Options Surface Noise with Joe McGasko: Playlist from December 20, 2009 Options

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A pennant-winning battery of songland. Ongoing feature: Single File, a half-hour of randomly selected small records with big holes.

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Options December 20, 2009: FREEFORM: A Snowed-In Christmas

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Artist Track Album Label Format Comments Year Approx. start time
Bert and Ernie  Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (excerpt)   Options Christmas Eve on Sesame Street  Sesame Street  LP    1980  0:00:00 ()
Paddy Roberts  Merry Christmas, You Suckers   Options     MP3    late 50s   
Regina Kujawa with the B. Witkowski Orkestra  Rudolf Z Czerwonym Nosem   Options Polish Christmas Carols  Dana  EP    50s?   
Jimmy Masuluke  Sour Milk for Christmas   Options     MP3       
Lord Executor  How I Spent My Time at the Hospital   Options Calypso Breakaway 1927-1941  Rounder  CD    1990   
Die Winzies  O Tannenbaum   Options Weihnachten mit den Winzies  OXA  CD    1998   
Michiko Hamamura  Jingle Bells   Options Japan's Teen Queen: Victor Recordings, 1957-1963  RCA Victor  CD    2004   
Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra  Blue Christmas   Options The Apartment Original Motion Picture Soundtrack  United Artists  LP    1960   
Willie Colon  La Murga de Panama   Options Asalto Navideno  Fania  CD  From early 70s  2006   
Electric Jungle  Funky Funky Christmas   Options In the Christmas Groove  Strut  CD    2009   
 
Memphis Sounds Orchestra  Sleigh Ride   Options   RSO  45    1976   
The Walter Murphy Orchestra  Deck the Halls   Options   Major  45    1976   
Moonlion  The Little Drummer Boy   Options   P.I.P.  45    1975   
Charo  (Mamacita) Donde Esta Santa Claus?   Options   Salsoul  45    1978   
Mirror Image  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing   Options Yuletide Disco  Pickwick  LP    1979   
The Salsoul Orchestra  The Little Drummer Boy   Options Salsoul Christmas  Salsoul  LP    1976   
 
Charles Bevel  Black Santa Claus   Options   A&M  45    1974   
The Emotions  What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas   Options   Stax  45      0:01:37 ()
The Jackson 5  Christmas Won't Be the Same This Year   Options Jackson 5 Christmas Album  Motown  LP    1970  0:04:40 ()
Donny Hathaway  This Christmas   Options   Atco  45  Mono version, just to be different  1970  0:07:08 ()
Honey & the Bees  Jing Jing a Ling   Options Cool Yule, Volume 2  Rhino  LP  From 1969  1988  0:10:41 ()
Wild Honey  Angel's Christmas   Options In the Christmas Groove  Strut  CD    2009  0:13:17 ()
 
Dylan Thomas  A Child's Christmas in Wales   Options Dylan Thomas Reading A Child's Christmas in Wales and Five Poems  Caedmon  LP    1964  0:21:16 ()
John Cale  A Child's Christmas in Wales   Options Fragments of a Rainy Season  Rykodisc  CD    1992  0:40:08 ()
May Blitz  The 25th of December 1969   Options The 2nd of May  BGO  CD  From 1971  1992  0:44:00 ()
Johnny McEvoy  The Bells on Christmas Eve   Options About This Time  Target (Ireland)  EP    1967  0:46:32 ()
Louis Armstrong  Twas the Night Before Christmas   Options   Continental  45    1971  0:50:52 ()
 
Del Reeves  Christmas Is Lonely   Options   United Artists  45    1966  1:02:58 ()
Loretta Lynn  Christmas without Daddy   Options Country Christmas  MCA  LP    1966  1:05:52 ()
Jesse Rogers with the Saddle Buddies  Red, White, and Blue Christmas   Options   MGM  78    1952  1:07:22 ()
Johnny Paycheck  Mommy for Awhile on Christmas Day   Options A Little Darlin' Christmas  Koch  CD    2004  1:10:35 ()
Carson Robison and His Pleasant Valley Boys  Jingle Bells   Options   RCA Victor  78  Calls by Lawrence V. Loy  1946  1:13:35 ()
Lynn Anderson  Ding-a-Ling the Christmas Bell   Options   Columbia  45    1971  1:15:58 ()
Hank Snow  A Letter to Santa Claus   Options   RCA  45    1967  1:19:06 ()
Eddy Arnold  Will Santy Come to Shanty Town   Options   RCA Victor  78    1949  1:22:47 ()
Woody Guthrie  1913 Massacre   Options Hard Travelin': The Asch Recordings, Volume 3  Smithsonain Folkways  CD    1993  1:26:09 ()
 
Hernando Hopkins and the Orchestra  Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer   Options   ABC-Paramount  45    1958  1:35:28 ()
The Free Design  Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas)   Options   Project 3  45    1968  1:37:42 ()
Jerry and the Landslides  Get Off of My Roof   Options   P.R.X.  45    ?  1:39:10 ()
Mud  Lonely This Christmas   Options   RAK  45    1974  1:41:52 ()
Hilly Kristal  Mud   Options   CBGB & OMFUG Records  45    1976  1:45:36 ()
Dolly Parton  Hard Candy Christmas   Options   RCA  45    1982  1:48:30 ()
Toni Wine  My Boyfriend's Coming Home for Christmas   Options   Colpix  45    1963  1:52:21 ()
Lee Arnold  A Trucker's Christmas   Options   Kirshner  45    1976  1:54:52 ()
 
Prince  Another Lonely Christmas   Options Yulesville  Warner Brothers  LP  From 1984  1987  2:03:19 ()
Douglas Leedy  Good King Wenceslas   Options A Very Merry Electric Christmas to You!  Capitol  LP    1969  2:07:29 ()
Joseph Byrd  It Came Upon a Midnight Clear   Options A Christmas Yet to Come  Takoma  LP    1975  2:10:42 ()
Ryuichi Sakamoto  Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence   Options Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Original Motion Picture Soundtrack  MCA  LP    1983  2:12:36 ()
The Free Design  Christmas Is the Day   Options   Siesta  45    1998  2:15:31 ()
Randy Burns  Christmas Lights   Options I'm a Lover, Not a Fool  Polydor  LP    1973  2:18:39 ()
Steve Ashley  The Spirit of Christmas   Options Electric Muse, Volume IV  Island  LP    1974  2:22:11 ()
 
Bishop Perry Tillis  Silent Night   Options In Times LIke These...  Mississippi  LP    2009  2:31:26 ()
Edward Penney  What Is Christmas   Options   Radax  78    early 50s  2:36:06 ()
Father Malcolm Boyd and Charlie Byrd  It's Christmas Time Again, Jesus   Options   Columbia  45    1966  2:39:15 ()
Reverend C.L. Franklin  The Challenge of Christmas (excerpt)   Options The Challenge of Christmas  Chess  LP    1965?  2:40:57 ()
Evangelist Jones Singletary and Her Holy Ghost Band  It's Christmas to Me   Options Jesus Is Going to Bless Me  Rae-Cox  LP    1977  2:47:44 ()
Sister Rosetta Tharpe with the Rosette Gospel Singers  Silent Night (Christmas Hymn)   Options   Decca  45    1959  2:51:14 ()
 
Les Paul and Mary Ford  White Christmas   Options Christmas Cheer  Capitol  EP    1955  2:57:45 ()

Listener comments!

  Sun. 12/20/09 2:05am Mike Sin:

Just got back from DJing a Toys-for-Tots benefit at a bar out in Jersey... treacherous driving... but, I'm glad to arrive home and hear your show on an hour early! What's the deal? Prof. Dum Dum was snowed out, huh? Anyway, I look forward to the show after I heat up the rum.
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:07am Joe:

Hey, Mike! Nice to have you live. Hope the benefit was a success. Yes, Professor D.D. called and just said "Jesus won."
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:25am slugluv1313:

oooooooo me loving thee WILLIE COLON!!!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:29am slugluv1313:

here is a *LIVE* version! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfmg6g4d_0M ENJOY!!!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:31am muhrvis:

Thanks for the extra DJing tonight. I am listening from the comfort of Oregon, but I appreciate the difficulty, as I am from Michigan originally.
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:36am Joe:

Thanks for the COOOOOL Willie Colon clip, slugluv! Thanks for tuning in from Oregon, muhrvis!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:36am Becky visiting in Michigan:

Hi Joe! I sent you an email about archiving considerations tonight. Check it out before you go to sleep if you can. Get home safely!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:37am slugluv1313:

loving your extra-extended-version show too, Mr. McGasko! Bert and Ernie, Polish treats, old school salsa and now DISCO CHRISTMAS, woo hoo! lovely soundtrack for this ultra SNOWY night!!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:40am Joe:

Hey, Becky! I'll check it out after the show, if that's okay. Thanks so much for checking in--I was wondering what to do about the Dum Dum half fill-in!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:41am Joe:

Thanks, slugluv! I'm glad that disco Xmas music is going down eazy on this snowbound night!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:51am slugluv1313:

YES and omg it's CHARO!!!!!!! do you know if Iris Chacon recorded any Xmas songs??? (i am thinking that she MUST have!) glad you dig the Willie Colon clip . . . and for some reason *all* of this is reminding me of childhood Christmas mornings when my Mom would play all our CHIPMUNKS records (which i still have but *alas* no turntable) . . . also reminds me i have GOT to dig out my JINGLE CATS CDs!!!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 2:59am Sue:

Hi Joe! How are you?
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:02am Joe:

Hey, Sue! Happy Xmas, many days early!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:09am Sue:

How long have you been on? I missed you for an hour or two? I tried to be prompt by 3!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:10am Sue:

Yes, Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Hanukkah! I hope I covered everything.... Happy New Year!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:10am Joe:

Yes, I got an early start tonight! The snow is swallowing DJs left and right.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:12am Sue:

What about you?! How are you getting home? Maybe you'll have to cover a triple shift... good for us!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:14am Joe:

Wow! I HOPE Dan can make it in! I like Christmas music, but even 4 hours is pushing it! I'll be training it...ugh!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:17am Sue:

Well I guess that's a safer way of getting home. I have to check out the weather report. I don't know when this is supposed to stop. Looks crazy out there. I just woke up to this blizzard. I was all doubtful it was even going to happen. Nice Christmas set!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:18am Toronto Jim:

I've been enchanted since I started listening 3/4-hour ago. Come to my senses a bit, and I gotta say that I'm floored by this mix — 'cause I'm a fella that fekkin' hates the annual overload of x-mas compilations. But, man! THIS mix has redeemed the whole holiday for me.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:21am Toronto Jim:

Umm, looking at the time signature on the show, I guess I haven't been "enchanted" for quite as long as I'd professed. So — eighteen minutes, then. Goes to show you just how "enchanted" I am at this juncture in time.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:25am Joe:

Hey, Toronto Jim! Thanks for the swell words--that makes it all worth it to know I got someone over the Xmas music hurdle!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:25am Toronto Jim:

I once got an homage/parody of Thomas's poem, called "A Child's Christmas in Scarborough." Quite charming it was, actually. People from Toronto will understand the potential subtexts.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:27am Toronto Jim:

Thanks for the kind welcome, Joe. Seriously: Xmas music can really get on one's tits, eh? Yours is far better, as I've said.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:29am Sue:

I agree with Toronto Jim. I really hate Christmas normally but Joe makes it bearable somehow.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:30am Toronto Jim:

I take this long reading by Thomas to be a signal — a beacon, if you will — summoning me to have a wee whisky.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:32am Toronto Jim:

Aaaaaah... that's better.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:36am Toronto Jim:

Hi Sue: I know what you mean. Xmas can be a drag. I have been more or less successful, in recent years, in simply not letting it make me anxious anymore. I take it in stride nowadays, and if I'm late for a family gathering or some such, I apologize and forget about it. "Cause I realize now that it ain't no big deal.

(I had another whisky there...)
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:37am Joe:

I'm a wee bit jealous, TJ--some Xmas whiskey sounds niiiice....just like Auntie Hannah with her port!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:40am Toronto Jim:

Port for her, was it? A nice Xmas drink. My mum always went for lemon-flavoured gin. My dad likes Drambuie for Xmas.

Yesterday evening, I had something odd: it was an Xmas party at a bar, but they had no egg nog. So I improvised and had a kahlua and rum with table cream. Pretty close to the "xmas" flavour I was aiming at.

Whisky's good too. So good, in fact...
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:42am Joe:

And parsnip wine~!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:43am Toronto Jim:

PARSNIP wine?! Where were you raised, my boy? Appalachia?
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:43am Toronto Jim:

...or the Ukrainian steppe?
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:44am Toronto Jim:

Papua New Guinea?
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:45am Toronto Jim:

Seriously, though: how does it taste? I'm intrigued.

Got a bottle of Niagara peach wine here for some rainy day. That's quite good.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:47am Joe:

I don't really know! That's another one of Auntie Hannah's tipples in the story. Niagra peach wine sounds great!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:49am slugluv1313:

PARSNIP wine??? sounds like some Eastern European concoction to me! . . still a BLIZZARD out there! and YUP! WFMU's DJs sure have a way with thee Xmas music . . . TOTALLY helps one to *HEAL* from the worst case of BAH-HUM-BUGS brought on by waaaaaaay too much "lite-FM" type CRAP with which one is inundated this time of year!!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:49am Toronto Jim:

That prog-rock Biafran conflict xmas tune blows my mind. I've got friends who are guaranteed to wet themselves when I play them the archive.
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:50am Sue:

Are you doing Single File at the regular time?
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:53am slugluv1313:

Toronto Jim, okay, *how* did i miss this?? what is this "prog-rock Biafran conflict xmas tune" of which you speak???
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:54am Joe:

Hey, TJ--that May Blitz track IS pretty amazing. Definitely two sides to the same day. Sue, I think I will do Single File at the regular time. I hope you can hold on!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:55am Toronto Jim:

slugluv1313: That "May Blitz" track — "The 25th of December." Evidently from their misnamed album "The 2nd of May."
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:56am Sue:

Oh yeah, of course. I didn't know if you were doing two b/c of the extended time
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:57am Joe:

I thought about it, but we'll see-maybe it will be longer tonight if it feels good!
  Sun. 12/20/09 3:59am Toronto Jim:

It's always longer when it feels good, Joe.
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:08am Joe:

I totally agree with you, TorRRRonto!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:09am Sue:

Oh my god, I was just thinking of asking you to play this song, seriously! It's been in my head, woo hoo!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:11am Joe:

That's so excellent, Sue! Loretta Lynn has so many outstanding Xmas songs that it's hard to pick, but this is my current favorite...
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:11am Toronto Jim:

It may be too late for a request, but à la Sue, I've been thinking of one for a bit. Do you have anyone doing Woody Guthrie's "1913 Massacre"? Arlo did it, I'm sure, and Ramblin' Jack Elliot did a rendition at the '69 tribute to Woody.

It is an Xmas song...
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:13am Sue:

I know what the song's about, but she has the sexiest voice
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:14am Joe:

Toronto, your wish is my command. Woody Guthrie soon to come up...
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:15am Toronto Jim:

Wheeee!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:31am Toronto Jim:

Thank you so much, Joe, for the Massacre. As fun as everything is, it's also good for all of us to remember capitalist injustices. No better time to do it, in a way...
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:33am Toronto Jim:

I've been reading the topmost early posts, and I'm sorry that I haven't acknowledged your terrible blizzard!

Here, it's barely cold, no wind, no snow to speak of. You have my condolences, Joe, Sue, and all others blanketed.
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:35am Sue:

Thanks Jim!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:39am Joe:

It's a real winter wonderland, here, Jim. I hope I make it home one of these days!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:39am Toronto Jim:

I can remember once when the first blizzard of the year came to T.O. and a couple friends and I dropped acid and wandered all about the streets, knee-deep in that softest powdery kind of snow — the freshest.

...So go ahead, Sue: while you're looking out the window — take drugs!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:40am Toronto Jim:

Is that the FREE DESIGN??

You've outdone yourself, Joe!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:42am Sue:

How did you know? :)
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:43am Toronto Jim:

Simply adore the Free Design.

Their sound is alternately perfect for flaky winter storms and for gistening summer afternoons.
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:45am Toronto Jim:

Umm, "glistening," if you please.
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:48am Joe:

I agree totally, Jim. I have a nice later Xmas FD single on white vinyl I may try to slip in a little later...
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:49am Toronto Jim:

Please do slip it in, Joe! I'm sure I've never heard it, and I may never will if you don't play it!

(And I didn't make any jokes about Joe's "slipping it in.")
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:52am Sue:

Oh my god, you guys are outta control!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:54am Joe:

I'm actually not sure if it's a remake of their earlier "Christmas Is the Day" or the original, but either way, it's a great song, so I'll try to "get it on"!
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:55am Sue:

This is a total x-rated christmas
  Sun. 12/20/09 4:55am Toronto Jim:

Excellent. Just introduce the "needle" to the "groove."
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:00am Sue:

I love your trucker song. Man, I'm normally such a humbug, but you're all gettin me in the spirit
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:02am Toronto Jim:

The organ breaks have been cracking me up all along. (But kinda nightmarish too, in a David Lynch kind of way.)
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:02am Toronto Jim:

Don't say "beaver"!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:06am Joe:

Yay, I'm getting Sue in the spirit! This song ought to kill it!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:13am Toronto Jim:

Isn't it amazing what computers can do those days?
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:16am KUMA:

33rpm!!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:19am Toronto Jim:

Ah! That Free Design. Thanks a lot, Joe. I'm with Sue: you're making the holiday bearably merry!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:22am Joe:

Aw, shucks. :)
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:28am Toronto Jim:

Got to be part of a trilogy, right? No self-respecting prog-folk flautist would do a song about the "ghost of Christmas past" without also doing the other two ghosts.
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:29am Toronto Jim:

Mum! Look! Mum, come quick! Look! It's the... snowploughs!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:35am Joe:

Hey, I wonder! That would be great if Steve did two other tunes on the theme. Somebody get him on the horn!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:37am Toronto Jim:

My Lord, this is... very weird indeed. Fabulous.
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:40am Toronto Jim:

This is weird too.
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:41am Joe:

Happy Birthday, Little Savior!
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:42am Toronto Jim:

It's Xmas after all — we all gotta tolerate the Christers for a while.
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:54am Toronto Jim:

Still listening, Joe (and loving it every moment). But retreating from the keyboard with an open-ended ticket to Slumbertown. G'night folks! Here's hoping your Xmas is as smirkingly lovely as Joe's set tonight.
  Sun. 12/20/09 5:59am KUMA:

Thanks for amazing show !
I will listen this show again with my girlfriend,
at Christmas time ^-^
  Sun. 12/20/09 6:00am Joe:

Thanks for listening, everybody! I had a blast. Merry Christmas to you all!
  Sun. 12/20/09 11:24am Sue:

Wow, when you played Loretta Lynn, I was hoping you'd also play the other one I've had in my head and listening again, I realize that you played the Lord Executor song in the earlier part of the show!! Yippee! Stellar xmas show!!
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