Twas the night before Advent

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I had a marvellous plan for tomorrow which was to interrupt the steady procession of Now polls with the a poll based on NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL CHRISTMAS, seeing as Wobs officially begins TOMORROW and we can start talking about Christmas songs. But it turns out that there isn't really a proper Now Wobs comp - there's a puny single-disc one for 2005 and there's an American version full of BURL IVES. I looked further afield, into the worlds of Best...Evers and I [heart] Xmo and suchlike, but gradually I realised the truth:

There is no such thing as a proper Xmas compilation.

They all miss off something essential, they all include dreary filler, they all leave you with that exact same feeling of deflation that you get when you open the DVD-shaped wrapper and find the one you already bought in the November sales.

In which case, since a perfect Christmas compilation is impossible, why don't we at Poptimists make our own? It will only be as wrong as anyone else's.

I don't think that the ideal Wobs CD would all be good, mind you. I think it should, like the season itself, bring you a mix of comforting rituals, pleasant surprises, boozy enjoyment and embarassing horrors. So I'm not going to ask you just to name a good Wobs track to go on our CD - you have to name a bad one too. We'll use all the good ones and make up space with a sprinkling of the bad.

(Tracklisting and title to appear later, and who knows, if we can think of a time for a Poptimists Christmas Drink we might even MAKE these compilations.)

[Poll #623245]

[Poll #623246]

Also, if you can think of a great (read: risibly pun-driven) NAME for the Poptimists Xmas Compilation then tell the world in the comments boXoR.

Comments

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

oh man it's so hard to choose one, i've kind of chosen 3 in my comments ;)

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

also the ORIGINAL now xmo, from c. 84 (it had bandaid on AND last xmo i think) WAS all killer, no filler, even though it was a single cassette, i think they've altered it over the years though...

[steviespitfire.livejournal.com]

'Tis the season to be JOURNALLY
Miseltoe and WHINE

(Do you see?)

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

also can i veto "christmas card from an h00ker in minneapolis" now pls!

i HEART xmo songs so much...

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

I will look into some suggestions for this - I have made not one but TWO C90 Xmas comps for pals over the years, but I'll obviously need things on MP3/CD to contribute to this. That still leaves plenty of options. We must have James Brown on there, as the maker of the best single-artist Xmas album ever, please! Also a Spector one. Obviously Slade and Wizzard are mandatory.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Tell you what, Best Xmas Album In The World Evah isn't bad, has ol Bing & Jackson Cinque as well as weird choral versions of We 3x Kings etc. However it features k-bizarrely Power Of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Wha?

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

have you never seen the video?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Nosire.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

it features TEH BABY JEEBUS IN AN MANGIER quite heavily...

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Power of Love isn't a Christmas song* whereas Stay Another Day may be (Christmas noises). Though as Steve says PoL is first name on the teamsheet when the Christmas DVD is being worked out.

*it's a wedding song hurrah.

Re: cant be arsed formatting, tracklisting from werk database

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I think I just broke LJ. Sorry. Will sort it aht.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

HAPPY CHRISTMAS WAR IS OVER - LENNONO
WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME - PAUL MC
I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY - WOOD ROY
MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY -LEA/HOLDER
DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? - URE/GELDOF CHAPPE
FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK - MAC-GOWAN
I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS - LAKE/SINFIELD/PROKOFIEV
TWO THOUSAND MILES - HYNDE
A SPACEMAN CAME TRAVELLING - DE BURGH
POWER OF LOVE - HOLLY/O/NASH/GILL
DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS - REA
STEP INTO CHRISTMAS - JOHN/TAUPIN
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE - HEATLIE
ANOTHER ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS -LEANDER/SEAGO/GLITTER
LITTLE SAINT NICK -WILSON/LOVE
SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN -COOTS/GILLESPIE
IN DULCI JUBILO -BACH/OLDFIELD
STOP THE CAVALRY -LEWIE
CHRISTMAS WRAPPING-BUTLER WAITRESSES
RING OUT, SOLSTICE BELLS -ANDERSON
Medley
PEACE ON EARTH/ THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY - BOWTIE
WHITE CHRISTMAS
THE CHRISTMAS SONG - CHESTNUTS ON OPEN FIRE
LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!
MARY'S BOY CHILD
WHEN A CHILD IS BORN
MISTLETOE AND WINE
WALKING IN THE AIR
I BELIEVE
WINTER WONDERLAND
LONELY PUP IN A CHRISTMAS SHOP
ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE - MAY WELL BE MEL AND KIM VERSION BUT NOT THE PROPER MEL AND KIM
LAST CHRISTMAS
Medley
HAPPY HOLIDAY/THE HOLIDAY SEASON
SANTA BABY
LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS
PRETTY PAPER
SILVER BELLS
GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN
WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS
TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
GAUDETE
IN THE BLEAK MID-WINTER
WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR'S EVE?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

aRGH! sTILL bROKE!

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

I looked in my database for tracks flagged as Xmas songs last night. There were over 300 of them. I shall get back to this when I get home, to select some winners. The Skidmore jury will definitely be awarding 12 points to Joseph Spence's version of 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town', or rather "zandy glaw is gumming, urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh".

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I need a YSI of this Martin, you have told me about it many times.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Some of these are great but some of these are the usual old try-hard grunters viz Stepping Into Wobs.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

in the bleak mid-wheatus

yes i am still honin&pimpin this gag

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

tark the herald angels sing

[steviespitfire.livejournal.com]

now that's wobs i call music

[zenith.livejournal.com]

Wobs?

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

bizarre predictive text offering for Xmas that has caught on. It isn't a real word, as far as I can discover.

LAKE SINFIELD PROKOFIEV

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

by what mentalist metric is this the correct order of credits?

(clue: g.lake is possibly my fave-to-hate popstar OF ALL TIME)

best xmas album ever NEW EDITION

[spittake.livejournal.com]

i have a slightly different version

happy xmas(war is over) john and yoko
wonderful christmastime - paul mccartney
i wish it could be christmas everday - wizzard
merry christmas everybody - slade
do they know it's christmas - band aid
i believe in father christmas - greg lake
a spaceman came travelling - chris de burgh
the power of love - frankie goes to hollywood
angels - robbie williams
baby, it's cold outside tom jones with cerys from catatonia
saviour's day - cliff richard
step into christmas - elton john
sleigh ride - spice girls
little saint nick - beach boys
santa claus is coming to town - jackson 5
in dulci jubilo - mike oldfield
stop the cavalry - jona lewie
christmas wrapping - waitresses
ring out, solstice bells - jethro tull
the millennium prayer - cliff richard
white christmas - bing crosby
the christmas song - nat king cole
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - dean martin
mary's boy child - matt monro
mistletoe and wine - cliff richard
walking in the air - aled jones
winter wonderland - peggy lee
lonely pup (in a chrsitmas shop) - adam faith
rockin' around christmas tree - mel & kim
last christmas - state of the heart
little town - cliff richard
frosty the snowman - nat king cole
rudolph the red nosed reindeer - dean martin
lonely this christmas - mud
god rest ye merry gentlemen - ella fitzgerald
deck the halls - treorchy, morriston orpheus & pontarddulais male choirs with the band of the welsh guards
have yourself a merry little christmas - jane mcdonald
we wish you a merry christmas - the weavers
the twelve days of christmas - the spinners

[spittake.livejournal.com]

Now that I think about it, I think I like 'Christmas Wrapping' best because it means a really nice guy gets royalty checks every year. (He offered me some of his fried rice once!)