Dave Bow

How Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band’s “Christmas at K-Mart” became a hit record I do not know. But it did and it is so incredibly awesome. In fact, “Christmas at K-Mart” was so strong it landed the band a cushy record deal and allowed them to put out songs like “Boogie ’til […]

Is there any Christmas song as sweet and salty as “Fairytale in New York” by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl? When I briefly lived in Ireland I was delighted to find that “Fairytale” was treated with the kind of reverence usually reserved for hymns. It’s classic status and memorability are undoubtedly thanks to the song’s […]

I normally blog about Glee on Wednesdays but it’s on hiatus until next year (yay! boo!). To quench our collective thirsts for passionate musical moments here’s two BONUS Christmas Music Countdown songs. I think it makes a nice companion piece to Dominick the Donkey and I think this girl makes some compelling arguments. Oklahoma songwriter […]

Here’s a classic Christmas novelty song designed to please no one (and offend a few). It’s “Dominick the Donkey” (the Italian Christmas donkey). Eee-anhh eee-anh!

Here’s another Christmas song close to my heart by Harvey Danger. HD put out one pretty great album, one pretty good album, a good EP and a classic record that nobody heard. Do yourself (or me) a holiday favor and listen to 2000’s King James Version; it’s awesome. Here is a laughably literal video for […]

We’re back into the week with more Christmas songs! Here’s an out and out classic: Slade’s “Merry X-Mas Everybody”. The pure joy of this song couldn’t be more holiday appropriate if Noddy Holder’s monumental sideburns were made of pure tinsel. I take back the jibes about Britain I made last week.

This song by Sonny James is based around the hilarious image of Santa Claus flying around without shoes. There is honestly nothing else to it. I’m not even clear why Santa doesn’t have his boots anymore. Regardless, here’s “Barefoot Santa Claus”. It is guaranteed to make you smile briefly and then go about the rest […]

I truly believe that the Ying Yang Twins will be the Nat King Cole of the future. OK, maybe not but I will wager that this is the only Christmas record with a shoutout to Obama. It’s “The Ying & The Yang of the Holidays!” “It’s lovely weather so I wanna hit the club wit […]

Happy Friday! Here’s a Christmas single that hit number one in the UK, a place where that kind of thing can happen. It is called “There’s No One Quite Like Grandma” and it is as sweet as a treacle tart. It’s sad to look into the faces of St. Winifred’s School Choir today knowing how […]

Today’s Christmas song is from one of my favorite holiday albums by one of my favorite bands. Of course Low has to be kinda a bummer even when they’re singing about the Lord’s day (and they’re Mormon – they should be stoked!) but “Just Like Christmas” is a sweet kind of bummer. Apparently Christmas to […]