Sunday, April 6, 2025 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell
Email me! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Money by Jerry Lee Lewis
Graveyard by Dead Moon
Blue Trash Mattress Fire by Sleigh Bells
Psychic Pigs by Psychic Pigs
Shitlist by L7
Another Reincarnation by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Good Luck with Your Secret by La Luz
Shark Bait by Oh! Gunquit
War Economy by The Mekons
Blood by Babes in Toyland
Song Of The Silver Surfer by Powell St. John & The Aliens
Sunday, February , 2025 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell
Email me! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Freeborn Man by The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
Friend to Friend in Endtime by Lungfish
Trip to Your Heart by Sly & The Family Stone
Underdog by The Dirtbombs
Put Down Your Weapons by Juanita & Juan
Sharkskin Suit by Wayne Kramer
Salt Peanuts by The Jack & Jim Show
Mother Tiger by Goblin Shark
Worried Man Blues by Dead Wolf
Even When I Want To by Eric Hisaw Band
Bam Balam by Flamin' Groovies
He Looks Like a Psycho by The Electric Mess
Baby's First Knife by Ghost Wolves
Out of Place by Jon Spencer
A Certain Girl by Ernie K-Doe
This Bad Girl by The Golden Cups
Don't Talk About Him by The A-Bones
I'm a No Count by Ty Wagner
Guns are for Cowards by Bonnie Prince Billy
Stop Doing That by The Courettes
U Should Not Be Doing That by Amyl & The Sniffers
You're Not From Around Here by Lambrini Girls
March On for Pax Ramona by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Sunday, December 22, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell
Email me! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Must Be Santa by Brave Combo
Peggy Sue by Lou Reed
The 4-Winds Bar by The Gregg Turner Group
Six Bullets for Christmas by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
Winding Up the Time by X
Hooray for Santa Claus by The Fleshtones
Abominable Snowman in the Market by Jonathan Richman
Even Squeaky Fromme Loves Christmas by Rev. Glen Armstrong
Pee Wee RIP by Ghost Wolves
Pee Wee Where Have You Gone? by Ukulele Man
Little Drummer Boy by Joan Jett
Eggnog by The Rockin' Guys
Sylvia Plath by The Frontier Circus
Ain't It Fun by Rocket from the Tombs
Drinking Up Christmas by Dwarves
Tamale Christmas by Joe "King" Carrasco
Carburetor for Christmas by Dave Del Monte & The Cross Country Boys
A Christmas Duel by The Hives & Cyndi Lauper
Going Somewhere by Amyl & The Sniffers
Back Door Santa by Clarence Carter
Shake Hands With Santa Claus by Louis Prima
Aloha from Hell by The 69 Eyes
The Woo Woo Train by The Valentines
Santa Claus Has Got the AIDS This Year by Tiny Tim
Saint Nick's Farm by The Gay Sportscasters
Baby It's Cold Outside by Ray Charles & Betty Carter
Sunday, November 3, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell
Email me! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Sunday, August 25, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell
Email me! terrell(at)ksfr.org
With special guests Chuck McCutcheon, Liisa Ecola and Scott Gullett
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Rockin' in the Free World by Neil Young
Let's Go Crazy by Prince
Little Red Riding Hood by The Big Bopper
Call the Police by The Oblivians
Sticks and Stones by Ekko Astral
Makes No Sense at All by Husker Du
Jimmy Brown 2024 by Jim Terr
Bring The Noise by The Unholy Trio
Sounds of Silence by The Dickies
Take Me Home Country Roads by Jason & The Scorchers
Singapur by Kazik
Gin and Juice by The Gourds
Goldfinger by Peter Stampfel
Too Drunk to Fuck by Elizabeth Cook
Stairway to Heaven by Tiny Tim & Brave Combo
I'm Over 25 (But You Can Trust Me) by Sammy Davis Jr.
Andy Warhol's Dead by Transvision Vamp
Timothy by The Buoys
Long Green by The Fireballs
Big Black X by X
Appreciate'cha by Nick Shoulders
Far Away Across the Sea by Sierra Ferrell
You'll Lose A Good Thing by Rockin' Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters
Dwight Yoakam by Sarah Shook
Tough Mother by Shemekia Copeland
Do the Wrong Thing by Trish Toledo
Night Shift by The Commodores
Gonna Get Along Without You Now by Skeeter Davis
Hell Yeah by Neil Diamond
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Sunday, July 21, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell Email me! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist:
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Sunday, March 5, 2023 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Devil Get Away From Me by T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole
Get Up by De Los Muertos
Nobody But Me by The Dickies
Shoot The Freak by LoveStruck
Night Of The Sadist by Larry & The Blue Notes
Bad Luck Man by Delaney Davidson
Shake A Tail Feather by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
My World Is Upside Down by The Shames
Hootie Sapperticker by Barbara & the Boys
Hey! Sister Lucy (What Makes Your Lips So Juicy?) by The Treniers
Brimful Of Asha by Cornershop
Try It by The Standells
One Piece Topless Bathing Suit by Jan & Dean
Topless A Go Go by The Rockets Combo
The Perfect Me by Deerhoof
Civilization by Uncle Toasty
Cone Of Lightby The Almighty Defenders
Get Me Outta the Country The Electric Mess
Norman by Sue Thompson
Tell Me What's Inside Your Heart by Ty Segall Band
Oo-Ma-Liddi by J.J. Jackson & The Jackals
Evil Eye by The Low Spirits
Head Held High by Frontier Dan & the Hickoids
Goin' Home by Churchwood
Frenzy by Iggy Pop
Monkey Man by Baby Huey & The Babysitters
Jug Town by Neil Hamburger
Murder In My Heart For The Judge by Moby Grape
Crazy West Virginia Mutant Water Woman Blues by The Slow Poisoner
Clementine by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
We Were Wrong by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Wings Of Dawn by Monsoon
The Kindness Of Strangers by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I Believe In Tomorrow by Tiny Tim & Brave Combo
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Sunday, December 11, 2022 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Clear Night for Love by Roky Erickson
Strobe Light by The B52s
Johnny Gillette by Simon Stokes
Who Do You Think You're Fooling by Captain Beefheart
Rock Therapy by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n' Roll Trio
Sunday, November 6, 2022 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Big Zombie by The Mekons
Brand New Cadillac by Vince Taylor
Lily of the West by Heathen Apostles
Baby You Crazy by Nick Curran & The Lowlifes
Oh No, She Didn't Say by The Cyclones
Madness by Bogos
Man in Black by Chuck D with Bob Log III
Old MacDonald Had a Boogaloo Farm by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs
Git Back in the Truck by Hickoids
Pie in The Sky by The Jackets
Insatisfaccion by Doctor Explosion
There Goes My Babe by Miriam
The Voice by Fred Parris & The Scarlets
Foolin' No One by Churchwood
On the Old Front Porch by Tiny Tim
Take Only What You Can Carry by Gogol Bordello
Whack It by Oh! Gunquit
Heart of Darkness by Ghost Wolves
Mighty Mighty Love by Lee Fields
Hey You by Simon Stokes
Left Hand Shake (SSS Remix) by Old Time Relijun
Way Down by Elvis Presley
Baby Please Don't Go by Paul Revere & The Raiders
You Can't Delete Nightmares by Degurutieni
Underground by Kazik Staszewski
Glass Jaw by James Leg
Last Night by Honshu Wolves
Voodoo Blues by Hoyt Axton
Patrick's Song by Michael Eck
Needless to Say by Loudon Wainwright III
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Sunday, December 19, 2021 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Santa Claus by The Sonics
She Said Yeah by Larry Williams
Long Way Down by The Ar-Kaics
Once Upon a Time (in Your Mind) by Mal Thursday
I Didn't Know I Was Dead by Negativland
Abstract Blues by Kim Gordon & J Mascis
Grass Jeans by Kim Gordon
Get Me by Dinosaur Jr.
Santa Claus Has Got the AIDS This Year by Tiny Tim
Out for Blood by Johnny Dowd
Too Good to Be Blue by Trixie & The Train Wrecks
Misshapen Head by The Grawks
Ride by Ty Segall
Funky But Chic by David Johansen
Faith in Love by The Lostines
Armenia City in the Sky by Petra Haden
Little Drummer Boy by Joan Jett
Must Be Santa by Bob Dylan
Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand in the Snow) by Yoko Ono
Scumbag by Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention Yoko Ono & John Lennon
We Start the Fire by Old Time Relijun
Nail My Dick to the Wall by The Toy Trucks
Punk Rock Retirement Plan by Legendary Shack Shakers
A Poundland Christmas by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire
My Insurance Man (from Bathtubs Over Broadway)
Almost Persuaded #2 by Ben Colder
Come Closer by Honshu Wolves
Jacob's Ladder by Michael Hurley
Girls by Eleni Mandell
Give Me That Old Time Religion by Joseph Spence
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Sunday, March 21, 2021 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Justine by The Blasters
Lil Lobo by Joe "King" Carrasco with Patricia Vonne
Baby Doll by The Del Moroccos
Ain't Your Choir by Churchwood
Before the World Blows Up by The Electric Mess
Frog Went a Courtin' by Flat Duo Jets
The Model by Big Black
It's Trash by The Cavemen
My Way by The Darts
All I'm Saying by Alien Space Kitchen
Bowdlerize by Danger Cutterhead
Travelin' Riverside Blues by Hindu Love Gods
Cape by Jon Spencer
Talent Show by The Replacements
Say Goodbye to a Dream by The Woggles
I Am Gonna Unmask the Batman by Lacy Gibson with Sun Ra
Coming to Take Me Away by Tiny Tim
Sophisticated Boom Boom by The Knoxville Girls
Parts Unknown by Kid Congo Powers with Lydia Lunch & Die Haut
Down the Road by Dead Moon
Snickersnee by Thee Oh Sees
Scumbag by Frank Zappa with John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Crazy Train / Monkey Town by Degurutieni
Hot Pastrami with Mashed Potatoes by Joey Dee & The Starliters
It's a Jungle Out There by Randy Newman
Geeshie by The Mekons
I'm a Suspect by Lonnie Holley
How Great Thou Art by Homer Henderson
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Sunday, January 10, 2021 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Sunday, May 5, 2019 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Fiesta by The Pogues
Gutterboy Blues by Mean Motor Scooter
Traces by The Mystery Lights
Hanging Tree by Bob Mould
Pictures of Lily by Hickoids
Queen of the Pill by The Jackets
Dad or Dead by Dirk Geil
Contageous by Sleeve Cannon
The Art of Projection by Imperial Wax
I've Been Duped by The Fall
Mechanic Wanted by Mekons 77
St. Stephen by Ty Segall
Sucka Punch (Get Back) by Dinola
Two Dollar Elvis by Left Lane Cruiser
When Fate Deals Its Mortal Blow by Meet Your Death
The Dozens by Eddie "One String" Jones
Hokomo Ju Ju Man by Little Howlin' Wolf
Monster Surf Party by The Barbarellatones
Don't Touch by Andre Williams
Snack Crack by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire
X-Ray Glasses by The Scaners
Free Money by Patti Smith
Soy un Bruto by ET Explore Me
The Devil in the Dance Hall by Harvey McLaughlin
Devil's at Red's by Anthony Leon & The Chain
Hard Travelin' by Simon Stokes
No, I'm Iron Man by The Butthole Surfers Batman Theme by Iggy Pop
This Wonderful Day by Kyra
Conway Twitty by Johnny Dowd
The Fruit Man by Ween
Springtime in nthe Rockies by Tiny Tim & Brave Combo
Boot That Thing by Roosevelt Sykes & Henry Townsend
The Good Old World (Waltz) by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Over the weekend, the biggest threat to America and the freedoms we cherish was the version of "The Star Spangled Banner sung by Fergie, formerly with The Black Eyed Peas (not to be confused with The Dutchess of York) sung at the NBA All-Star Game.
I don't think that was how Jimi Hendrix intended it be performed.
True, Cosmopolitan called it "different AND sexy," but other reaction on social media was far less positive. (I think my favorite was comedian Johnny Taylor, Jr., who tweeted, "Not sure what Fergie was going for on that national anthem performance but if it was `my friends drunk mom acting sexy' she nailed it."
By Monday, the singer apologized in a statement saying, “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”
Judge for yourself:
This whole stink reminded me of 1968, when at a World Series game, Jose Feiciano, known as "The Blind Puerto Rican Fergie," shocked an dismayed patriots everywhere by his unconventional take on the national anthem.
Back then, the anthem was generally performed by popular musicians of stage and screen, or talented first-responders and members of the military, always in a very straightforward way. Feliciano's gentle, Latin jazz-infused version puzzled some people. And it outraged others. "After I sang it, it was really strange to hear me being booed, as well as yay'd, and I didn't know what happened," he recalled when I reached him by telephone last week, while he was on tour in London.
A Tigers official told him the club's phones were lighting up with angry calls from around the country: "Some veterans were taking off their shoes and throwing them at their television screens," he was told.
Jumping ahead a few decades, I do like this version of the anthem by the group Patax, "a communion between flamenco, funk and Afro-Cuban folklore" from Spain. "Star Spangled Banner" appears on their latest album, Creepy Monsters.
On their Youtube channel the band says the song is their, "humble contribution to tolerance and mind openness sending a musical message to the Trump Administration: lets make America open minded and tolerant again. Greatness will be the result."
What kind of commie talk is that? (By the way, percussionist Jorge Perez is a citizen of both Spain and the US of A.)
And if you don't like that, there's always Tiny Tim. He even knew the largely forgotten second verse ...
Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Ain't No Pussy by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
Interlude: E'Lectric Spider Webz by The Black
Call the Police by The Oblivians
The Cat's Meow by The Darts
Don't Mess with Me by Rattanson
Lies by Dilly the Kid
Elevator by Boss Hog
Voodoo Got Me by The Goon Mat & Lord Bernardo
The Cuckoo by Johnny Dowd
Victoria Train Station Massare by The Fall
The Projects by Baronen & Satan
Queen of the Gorillas by Pocket FishRMen
Born to Lose by Social Distortion
We Want the Lot by The Movements
Swamp Thing by The Cavemen
Sea Serpent by Mean Motor Scooter
Ultimo Cartucho by Hollywood Sinners
Shotgun by Junior Walker & The All Stars
Comin to Take Me Away by Tiny Tim POLKA SET!
Hosa Dyna by Brave Combo
Who'd Ya Like to Love Ya by Li'l Wally
Division Street by The Polkaholics
Desert Polka by The American Indians
Minnesota Polka by Karl & The Country Dutchmen
Tra Ra Ra Boom De by Walt Spolek & The Orchestra
The Polka Polka by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
Mountaineer Polka by Norm Dombrowski's Happy Notes
Weiner Dog Polka by Polkacide
Edge of Reality by Elvis Presley
Mr. Moonlight by The Beatles
Love Letters by Dex Romweber Duo with Cat Power
Wang Dang Doodle by P.J. Harvey
One for My Baby by Iggy Pop
He Gives Us All His Love by Randy Newman
Lonely Town by Stan Ridgway CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
(My Facebook Friend Truly Judy inspired this one)
Back in 2005, there was an episode of South Park featuring a middle-aged Chinese woman trying to make it as a singer. Her name was Wing and she became a client of a "talent agency" run by Cartman and the boys.
She had a voice that would curdle your soup. Hilarity ensued.
Many South Park fans just assumed Wing was a cartoon character from the warped imaginations of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But no. Wing was a flesh-and-blood human named Wing Han Tsang or Zēng Yǒnghán or 曾咏韓.From the scant biographical information I can find, it appears she originally was from Hong Kong and migrated to New Zealand, where she began her musical career by singing in nursing homes.
She released a CD of cover songs called Phantom of the Opera, (featuring the theme from the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical) and appeared on some TV shows in New Zealand and Australia.
The South Park guys discovered her via Internet buzz. Her appearance there basically made her the Tiny Tim of 2005 -- even though her voice was closer to Mrs. Miller. Though she seemed to take her music seriously, she was considered a novelty act -- or by some, an "outsider artist."
Yes, we laughed at her, not with her. But she seemed like such a sweet, modest lady you felt like a jerk after the yuks.
Her career kept going for several years. She cranked out several albums between 2006 and 2008. and even making an appearance at the 2008 South By Southwest in Austin.
According to her Wikipedia page, she announced on her website that she was retiring from showbiz in 2015. That website is no longer online. And though the Allmusic Guide says she made a couple of records for CD Baby, I can't find them there. She's got a Facebook page, but she hasn't posted anything there in three years.
But there is a lot of material still available on YouTube, so Wing, this is for you, wherever you are.
She did this one on South Park.
Wing did a whole album of AC/DC covers. And hey, even Tiny Tim did "Highway to Hell."
This is one of the later Wing songs I could find. Produced by Rappy Mcrapperson, Wing truly lives up to her weirdness potential here.
Finally, here's some live footage of Wing. I guess we'd be going over that old rainbow ...
Call me Scrooge. Call me Grinch. Call me Ishmael. But once again I just couldn't bring myself to produce another damned Christmas show. Sometime in the past couple of holiday seasons, I just burned out on Christmas songs. So, just like last year, once again I'm giving you an hour of crazed rock 'n' roll -- with just a sprinkling of songs from the season. (And if you really need some Christmas music right now, you can find all my Christmas specials HERE)
Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
You're Humbuggin' Me by Rocket Morgan
Second House Now by The Fall
The Leader is Burning by Pocket FishRMen
Diddy Wah Diddy by Captain Beefheart
I Ain't Got No by Mary's Kids
Break a Guitar by Ty Segall
Red Grave by The Devils
Signal by Boss Hog
Danger by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Santa Claus Has Got the AIDS This Year by Tiny Tim
Happy Birthday Jesus by Little Cindy
Drowned Beast by Thee Oh Sees
Comet by Baronen & Satan
Moon by Travel in Space
There Ain't No Other Way by The Blasting Fondas
Church Mouse by Nobunny
Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown by Count Vaseline
I Found a Peanut by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds
Strange Days by The Darts
Egg Nog by The Rockin' Guys
Rock and Soul by Country Joe & The Fish
Kiss and Ride by King Soul
Man With Soul by Alex Maiorano & The Black Tales
King of the Jungle by King Khan & The Shrines
Wonderful Girl by Jack Mack & The Heart Attack
House Party II by The Soul Deacons
Galactic Zoo by Swamp Dog
Beginning to See the Light by The Velvet Underground
Usurpentine by Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons
Demona by Dead Moon
Fish Out of Water by Jon Langford's Four Lost Souls
O Holy Night by Brian Wilson
Star of Wonder by The Roches CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Dec. 15, 2017
Christmas is coming, and America’s annual explosion of holiday blitz of glitz and other stuff is in full gear. And music, from the sublime to the syrupy, plays no small part in it. There is no escaping all the seasonal songs about Baby Jesus, Santa Claus, snow, and sleigh bells. From sappy sentimentality to cringe-worthy novelty tunes to songs professing hardcore religious zealotry — hark the herald hucksters sing!
And you can’t complain about it, you communist Grinch, you malcontent Scrooge. It’s for the children. It’s for the health of the economy! So get with the program. It’s best for everyone if you just embrace the Christmas craziness and join in the cheer.
Here are a few insane Christmas albums to keep you sane through it all.
*Tiny Tim’s Christmas Album. Just about everyone my age remembers Tiny Tim. But it occurred to me that younger folk probably don’t know Tiny Tim from Fibber McGee and Molly.
A quick Tiny Tim primer: Back in 1968, a war-weary nation shared a collective laugh at a strange, slightly creepy crooner who plucked a ukulele and warbled in an unsettling falsetto — Herbert Khaury, aka Tiny Tim. At first Tiny might have thought we were laughing with him, as he crooned “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and revived “On the Good Ship Lollipop” while the nation’s youth sang “Street Fighting Man.” But no, we were actually laughing at him. Tiny’s career pinnacled when he got married on The Tonight Show. It was obvious that he was a carnival freak and we, the public, were the rubes cramming into the sideshow tent to gawk.
The most puzzling thing about his Christmas album is that Tiny didn’t get around to making a full-press effort to cash in on the holiday until the 1990s. This was released in 1996, the same year he died.
This collection includes several Christmas chestnuts like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (sung in his trademark falsetto) and White Christmas” (showing off his warbling baritone). And for some reason, there are a handful of tunes that have nothing to do with Christmas. The most surprisingly relevant song here is his take on “Silent Night,” during which he launches into an angry sermon against Christians who don’t act very Christian. “Hypocrites!” he snarls. “Professing His name! Fornicating with children! Fornicating with young girls!”
Roy Moore, the ghost of Tiny Tim is on to you!
Sadly, this record doesn’t include Tiny’s best, and most tasteless, Yuletide classic, “Santa Claus Has Got the AIDS This Year.” I've embedded it below.
* Bummed Out Christmas by various artists. Back in the late ’80s, when Rhino Records was one of the coolest labels around, they used to release some wonderful, irreverent compilations, such as this one. It’s full of songs about people having a hard time finding any Christmas cheer.
There is a weeper by The Everly Brothers called “Christmas Eve Can Kill You,” as well as one of George Jones’ saddest songs, “Lonely Christmas Call.” There is the heart-stopping lonesome soldier lament, “Christmas in Viet Nam” by the soul duo Johnny & Jon.
Some of my favorites are a couple of fine old ’50s R&B songs about holiday drunkenness — “Santa Came Home Drunk” by Clyde Lasley & The Cadillac Baby Specials and “Christmas in Jail” by The Youngsters (a tune that many local folks may associate with the cover by The Soul Deacons about a decade back).
* I Know What He Wants for Christmas ... But I Don’t Know How to Wrap It! by Kay Martin and Her Body Guards. Back in the 1950s, they used to call risqué records like this “party album.” Martin was a former model who claimed she’d posed for Playboy. (Though I’ve read several accounts that say she’s not the scantily clad redhead on the album cover.)
With her kittenish voice and a dominant electric organ that sounds as if it were stolen from a roller rink, Martin purrs through suggestive holiday numbers like “Santa’s Doing the Horizontal Twist” and “Santa’s Going to Be Late Tonight.”
*A Twismas Story by Conway Twitty With Twitty Bird & Their Little Friends. Here is a little Christmas recycling. I wrote about this bizarre holiday album 10 years ago in this very publication. First released in 1983, it was reissued in 2007 to shock a new generation. A decade later, this album is just as frightening now as it was then.
A Twismas Story goes well beyond normal Christmas albums by country stars you find in bargain bins at supermarkets, drugstores, and truck stops this time of year — at humiliatingly low prices. Your average Nashville holiday clunker features disturbingly similar overproduced, underinspired, twangy takes on the same 20 or so holiday standards. But the late Twitty and his imaginary friends went above and beyond. This is so tacky, so cheesy, so over-the-top, and so overstuffed with Christmas corn that it’s a perverse classic.
Twitty Bird — who was Conway’s Tweety-like cartoon mascot (how did he not get sued by Warner Bros.?) — is portrayed here by the singer’s granddaughter. The “Little Friends” are sped-up “chipmunk” voices. They all chatter insanely and sing about Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, etc.
I stand by my advice from 2007: Friends don’t let friends take hallucinogenic drugs and listen to A Twismas Story at the same time.
Proceed at you own risk! Wacky, tacky Xmas songs below:
Here is Tiny Tim's playful spoof about a virus that would kill millions.
This song, from Bummed Out Christmas actually is pretty bitchen
Kay Martin seduces Santa
Yes, the great Conway stooped to this. For the children.
America's sweetheart, Tonya Harding, is back in the national consciousness once again thanks to an upcoming biopic I, Tonya, starring Margot Robbie that looks back on the life of the champion figure skater from the wrong side of the tracks.
In 1991 Tonya Harding won her first national skating title and became the first woman to complete a triple axel in competition. In January 1994, Harding earned notoriety when her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, hired a hitman to assault fellow U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. The attack seriously bruised Kerrigan's kneecap and quadriceps tendon, and prevented her from participating in the U.S. Championships. Harding pleaded guilty to hindering the investigation into Kerrigan's attack, which allowed her to avoid jail time. Under the plea bargain, Harding was stripped of her '94 national title and banned from competing in the U.S. for life. Despite her knee injury, Kerrigan went on to win the silver medal at the 1994 Olympic Games.
You confronted your sorrow
Like was no tomorrow
Kerrigan was clearly the victim in this story. But while there is still dispute about whether Harding was responsible for the attack, Harding became a national villain, hated and reviled.
But guess which one the nation's songwriters preferred. As one of my favorite college professor posed to a literature class, "Who do we love, Pat Garrett or Billy the Kid? Jesse James or the dirty little coward who shot Mr. Howard?"
In short, I'm not aware of any songs about Nancy Kerrigan. But here are three about Tonya.
I’ve been trying to write a Tonya Harding song since I first saw her skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1991. She’s a complicated subject for a song partly because the hard facts of her life are so strange, disputable, heroic, unprecedented, and indelibly American. ...
Tonya Harding’s dramatic rise and fall was fiercely followed by the media, and she very quickly became the brunt of jokes, the subject of tabloid headlines and public outcry. She was a reality TV star before such a thing even existed. But she was also simply un-categorical: America’s sweetheart with a dark twist. But I believe this is what made her so interesting, and a true American hero. In the face of outrage and defeat, Tonya bolstered shameless resolve and succeeded again and again with all manners of re-invention and self-determination.
He reportedly submitted the song for I, Tonya, but it wasn't used in the film.
Here's my favorite of Stevens' Tonya songs
But I don't like Stevens' lonesome ode a fraction as much as I love Loudon Wainwright's "Tonya's Twirls." I first saw him perform it at a Santa Fe concert about a year and a half after the Kerrigan attack.
It's truly a subversive little ditty, that starts off with a quick yuk at the expense of Hardin's "body guard" Shawn Eckardt, and includes a little bit of the " puns, punch lines and light-hearted jabs" Sufjan Stevens says he tried to avoid.
But once you're drawn into the song Wainwright hits you with the sad tale of class struggle -- the lower-class girl in that world of prissy little ice princesses.
... she was your parents' worst nightmare: the slut who moved next door
From the wrong side of the track, she liked the boys more than the girls
With their gliding and their sliding and their girlish dainty twirls-
And then Wainwright pulls back and uses the story to decry the corruption of a fun little activity for "giddy, slipping, sliding, laughing, happy little girls" that grew to be more about corporate sponsorship deals and American nationalism.
And I just learned that the immortal Tiny Tim wrote a little song for Tonya not long after the knee-capping incident. Dedicated to "Miss Tonya Harding," Tiny's song has some invaluable advice here:
Though you are sighing, though you are crying and everything has gone wrong
