3 December 2012 - The Pretenders - 2000 Miles / The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - 2000 Miles

It's one of the sappiest songs The Pretenders ever did.  It's also a Christmas song....ish. It's been called "good enough to NOT be a Christmas song" because it is a song that doesn't need the holiday to make it relevant.

And Chrissie Hynde hated it.  Which is why it was only a B-side in the United States - to "Middle of the Road".  In the UK, however, it was released as a single in its own right, reaching #15 there.  And now, it's a Christmas staple.  It's a slower-paced, mournful song, written not for long-lost lovers, as it seems, but for James Honeyman-Scott, the band's original guitarist who had recently passed away, a victim of cocaine intolerance.

 

This song has been frequently covered.  One recent cover I thought you'd enjoy is one done by Boston staples The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.  This video contains a lot of rare footage and home movies by the band, adding to the song's legacy as a mournful look back at Christmastime.



I wanted to give you frequent readers of this blog a gift.  So, here is an uncredited (in the title of this post, anyway) third version of this song, by KT Tunstall.  She is the one who made the earlier declaration that this song was "good enough to not be a Christmas song".  And her version is absolutely beautiful, and faithful to the original.

30 November 2012 - Karmin - Sleigh Ride

I think, by this point, I have sufficiently declared myself a fan of Karmin. You might want to take a look at this, this, this, and of course this for evidence of that.

So, when I found out that they did a Christmas song..... and released it two days ago (after I did my last post on this blog!), I had to seek it out and share it with you.   It is certainly an off-kilter, interesting arrangement of a song that I think we've already featured three times.   Between the change-of-tempo horns and the Nebraskan white girl hip hop that we love so much, this is an interesting and fun arrangement that has quickly become one of my favorite Christmas songs.



By the way, this song is available for FREE download, from Coach.... the people that bring you very expensive but very good purses.  Go here to get it, and also find out what Amy and Nick are getting each other for Christmas.  

29 November 2012 - Los Straitjackets - Here Comes Santa Claus

Nothing screams the holidays more than four dudes wearing lucha masks and playing some seriously righteous rockabilly. So of course I had to witness the Los Straitjackets Christmas Pageant with The World Famous Pontani Sisters in 2005. It was a rockin' good time daddy-o. I ended up buying two copies of their Tis The Season For Los Straitjackets Christmas CD. One for me and one to give away as a Christmas present.

28 November 2012 - Luscious Jackson - Let It Snow

Today is the day that I, once again, set my ringtone for the holiday season.  This is my ringtone, straight from a Gap commercial.

Here is Luscious Jackson, performing their fantastic "Let It Snow", interpolating a little play on Gary Numan's "Cars".  This was performed live on Jay Leno's Tonight Show.  It's not the same without Carson.



They did release a real live video for this song.   It's cute, but it doesn't include "Sleds", which is pretty amazing.  Still, here it is.  It's a cute video - Jill Cunniff and Gabby Glaser make sure we know they aren't REALLY in snow thanks to their wardrobe - and a good version of the song.



Of course, this song was first performed as part of a Gap Christmas ad campaign, where Gap took artists they used through the year in their hip commercials and had them reinterpret Christmas tunes (This is Luscious Jackson's original commercial).  It is THIS version that is my ringtone, and has been for many Decembers.  30 seconds is enough to realize genius on this song.

27 November 2012 - KT Tunstall - Sleigh Ride

In case y'all haven't figured it out, Wicked Guilty Pleasures is celebrating the holidays for the next month. I for one support this plan (well, seeing that it was kind of my idea it's hard not to get behind it). Like Tony, I can't wait for Thanksgiving so I can bust out my Christmas music collection. The first song I listened to Thanksgiving night was KT Tunstall's cool version of Sleigh Bells. Here's an live acoustic version.



And now here's the awesome version from The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs album (I imagine I'll be posting a few more from this record as the month goes on). Just try not dancing around the room like a happy fool when you hear this one. I dare ya!

26 November 2012 - The Sonics - Santa Claus

A little late? Yes.

But here is a garage band classic of a Christmas song that everyone should know - especially if you read Totally Covered - but hasn't gotten enough attention by anyone that isn't my 8 year old daughter.  Enjoy!

23 November 2012 - Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops - Sleigh Ride

Christmas begins now.

What better way to celebrate Black Friday than the song that defined the Christmas season for me as a kid, and still does today?  Arthur Fielder's interpretation of Leroy Anderson's 1940's classic - the two often worked together - is both delightful and bombastic, and remains the gold standard for orchestral holiday music to this day.


Even The Gap found this version cool enough to feature in holiday commercials.  Here it is, slightly remixed.