talking their album Christmas time. What do you guys remember about this Christmas time, Christmas time again, and all the the millions of versions of it? Because there's been like four or five different versions. So, what's your experience with it? We'll start with you guys.
SPEAKER_03So I didn't really have a lot of uh a lot of knowledge about it until I I think it was Randy at Hip Christmas mentioned it one year. And I had heard Christmas time, I think somebody had like shared it out in a uh in like a compilation. Um and when I read about it on Hip Christmas, I I was just fascinated. And at the time I wasn't really buying a lot of physical media, so I decided, you know, I was going to go out and find copies of every single song on the album, uh, only to find that at the time that was a much harder task than than what it sounds like. Um I think the I think the third release was available to purchase digitally, but none of the others were. Um and a couple of the songs, especially on the 1993 release. Um, what was it? I'm always touched by your presence, dear. At the time, you could even find like YouTube videos of it. So I spent years trying to track down copies of every song from every release of the album, and finally just said, uh heck with this, I'm just buying them all. So in the process, I found out that you know, a couple of the songs he had released prior to Christmas time. So, you know, in result, I've got his 1983, Chris Damie's 1983 album, It's a Wonderful Life. I've got his 1984 EP Instant Excitement, and then the single of Christmas time. And just last night I found out that there is a 12-inch single of oh, what's the song? Give me one second, I don't remember it. Yeah, Winter of Love that was released in the UK. It has another version of It's a Wonderful Life, so I should have that early next week.
SPEAKER_04Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_03So it's only taken me 10 or 15 years, but uh I will finally have all of all of his Christmas. All of his Christmas releases.
SPEAKER_04Uh-huh. What about you, Ken?
SPEAKER_02Well, I was in college at NC State in Raleigh when this came out. And it was it was a local thing, so the local rock station was playing Christmas time. I am pretty sure that I heard a couple other tracks just in listening to it again recently. I'm sh I'm pretty sure they played Shalala and It's a Wonderful Life. And I listened to The Only Law that Santa Claus understood, which which I probably haven't heard since 1985, 86, something like that. Instantly brought back memories, though. I I knew it, but I I just haven't heard it in a very long time, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But but Christmas time, I I don't know, maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I feel like it was a local hit that it got it got a lot of airplay on North Carolina radio stations, at least the ones that were close to Raleigh. And I I'm always surprised because it was so just so ubiquitous in December. I'm always surprised when I come across somebody who hasn't heard it before. And I just, you know, how could you not have heard that? But I I'm, you know, a Christmas music weirdo, so there's a lot of songs that could probably fall into that category.
SPEAKER_04I'm sure there are literally thousands that you've heard the most haven't. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. How could you not have heard all of these?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, this is one I don't remember it from the 80s. I didn't find this one out till about, like I said, close to 10 years ago. Maybe it might have been 11 or 12. Uh, I don't even remember how I found it. I think I was just searching for different versions of Deck to Halls, and I came across Shalala, and you know, it's Deckta Halls-ish. And you know, from there just discovered the the whole album and then went and downloaded, and then discovered that there was like a ton of different versions of the album. And we're gonna talk about them. I really want to get into the the first, you know, the first DP, really, but then we'll we're gonna talk about the others because they've expanded, like they've taken some tracks off and added like five to seven more. So I think the person only had seven, it expanded to like what, 12 or 17, something like that. I mean, it's just ridiculous they've added on all these tracks that are also really good. It's just it's funny that that they keep doing this and taking different tracks off. And and it just makes me wonder like, why didn't they just add like why take away they could have just been extra songs, but I guess it's just to keep it fresh and new and different. Maybe the flow of the whole album wasn't great, keeping the entire album together with the the new songs. I don't know, but but yeah, it this has been uh there's been quite a few iterations of this album, and I gotta say, I agree with both of you. This one is really good. It's the songs. There's I don't even know what genre I'd put it in. It's like this weird alternative, slightly B52s meets REM meets the 60s vibe going on. I I don't even know how like how I would describe it, except just to say like alternative, you know, or something.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's like 80s alternative rock.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And even the stuff that came out 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_04Right. It they're all, and that's what I like. It all fits together very well, I think. Like each one of these just really, really works. So, Chris Damie, of course, an American singer-songwriter, producer, he's he actually produced quite a few things, and guitarist helped pioneer, according to Wikipedia, the power pop and jangle pop movement of the late 70s and early 80s. I gotta say, jangle pop was not a term that I was super familiar with. Had y'all heard that before?
SPEAKER_02I have, but only recently, like in the last 10 years or so, they refer to a lot of the alternative 80s acts that broke through and made it big as jangle pop. I don't know what distinguishes it from jangle pop or just alt rock. I I accept that the jangle pop records made money. Maybe that's it could be a key.
SPEAKER_04That's the the deciding factor there. Yeah. So yeah, but so in 1978 he co-founded the DBs or the decibels, however you want to say it, in New York with Peter Holzapple, Will Rigby, and Gene Holder. They blended, and maybe this is kind of a jangle pop thing. Beatles and Kinks-inspired melodies, like the bird style guitars. There was a little bit of like the new wave kind of feel to it, southern, a little bit of southern rock as well, all kind of blended into this one sound that's just really, really distinctive, especially on this album that we're gonna talk about here. Uh, but even in the in the DBs albums themselves, you can hear this this influence. You know, I mean, uh like I said, to me, I heard a little bit of REM in there as well. So maybe they inspired them or is just drawn from like the same kind of vibe. I don't know, but it definitely you can hear some like some of the musical tissue is very similar. And then they were never really commercial stars, right? Like they're they had Stands for Decibels in '81, Repercussions 82, and apparently those are classics of the that particular genre. But uh, you know, most mainstream folks again just never really heard it. I don't remember a ton of them on MTV or anything like that. So I think the alt rock title fits very, very well. So yeah, he left in '83 and he kind of had his own solo artist career and became a producer, and then occasionally, as we'll see, he reunites with the DBs for some of these ventures, including a whole bunch of Christmas albums. That's the same album. So let's let's dive right into it here. Let's start. So we can get into the there's the precursor stuff, but I want to just start right 1985, right? Christmas time, the original EP. It's a seven-song vinyl that's officially, I believe it's credited to Chris Stamy Group with special guests, the DBs. I think that's like the official title of it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's it's just a cool album, man. I mean, there's all the original songs are really great. There's really only one cover that I that I can think of, but there's a few, like It's a Wonderful Life, where they do kind of play some other melodies of traditional Christmas carols as well. So you do have like that through line, but most of it is just original music that I think is very, very good. And I think if they had played it, I mean, heck, MTV played Joe King Carrasco, right? Like, why wouldn't they have played these guys? But like they were really trying to make him a thing, and it just it didn't quite take. But but I think they could have played this, and I think it would have fit in just as good with their other Christmas lineups and some of the Christmas shows that they did.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, and uh, are there any videos from this album? Which I I I've never even bothered looking that up.
SPEAKER_04The only thing I've ever found on YouTube is just like the cover of the album, this the still cover while the song plays underneath. I don't know if there ever were videos, but I don't know. It seems like I couldn't remember any because 85, when we covered MTV, I think that was Three Ships. Now, John Anderson's Three Ships was a video that year with the really, really bad special effects. Yeah, like the cardboard spaceship or whatever it was.
SPEAKER_02That is something special.
SPEAKER_04That's another album we got to cover. That's a good one, too. So, first thoughts overall of this album. Like, like, what are your overall just musical thoughts on it?
SPEAKER_02I remember when this came out and I had the record, and my initial reaction was that where's the rest of it? Because there were like three or four songs on each side, and that was it. Right. And Christmas songs aren't usually very long anyway.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02But I you know that first track, Christmas time, Christmas time. That just I I was that that made it that made it all worth it. And this wasn't because of when this came out, it wasn't this on a CD. It was just a record. There may have been cassettes, but this six, seven track EP was that was the only way that you could get it. And you know, CDs were just coming into being a real thing. But I was really glad when the Christmas time, I I don't think they called it Christmas time again yet in the 90s when it came out, but that one was available on CD. So that was that was nice to finally get those like that. But but I I probably wore that thing out or close to it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and the first the first time I so the the first time I listened to it was not the original mini album. Oh, okay. The the first one I listened to, I think was the first Christmas time again. So when I finally got the original vinyl, and honestly, I think I got it from Japan, listening to it all the way through the first time. I I just it it made me appreciate those songs all that much more. Because except for maybe the only law that Santa Claus understood. Uh that's how they all go together so well.
SPEAKER_04That one that one's grown on me a lot. The first time I heard it, I thought, what? But yeah, it's really grown on me.
SPEAKER_03That's the one I'm always surprised has made it through every single iteration of this album.
SPEAKER_04I think it's a good one.
SPEAKER_02I had forgotten all about it. I had forgotten all about that song until I was listening to it recently, the the latest album that's streaming, just to sort of refresh my memory of it for for this episode. And when that song started, I laughed out loud. I just hadn't heard it in in so long. And it's just I'm I'm kind of glad in a way that it somehow made it from version to version to version. Yeah. Because it's just it's it's it's iconic. However, you want to take it. It really is.
SPEAKER_04No, it it really, you're right. Like when you first hear it, my at least for me, when I first heard it, my first thought was, what the heck am I listening to? Like this this doesn't belong on this on this album. But the more I've listened to it, the more I realize it really does, it really does belong on it. Yeah, you know, and like I said, it's grown on me. We'll we'll get into it. We'll get into it. But I'm kind of like you. So first time I heard it overall, I thought it was mostly it really did mesh well. I thought the the structure of the tracks, the way they picked them, was was really great. I also probably heard the the 1993 one first before I I heard this one, and then the Christmas time again, and then I think there's Christmas time again with an exclamation point, was uh the second one, right? Something like that. So they just keep adding, and so I'm ready for the next one. You know, it's like you said, we're due for it. So we gotta get these guys going.
SPEAKER_03Well, and I saw an interview with him. Couple years ago, where somebody pointed out, you know, hey, coming up on 10 years, wait, where's the next one? That's right. And he he had kind of a coy answer, didn't really rule it out. So I'm hoping, you know, he's still got time to announce it by the end of the year.
SPEAKER_04Hey, even if it takes 11, I'll be okay, you know. So this first one, like we said, has seven songs. It's Christmas time, the opener. We'll get into it in a little bit. I'll just read the track list here, real quick. Something came over me. The only law that Santa Claus understood, Shalala, or Deck the Hall, Shalala. Snow is falling, you're what I want for Christmas, and it's a wonderful life. So Christmas time, right? Opening track. It's that's named after it, or the eponymous or whatever, whatever it's called. Not eponymous. I don't know. It's the you know, the the album's named after this track here. It really is bright. The guitars have like a little twang to it, so there's got to be some chorus and reverb on it. Maybe even like a what do they call like the slapback echo a little bit, probably on it. And it's just like this this poppy original tune, you know, it's kind of upbeat. I think it's got Stamy and Holes Apple singing it, right? They're singing harmonies as they're going through the whole time. It's just I I really like it, and it's it's really infectious and hooky to me. Like I the hook really catches me in that refrain.
SPEAKER_02And it has it does have that birds kind of quality. The birds being the sixties group, not like animals. Right, right. It it but it it just does. It it has those the the the fun guitar licks, it has the harmonies, and it's it's just well, what a great song to to open the record on. Yeah. And I keep calling it a record because it was. It just it just it was right. It was vinyl, it was a record.
SPEAKER_04Right. That's all you can get to it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, and and and of and I forget how many total songs have come out across the albums, but it it of all the songs on all the iterations of the album, it's I mean, Christmas time's easily my favorite.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I really like it too. I I really do. And yeah, it's just the even the words, right? So it's like, I can't believe it's Christmas time. Where's the year we left behind? And it says the summer went so fast, the fall went roaring past, and we watched it disappear. And like, isn't that the feeling though? Every time we get into the Christmas season, it's like, wow, we're in Christmas already. Like, what happened? And you know, right now we're like right smack dab in the middle of summer, you know, we're we're having hundred degree, hundred plus degree temperatures here, and man, I'm ready for it to go by fast, honestly, because it's hot, and I'd rather it be nut.
SPEAKER_02And you're still but it's the time of year that and I mean now is the time of year that Christmas things are starting to pop into the stores. Save your emails, everybody. Record labels and singers and bands are starting to announce their Christmas tours, new Christmas releases that are coming. That's starting to all trickle out, and it's gonna snowball. And before you know it, we're gonna be in December.
SPEAKER_04Yep. And I, you know, that's my busy season. I I work at you know, selling Christmas lights. So when September hits, it's like go time. But but even just like it says time stand still at Christmas, always will at Christmas, and it kind of does, but also I I feel like as we get older, it does go by faster and faster. So I remember as a kid, like we were on Christmas break, and it felt like forever before we got to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and it was so long, but that it did kind of feel like time was standing still. Nowadays, you know, we we get a few days off and then we have to be back in at work. So it just it's so fast, it's so fast. So I wish time would stand still at Christmas.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and that now it stands still for about you know, a morning.
SPEAKER_04It's true, you're right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_0330, 40 minutes.
SPEAKER_04You're totally right. So that's the first track. Then we move on to something came over me. It's like it's like melodic, it's it's kind of bittersweet a little bit, but also like there's nice pop arrangements with the guitars, and I I don't know. I really this is another one that I don't think um I don't think you can find it on any of the newer digital downloads of it, right? It I don't think it's on Christmas Time Again or Christmas Time Again.
SPEAKER_02No, I don't I I know that uh Chris Damey reworked it and it has been on uh was on his um album Fireworks in the 90s. It was probably I think it was on something else recently. I don't know if that's why it hasn't been on the the other Christmas releases. I was kind of surprised. Was kind of surprised that that for whatever reason got taken off and didn't show up on the other ones.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, same. Because it's a good song, it really is. I do like Christmas time better, personally. I I think that one just it starts the album off nice, and then this is is a good segue because after this we get the fun one, you know, the only law that Santa Claus understood. And I love this version of Santa as like this gambling, like gunslinger. I mean, it's just it's it's that's fun. That's like a Texas Santa right there. Wild West Santa. Oh that's great.
SPEAKER_01It's a top and west of the street, an old apple beat. It's got black on the street.
SPEAKER_04So this is like it it's in the line of oh gosh, how would I put this? It's it's kind of like ghost riders in the sky a little bit, right? It's got that that kind of driving the gallopy kind of rhythm. And then it's got like this spoken word almost. It's it's not quite spoken word, but it's it's like like a sprechtim almost, you know, where they they kind of sing, sing like a song speech as he's telling the tale of Santa Claus, and oh man, it's it's out there, but the more I listen to it, the more I kind of like it, I gotta say.
SPEAKER_02It's just Johnny Cash could have done that.
SPEAKER_04He could have. Oh, that would have been great if he had put that on his album. Yeah, yeah. So apparently, I think this was if I read correctly, they had gone out. I guess was it Ted Lyons? I think was his name, or I don't remember, but Tim Lyons, I I don't remember what his name. But anyway, he they were all gonna leave for the night. He's like, Oh, I kind of have something. And so then when they came back the next day, he had the whole thing done, like ready for you know, just to be put on the album. He stayed all night and worked on this thing. And this it's it's got the nice like instrumentation, but it's just that driving, that driving rhythm, that galloping sense that just kind of gives it that extra special western feel.
SPEAKER_02You know, I I don't mean to keep like dumping on this song because it's it's it's it's funny and fun, but can you imagine the next morning when everybody came in the studio and Ted goes, check out what I made.
SPEAKER_04And everybody's looking at each other like, Do you do you want to tell them? Well, you tell him, yeah, it's great, man. But they included it because they thought it was so quirky and different, and and it makes sense. I mean, that's that really is like what alt rock is about, right? I mean, that's like the whole driving force is is something different, and it's it's not mainstream, it has its own character. This one's definitely unique, I will say that.
SPEAKER_02And it's it's been on every single one of these compilations.
SPEAKER_04Yep. It just doesn't go away.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna say something something about it appeals to uh Chris Damey, so yeah, it must, right?
SPEAKER_04Because he's like, let's put it back in, let's put it back in.
SPEAKER_02You know, Randy over at uh Hip Christmas had likened this album to the Phil Specter Christmas album. And I don't I don't see that. It's it's a whole bunch of different people doing songs, but that for me is kind of where the similarity ends. I mean, I feel like like that's it. And no offense, Randy. You you know, if you've got more to say on it, I'll be glad to talk with you about it. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I just feel like this is they're they're largely uh originals or original adjacent with Shalala, but right and it is it it's Chris Damy and Friends, and you know, it's not this group or that group. And in fact, if you listen to the latest one streaming, it doesn't tell you what song Marshall Crenshaw is is singing or what song anybody else is that has sort of joined up for this. It's all just Chris Damie, the DB, the DBs, etc. etc. It doesn't it doesn't do that, and it's just but it is just kind of like a Christmas party, and I don't feel like the Phil Spectre one was.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I think the Phil Spectre one, the orchestrations in general were tighter and more consistent throughout the entire album, right? Whereas this one, there are big differences between song to song. This one almost feels more like a compilation album rather than like an album from like one group or or one producer. And I think that's the difference. At least to me. Like I can hear the connective tissue between songs, but also it's you really have to like pay attention because if you don't, what I mean, seriously, you hear Shalala and then you hear the only law that Santa Claus understood, and it's like these two don't belong on the same album. But there's like little things like in the guitars that it's like, well, maybe they do belong on the same album.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, I I think they've got most of the songs have something of a similar vibe to them, just not quite the same cohesive sound that the Phil Spectre album has.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you could see these guys hanging out in the studio going, hey, let's try this and playing something. Or, you know, I've got half of the song, what do you guys think? And them figuring it all out, and you know that didn't happen with Phil Spectors, it was all every note was right. I'm sure it was actually arranged before. Right.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I'm not trying to say that this one is is sloppy or anything like that. It's a completely different style.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. No, no, I mean I I agree. The musicianship is actually on point. Like they're they're very good musicians, but it does feel like this was just more experimentation and just like, hey, let's just have fun. Why don't you why don't you record this? Let's see what happens. And then once they got it, they're like, all right, let's let's knock that track down. I like that, let's try that. You know, where for sure the Bill Specter and was very much, you know, on point the whole time. It was like, we're doing it this way, and that's how it's gonna be. Right. Now, the funny thing is after this, after this, this like you know, Western style gunslinging Santa, outlaw Santa or whatever you want to call him, we get Shalala, sung by Kathy Harrington. And it does feel this one has a 60s vibe, I think the most out of all of them to me. A lot of it is because of the drums, you know, that doom pa doom pa, you know, almost like that that thing you do from you know the movie. You know, it's got that that very similar drum style. I do like it. I like the harmonies on Sha La La. It is funny that, and I guess to reinforce the sixthiness, they changed Fa La La La to Sha La La. And, you know, that's that to me is very like doo-whoppy, Motown, just the Shah for some reason just changes the whole vibe of it. And maybe that inspired her to write it or to arrange it in this particular way. Of course, they also change a few lyrics here and there, but so it's not like the exact deck to hall song. The melody is a little bit different as well. It's just it's a cool little thing, and really to me, this is the most uh one of the most infectious songs. Like this is the one that gets stuck in my head, the Shalala part. I man, if I hear it, it's stuck in my head for like a week afterwards. Just just that Shalala.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, that's one of my favorite tracks on this on this. I too. I love it.
SPEAKER_04I do love it. Yeah. Yeah. And I think she sings it really well, also. All right, so after that, we kind of okay, we get to Snow is Falling. This is one that again is really it's very different because you have this nice upbeat, like we're talking about, fun, poppy, you can bounce to it, you know, it's real danceable kind of song. And then we get to Snow is falling, which is like atmospheric. There's like that bass ostinato that plays through the entire thing. Her lead vocal kind of doubling the guitar towards the end, and really she's just singing, Snow is falling. You know, it's real dreamy, like like quiet and meditative, but but driving because of that same bass ostinato, so it's real repetitive. This is another one that to me is just in stark contrast to what we heard before. And so it's it's fun, it's a nice track, and it's cool because of the way that it flows, but also it's just like, whoa, it's very jarring. Like, what happened to this? You know, we were we were just having fun, and now it's it's it's real spooky and meditative.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, and I really like this one. I mean, it it's one of those that you know there listening to all the albums over the last few nights, there weren't too many that I skipped over, but this is one I definitely listened to all the way through every time it came on.
SPEAKER_04So no, I agree, and there's something about it, right? It's hypnotic almost because of that that bass, you know. And an ostinato, if you don't listeners, if you don't know, is just a repeating pattern. So a riff can be an ostinato, but typically it's just a little short motif that's repeated over and over again. And and so in this case, it's the bass line just doing the same thing throughout the entire song, and it is very hypnotic, it kind of just lulls you into it, and you're just like, oh, that's interesting. And then the guitar with its like bands and and crescendos and decrescendos as well, it's just it's you know, it's it's really, really dreamy.
SPEAKER_03See, and I guess falling snow kind of lends itself to songs like that. I mean, you've got this, you've got snowfall, you've got snowflake by pebbles and bam bam. Yeah, kind of kind of a similar vibe to them.
SPEAKER_04That's right. Oh man. Uh then we get to you're what I want for Christmas. This is another one that's again so like upbeat, slow, upbeat, right? This one's another like playful, harmony filled with original. Uh, same thing. There's it's uh like these poppy melodies, but like the romantic sentiment. And uh this one has Ted, Kathy, Chris. I mean, the guitar solo is just there. But I like how it starts off with like this synth brass, right? Because you know they didn't they didn't have horns. It's like those Casio horn sounds, just a little bit better, you know, like not quite fair light, but not quite Casio. It's like right in between. And it's just this nice little chromatic thing. But the guitar, what he's playing, it has a very B52 style riff, I thought. Like it had it it sounded very similar to like the Love Shack riff, you know. I thought, and so yeah, I I like this one too. I do.
SPEAKER_02This is another one that I'm glad showed up on all of the versions of this album. And I feel like I keep saying that, and there's really there's only one track on this EP that didn't that is it, right? Because they all kept showing up. But yeah, it's always every version of this album. I I I get to You're What I Want for Christmas, and it's like it then it's like an old friend that I'm oh, I'm so glad this is on there. And it's stuck between songs that I I didn't know before. Well, okay, on on Christmas time again, I think it's after Oh Holy Night. Little familiar with that song, but but You're what I want for Christmas, that it's that it's just stuck in, you know, and uh not expecting it, but there it is, and and it's a fun, it's a fun song. And I'm just I'm just I'm glad it's always always included on those releases, re-releases, whatever we're I don't know what we're calling them, but versions, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. Yeah, I honestly I don't know what to call it because it is a it's a re-release, but not really, right? Because even the the re- reworking? Reworking, yeah, that's a good one. Because even the attribution is different, you know, it's not just Chris Damy group. Now it's like Chris Damy and friends, and then I mean it's so but reworking works for sure. I I will say I do like it's a wonderful life. So this is one that Scott you alluded to is actually from a previous um from a previous album, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and and the curious thing is the previous one um is I mean, despite the title, you wouldn't think that it's a Christmas song because there's no real Christmas motif in the music. At least in this, they you know, he throws in green sleeves halfway through.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_03But um it it's the same melody, same song. It just doesn't have the uh you know the obvious uh Christmas connection that it Does on this album.
SPEAKER_04Right. Except the title. It's a wonderful life. Yeah. And so in this version, it's it's an instrumental, it's mostly acoustic guitar. Uh later on, you'll uh towards the end of the song, they start piling on some of the other instruments. But um it's you know, it's it's finger-picked, there's a lot of harmonics in there, there's a few minor keys, a few um pedal points, and then like suddenly as we get into this disjointed kind of uh dissonant section, he resolves it and starts playing, you know, like I said, green sleeves, also known as What Child Is This? You know, so um it that kind of ties it into the Christmas, and then of course the title, It's a Wonderful Life. So it's it's nice, it's really just soft and reflective, and um I I kind of want to learn how to play it. You know, I just I I've never sat down and just tried to figure it out, but I kind of want to now.
SPEAKER_02Um neither of you may know the answer to this, but I'm curious, because I don't remember, is the version of It's a Wonderful Life that was on this first DP, is it the same on the other one? The other re-releases on his solo stuff.
SPEAKER_04That's a good question. I don't know because typically if it was on one, then I I just kind of assumed it was the same and I I skipped it.
SPEAKER_03I I think it is. Um I didn't notice any real differences listening the last couple nights. Um except, you know, listening to the uh the original recording of it. Um I'm pretty sure it's the same throughout the other through throughout the Christmas time releases.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Well, I so that's like the whole EP, right? 1993 comes around and they released this uh expanded CD, Christmas time. It's now 17 tracks. He brought along a few other of his friends, and I this is the first version I heard, so I I really like this one. But there's songs on here that I really like. Um, Holiday Spirit is one of my favorites, and it's it's dumb, but I love it. You know, it's just I got that holiday spirit. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. And it's just real fast. Yeah, it's it's great because as a kid, that was me. You know, I loved it. I I was all about, hey, it's Christmas time, we're getting presents. So yeah, this this hit a little too close to home, I gotta say. You know what's interesting though? In what was it? Was it an 87 that they had on Just in Time for Christmas? They had a track, Home for the Holidays, or was that on the 1990 version? I don't remember which one, but it wasn't included on any of these albums, were they?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think it's on the uh or is it on the last one? Yeah, it's the it's it's on the the Oh, there it is.
SPEAKER_04I see it one. Yeah, I do I do see it. Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_02I think it was on the next one too.
SPEAKER_04Well, I like that one too. That's a good one, also. Oh man. Jesus Christ, that big star song. Well, the the live you know uh version of it is another one of my favorites. I'd forgotten that they had sung it. And uh when the monkeys did it, um, I remember being like, wow, this is great, fantastic. And then I'd completely forgotten that that they had done this version before and that it was new. So I went back and listened to it, and and it man, it's still great. The intro, you know, it's like this, it just it has this crazy intro, and then they get into it, and it's just it's just a great song. Same thing, kind of has like the the 60s flower child vibe with that guitar uh and the tone that it's got, the real tenory, trebly guitar.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and that I don't know how. Somehow I was familiar with that long before I was familiar with the the Christmas time albums. And I don't know if somebody shared it out like back in the early 2000s or something. It's just a song that I had in my library somehow. I just have no clue when or where I downloaded it, but it was it was one I listened to like semi-regularly before I found out about Christmas time.
SPEAKER_04I gotcha.
SPEAKER_03Now is this that was this particular version? I couldn't tell you because I think I deleted the other download when I finally got this.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_02It has been covered a few times. I think REM actually put it out as one of their fan club Christmas songs. I'm not sure. I I know this showed up on the most recent version of this album with featuring Mike Mills from REM, and I'm not sure if that's the same as their fan club single or not. I should I should have checked that before I I came here. But I I know there have been other there have been a couple other covers, but it's never been it's never been a big song that that everybody everybody covers Last Christmas and All I Want for Christmas is. Oh, big time, yeah. But you rarely hear anybody doing this one.
SPEAKER_04But it's a good song. That's the other thing. It's just it's really catchy, you know, it's great melodies, great harmonies, and that's what so uh again, what's what bugs me about it is that there's just there's really good songs on this album, and like nobody really knows about them. Now, I will say, as a little boy from South Texas, Hispanic boy, they do a disservice in Feliz Navidad. That's the one song that's like, oh, that's hard to hear. I played it for my uh 14-year-old daughter, and she was like, Oh, that was rough.
SPEAKER_02That's the one that they sort of combined with Ohy Night or something like that. Yeah, that's the one. Yeah, yeah, that's that's a choice. And I think this was the only album that appeared on. I don't remember that showing up.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. Well, it might have been on the Christmas time again. But but yeah, so they expanded with the they cover even more traditional songs, right? So we get Oh Holy Night, like we talked about, we get Silver Bells, of course. We talked about Feliz Navidad. So there's more of these like traditional Christmas carols and Christmas songs that they're starting to cover, and more of their friends that weren't involved in the the first one as well. I do like this longer version. There's 17 tracks. I don't remember occasional shivers. That's the one that every time I I look at the title, I can never remember what the song sounds like. But most of these I again I really like and enjoy. I think they're they're all pretty great songs.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, and it and again, I'd have to play it again to remember occasional shivers, but it it actually was the B side to the single release of Christmas time, which was a slightly remixed version than the one on the original album. Oh okay. Not not a big difference, just kind of slight. But I think that also appeared on I'd have to go back and look. I thought it appeared on one of the one of his other albums also. I just saw that. I think you're right, actually.
SPEAKER_02I think you are right. Yeah, I think it's uh uh uh been on a couple of his albums in the last 10 or 15 years.
SPEAKER_04We also get uh the Christmas song by Alex Chilton, so that's pretty good. Well, the next version was what, 2006 with Christmas Time Again. Now it's 20 different tracks, or 21 depending on which edition you're looking at. Instead of Christmas time, it was called Christmas Time Again, no exclamation point. Spoiler. That's right. They include I Saw Three Ships by Don Dixon. I like Marshall Crenshaw's song, also, you know, it's going to be a lonely Christmas. That was a good one. Which, by the way, Marshall Crenshaw, I thought was a good ad. I thought he'd kind of fit the vibe of the you know of this whole album.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Don Dixon, too.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm. Yeah. Let's see. We also get uh Whiskey Town sung a song.
SPEAKER_03I I really like that one. That that's and lit listen to these last few nights. It's the first time I've listened to all of these songs together for the first time in several years. And I had somehow completely forgotten about Houses on the Hill. And that that's when I really from from the last two iterations of the album. I really enjoy that one.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, it's a good one. And finally, in 2015, we got Christmas Time Again exclamation point, or Christmas Time Again, however you want to say it. And this was an omnivore recordings issue, and it was remastered with again more bonus material. It was, I think, supposed to be improved sound quality, and I think you can hear it a little, a little bit. And we get some more, some more of their friends, like Skylar, I don't even know how you pronounce that. Goudas, gudash, I don't know. But Yola Tengo has some songs, birds and arrows. I don't know anything about birds and arrows. Like, there's some people on here that I've never heard of before, but I I kind of still enjoy their music, so I can't complain. Is there any that stood out to you from this version here?
SPEAKER_02Well, for me, obviously, the Sounds of Christmas, Skylar's song in there.
SPEAKER_04Right, right.
SPEAKER_02I can't help it. I I when this came out, the Sounds of Christmas Station had been on for nine or ten seasons. So this was a real treat that there was there are a handful of of songs that have been recorded over the years that use that as a title. It's kind of an obvious one, but that that a new one came out, you know. I couldn't help it. I was like, all right, yeah, here's another version of the sounds of Christmas.
SPEAKER_04That is pretty cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03See, and the the one that really stands out to me on this one is The Day Before Boxing Day by Robin Hitchcock, just because it is so weird.
SPEAKER_04It's a great title, too, right? Uh-huh. Because uh, you know, in talking with some of our my British guests or or or British listeners, Boxing Day in a way is almost more important than Christmas Day because they typically have it off. Like all the stress of like hosting Christmas is is gone. They're just kind of enjoying the time off and you know, eating the the the tasty treats and watching stuff on TV and just just relaxing. So, in a way, the day before Boxing Day actually is kind of a an apt name. I I really it's great, yeah. I don't really think for me, I don't really recall one that uh stood out to me on this. I mean they they were all great, it just it I don't remember one that really kind of you know was like, oh, I love that one.
SPEAKER_02I don't know, so many I you know I I think about this latest version of this album, and there's so many tracks that I have loved from previous versions. It's hard to you know look at the new ones. I think they did they covered the the Harry Nielsen song, Remember Christmas? Oh yeah, they did. And that one it's not really a Christmas song. You know, I don't want to I mean if it's a Christmas song to you, that's fine. I don't want to, you know, it's it's it's the whole die hard thing again. But right, right. But I just yeah, I just didn't get it as the song that closes out the album. And no offense, I like the song. I love Harry Nielsen. I think they did a fine job covering this. I just I just didn't quite get it as the close of this album.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and that that's part of why I'm surprised that you know I I'd mentioned his earlier albums previously. Uh he's got a song Winter of Love, which it's not a Christmas song, but it it would fit in just as well as a lot of what shows up on these albums. So I'm really surprised that it hasn't that he hasn't included it at some point. Which then again, maybe this year or next year.
SPEAKER_04That's true. You're coming up. Chris, if you're listening, Kathy, come on, get this thing done. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Christmas time again with two exclamation points.
SPEAKER_04Christmas time again, again.
SPEAKER_03Well, see, but but the way the uh you know, the way the record industry is now, uh well, or music industry, if he comes out with one this year, you know there's gonna be the deluxe version the next year, and then the really deluxe version two years after that.
SPEAKER_04Right, the extended edition and then the deluxe, right?
SPEAKER_02Well, and the kind of the target these that's kind of I guess that's what it is, right? Right. That's true. Yeah, it's kind of what these are. Except that there's not, as far as I know, an exclusive version at Target that has an extra song that you can only get from Target. It's like a farm next year.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's like a pharmaceutical company where you just you tweak the formula just a tiny bit so you can patent it again. You know, yeah.
SPEAKER_02An Amazon exclusive track or something.
SPEAKER_04Right. Oh man.
SPEAKER_03See, and I I never buy those exclusives, but if he comes out with a new one and he does that, just because I've got all the others, I would have to get them.
SPEAKER_04I probably would too, honestly.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So I do gotta say, if you could actually perform one of these songs, like if you were a member of the band and and or you know, his group of friends and had to do one of these, which one would you do?
SPEAKER_02Because of my lack of singing ability. But you're a drummer, so you know you can Oh, if I well, if I didn't have to sing it Christmas time or holiday spirit, if I had to sing it, the only law that Santa Claus understood. That's right.
SPEAKER_03See, it it that it's a tough choice for me. I'd I'd go with either Christmas time or Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_04Jesus Christ would be my pick, probably, but I feel like I'd have to redo Feliz Navidad. I you know, I feel like like my mom would get mad at me if I didn't do that one or something. Oh man, what would you guys say is your hap, hap, happiest like memory or moment with these albums?
SPEAKER_03I honestly when uh when you had to cancel last week because I hadn't gotten the the single in the mail yet, and I was hoping to have I was hoping to have you know every single physical release by the time we recorded this. And and it arrived the very next day. Oh and then and then I found out about the the the UK single. So 12 inch, yeah. But at least now I've you know that the songs on that may not be entirely Christmas, but you know, I I have everything now. I've got the single, I've got the albums, got the the older albums, so I'm pretty darn happy.
SPEAKER_04You're set, yeah. Completed the infinity gauntlet. You're uh I think I've I've got a few.
SPEAKER_02When the record came out in the in the middle of the 80s, there just weren't a lot of Christmas albums that came out every year. So it really was something special. There's a lot I'm not sorry that there's a lot of Christmas music today, not by any stretch of the imagination, but there's tons of it that comes out now. Right. But but 19 in in the mid-80s, that just wasn't the case. You could probably count on maybe on both your hands, sometimes on just one hand, the number of Christmas albums that came out. And that may seem unbelievable to somebody today, but back then, I mean, uh Christmas time was a significant release because it was because there just wasn't a lot of Christmas albums. And then to me, it was also kind of a local thing. So I felt like I'm you know supporting the home team. So so there's that, and then kind of selfishly, and I hope this doesn't make me sound like a jerk, but when the when the 2006 version came out, I was on MySpace and I was getting ready to launch the Sounds of Christmas the next year, and I connected with Don Dixon, and he sent me I saw three ships and his version of the Christmas song. And that was just that was just so cool to me. That is cool that I I knew him from he was in a band called Arrogance, and I knew him from his solo stuff, and he has worked with so many different singers and bands, and it was so cool that there was this thing called MySpace that I would be able to connect with Don Dixon and not just you know connect that okay, I'll accept your friend request and you accept mine and whatever, but that he actually took the time to send me these songs, the MP3s, you know, through email. It was that was just really cool. So that it that's just one of my favorite tracks on on the Christmas Time Again and the Christmas Time Again exclamation point, just because he had sent that to me. So it's it's something it's something special. And I know that not a lot of people get that opportunity to connect with the artist, whether it's somebody that is hugely well known, like Taylor Swift, or somebody that you just happen to be a fan of and happen to like what they do. That was just really cool. So that's just a a a great memory for me. And that song is because of all of that, a highlight for me.
SPEAKER_04That's cool. I mean, that's super cool. Yeah, for me, I think it would be two years ago, maybe when my youngest was five. Yeah, I think it was, I think it was when she was five. But we were in the car and she was singing Deck the Halls, and I said, Oh, I got a song for you. So I put on Shalala, and you know, they they sing it a few times, and then she started singing along with it. And I'll never forget, you know, the cute little munchkin voice, you know, still a little out of tune, but but super sweet, just singing along to Shalala. Just it was great. As we were driving in the car trying to take her to school, and my oldest was just rolling her eyes, and I mean, is you know how they are, it was good times.
SPEAKER_02I love it when an artist takes a well-known Christmas song and kind of makes it their own, tweaks it here and there. I know there are a lot of people who don't like that who want the same thing, but it's kind of like the Commodores after Lionel Ritchie had left, did a Christmas album around 1990, maybe a year or two later, and they did a version of Deck the Halls where the the where it's just the syncopation is much different. And and I just think, oh, that's that's so cool that you've taken the song that I've heard a thousand times before, at least, and it's always the same. And here's something that's different. And I felt the same way about Shalala. I guess I probably felt that way first because that came out a few years before that. But I just thought that that was so great that they took the song and kind of made it their own thing.
SPEAKER_04No, I like that too. So, you know, I'm huge into jazz, and in jazz there's lots of improv. So especially in like the 40s, the 30s, 40s, 50s, you get a lot of like that Krooner style and and Bing Crosby, where you know, it's kind of influenced by some of that jazz technique. So when I heard Bing Crosby's version of Jingle Bells with the uh Andrew sisters for the first time, I remember just loving it because you know it's it's different from like the way we would just sing jingle bells at school or You know, just very jingle bells, you know, really just choppy. And he swings, he lays back. It's and that's kind of how I felt. Same with this version of Shahlala. It's just it's different. And my wife is one of those people you're talking about that know she wants it the right way. It's got to be exactly, but not me. I'm like you. I I like the the spin on it. Now, you know, normally we do a segment called Gag Me with the Spoon here. There's nothing really for us to impersonate. So we're gonna do a little home alone inspired segment. I call A, 2, and D. And this is where we list our top three favorite songs from any of these releases. So they don't have to be from the original, they can be from any of the albums here. So whoever wants to go first, let's hear your top three songs.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I'll I'll go. I have five, but I'll that works too. Okay, I was gonna throw out two of them because I've talked about them a bunch, but okay. Christmas time is the top one, and Shalala. Nice. That's one and two. Home for the holidays.
SPEAKER_04That's so good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Don Dixon's I saw three ships. And I'm not gonna apologize. The sounds of Christmas.
SPEAKER_04You shouldn't have to apologize, though. Yeah, that's good. I like that. So several of those might be in my top as well.
SPEAKER_03See and uh I I've gotta go with Christmas time as is my favorite. Yeah. Second would be Jesus Christ, just because I I've liked that song for so long.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And the third one, yeah, I'm gonna go with I'm always touched by your presence, dear, just because it took me so long to get a copy of that. And it wasn't until I bought the the 1993 CD that I was able to actually hear it. Um I did at one point I found it might have been like a clip on MySpace of her doing a live performance of it, but it was only like 30 seconds of the song, and it was definitely not from the album. So it that that it you know, that one's got like a special place for me. So honcle that's my uh my third favorite.
SPEAKER_02Have you ever heard Blondie's version of that? Yes. Okay, it's almost a different song. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's it's like we're saying, you know, you just you put your own spin on it. Those are all very good. So mine are I mean, I I think we're just gonna be repeating ourselves. My top one is uh Shalala, followed by Christmas time, so very similar, and then Jesus Christ is number three. But if I had to go number four, it would probably be holiday spirit. It's just something about it. Every time I hear it, it makes me laugh, and it's just so great. But you know, G.I. Joe taught us that knowing is half the battle. What do you guys think the other half is?
SPEAKER_03Always return to a good thing.
SPEAKER_04Nice.
SPEAKER_02Oh, the other half is obviously the only law that Santa Claus has to say.
SPEAKER_04Oh, those are both better than mine. Yeah, so I just thought if no one's half the battle, the other half was just re-releases. So, or I guess reworkings is what we decided. Guys, it's been a lot of fun. Tell me about your shows. Anything you want to plug? Why don't we start with you, Ken?
SPEAKER_02I'm right now on the Sounds of Christmas station. I am wrapping up the second half of our A to Z event for Christmas in July. We started July playing almost every song in our library in alphabetical order by title, and then once that finished, we've been going through by artist. And this year it will take almost the entire month of July. So I I don't know what's gonna happen next year, but but we'll see. And this year is gonna be the 20th season for the Sounds of Christmas. I've already been contacted by some artists who I contacted first. Right, right. About coming coming back to to support us in this season. And and yeah, so that's really neat. This is gonna be fun. And I've got some special shows coming up, but time is like we were talking about earlier, suddenly it's gonna be in the middle of December. So I'm gonna try and get them out. And but time stands still at Christmas. Yes, but by then it's too late.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's true. Good point. Sorry, sorry to interrupt. I I couldn't resist.
SPEAKER_02No, that's okay. The the podcast has been, you know, it's it's kind of the off-season, so I haven't had as many episodes as as I certainly do in November and December. So that will start picking up again soon. And oh, and if you like Halloween music on October 1st, we switch it to the sounds of Halloween, and it's all Halloween music. So good stuff. And that'll be here before you know it, too.
SPEAKER_04Definitely. Scott.
SPEAKER_03My long-running hiatus is trudging on. I thought I was gonna have some free time when summer started to hopefully get something out in July, and that has not happened. I literally have not had a single downtime or a single day of downtime the entire summer. So I'm hoping that when school starts back up, I might have some free time and hopefully I can get something going, if not before, then by December.
SPEAKER_04So well, I still gotta get you on to talk about that Hote song, or not Hote Bowie, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it it's a it it's been nuts, but I I I I got a message from someone the other day asking me about my podcast, and I was like, uh, I've gotta I I've gotta get something done. So we'll see.
SPEAKER_04I understand. I definitely understand. Life life keeps lifing. But either way, go check out the back catalog. There's some fun episodes there, and you'll hear some music you've never heard anywhere else. And definitely check out Sounds of Christmas because I love the variety. That's the best part about the whole thing. It's just it's it's great. You'll hear some amazing things as well that that you've never heard, or things that you might not have heard in a long time. So you gotta check those out for sure. Guys, this was this was fun. Thanks again. This this was a blast.
SPEAKER_03Hey, thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks. The this is always a you know the highlight of my week for me.
SPEAKER_04So well, well, I don't know about all that, but thank you. I do appreciate it. And on that note, I'll end it with let's get together for a Christmas Carol. Sha la la la la la. Check us out on our social media pages, which you can find at linktree.com slash totally radchmas. And if you're feeling like Santa Claus, understanding the law of a pointed gun, leave us a review on iTunes. It helps us reach more people and spread some rad holiday cheer. Now don't forget to check out our merch shop on tevpublic.com and our super dope website, totally radchmas.com. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme.
SPEAKER_00Later dudes not the same.
