Best Christmas Songs - Day 1

Best Christmas Songs - Day 1

  My famed "Twenty-five Days of Christmas" is back, baby. Each day I post a new song of what I consider to be the best Christmas songs. These are all songs that put an extra zip into my holiday spirit. This year I have a mix of returning songs and new entries. Let's get to the first one.

Merry Christmas Baby

Merry Christmas Baby is one of the best Christmas songs ever in the history of mankind. It was written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore and recorded way back in 1947 by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers and reached #3 on Billboard's R&B Juke Box chart.

It's been covered a gazillion times. From Mae West (seriously) to Pepe the King Prawn (seriously again). This version by Ike and Tina Turner is amazing. They released their version of the song in 1964 on the b-side of a cover of Jesse Hill’s New Orleans R&B classic ‘Ooh Poop A Doo.’ (One of my favorite titles of a song). This version is definitely on my playlist this year.

Lyrics

Merry Christmas baby, sure do treat me nice
Merry Christmas baby, sure do treat me nice
Bought me a diamond ring for Christmas
I feel like I'm in paradise

I feel mighty fine, y'all,
I've got music on my radio
Feel mighty fine, girl,
I've got music on my radio,
oh, oh, oh I feel like I'm gonna kiss you
Standing beneath that mistletoe

Santa came down the chimney
Half past three, y'all
Left all them good ole presents
For my baby and for me, ha, ha, ha

 Merry Christmas baby, sure do treat him nice
You bought me all those little presents
I love you baby rest of my life

Merry Christmas, girl
Merry, merry, merry Christmas baby, sure do treat me nice
Merry Christmas baby, I said you sure do treat me nice
You bought all those lovely things, yeah
I feel like I'm in paradise

I wish you a merry Christmas baby, happy New Year, ha
A merry Christmas, honey, everything here is beautiful I love you, baby
For everything that you give me, I love you, honey  

Islamic State Group Threatens to Kill Japan Hostages

BY JON GAMBRELL AND MAAMOUN YOUSSEF

Associated Press    January 20, 2015 

CAIRO — An online video released Tuesday purported to show the Islamic State group threatening to kill two Japanese hostages unless they receive a $200 million ransom in the next 72 hours.

The video, identified as being made by the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, mirrored other hostage threats it has made. The militant in it also directly addresses Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, now on a six-day visit to the Middle East with more than 100 government officials and presidents of Japanese companies.

"To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,000 and 500 kilometers (5,280 miles) from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade," says the knife-brandishing militant in the video, who resembles and sounds like a British militant involved in other filmed beheadings by the Islamic State group. "You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims."

The video shows two hostages in orange jumpsuits that the militants identify as Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa. Japan's Foreign Ministry's anti-terrorism section has seen the video and analysts are assessing it, a ministry official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of department rules. Abe was to appear at a news conference later Tuesday in Jerusalem.

In August, a Japanese citizen believed to be Yukawa, a private military company operator in his early 40s, was kidnapped in Syria. His reason for going to Syria remains unclear. Goto is a Japanese freelance journalist who went to report on Syria's civil war last year.

The Islamic State group has beheaded and shot dead hundreds of captives — mainly Syrian and Iraqi soldiers — during its sweep across the two countries, and has celebrated its mass killings in extremely graphic videos. A British-accented jihadi also has appeared in the beheading videos of slain American hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and with British hostages David Haines and Alan Henning.

The group also holds British photojournalist John Cantlie, who has appeared in other extremist propaganda videos, and a 26-year-old American woman captured last year in Syria while working for aid groups. U.S. officials have asked that the woman not be identified out of fears for her safety.

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Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Diaa Hadid in Beirut contributed to this report.

Two Russians Climb the Shanghai Tower

How is is that two Russian daredevils scaled the Shanghai Tower and I was the one who pooped his pants? The two climbers, Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov, make up the duo 'On The Roofs.'

They've already climbed Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, Cologne's Cathedral, and the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in Paris. But those seem like child's play compared to the Shanghai Tower.

And they do it all without ropes or harnesses. I can't make it to the second floor of my house without a lifeline and a safety net.

 Rumor is their testicles are worth more than the Bullion Depository at Fort Knox.

Raskalov casually orders pizza while sitting on a ledge of a skyscraper in the Spanish town Benidorm

     

Harry Potter Expansion at Universal Orlando

I'm a Harry Potter geek, I'll admit it. So you can imagine how excited I was when Universal Orlando released their Webcast about the summer of 2014 opening of Diagon Alley.

Universal opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade in 2010 and it was a huge success. I have to admit I was surprised Universal did such a good job because up until then they're track record wasn't the best. But The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is fantastic. I went there with a good friend of mine a few years ago and we had a blast (Confession: we both used to work at Universal). We took a break from Hogsmeade and headed over to the original Universal park, only to discover it was as dead as Jacob Marley. A lot of changes had been made to the park and not for the better. It was really depressing.

But then Universal got a great idea. They decided to rip up the Jaws attraction and build Diagon Alley in its place. Genius. That gave them the ability to extend the Harry Potter franchise and get people into the original park.

So what can you expect this summer when Diagon Alley opens? I mean, besides a crush of people. You'll get a chance to:

Board the Hogwarts Express and journey between London’s King’s Cross Station (located in Universal Studios Florida) and Hogsmeade Station (located in Universal’s Islands of Adventure). The journey will be filled with views of London and the British countryside – as well as a few surprises. Park-to-park admission is required. <- class="Apple-converted-space" span=""> You see what they did? Give you a fantastic reason to pay to get into the formerly lame park.

Experience a groundbreaking new, multi-dimensional thrill ride, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, which will place riders in the middle of an incredible adventure as they navigate their way through the perils of the Gringotts vaults.

Witness the magical experience of a wand choosing a wizard at Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC, one of the wizarding world’s premier wand shops.

Discover the darker side of magic in Knockturn Alley, the darkest of dark places that features Borgin and Burkes – a shop specializing in the Dark Arts that will offer a wide variety of Dark objects, such as Death Eater masks, skulls, and other sinister items. Awesome.

You'll get to explore some of Diagon Alley’s famous shops, including:

• Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, a vibrant shop featuring novelty items, magical jokes, and toys inspired by the books and films that will amaze the mischievous child in everyone.

• Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, where guests will find a variety of wizardwear from Hogwarts school uniform ties, scarves and jumpers, to authentic wizard’s robes and character costumes.

• Magical Menagerie, which features a collection of plush animals, such as owls and Hippogriffs.

• Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment, where guests can grab wizarding essentials such as telescopes, binoculars, armillary spheres, compasses, magnifying glasses and hourglasses.

• Quality Quidditch Supplies, offering a wide assortment of apparel and equipment including Quidditch sweaters, brooms, Golden Snitches, Bludgers, Bludger bats, Quaffles and more.

• Scribbulus, featuring authentic writing implements and products such as feather quills, ink and inkwells, bookmarks, journals, parchment paper, seals, stationery sets and postcards.

Enjoy traditional British fare that includes favorite dishes such as fish and chips, bangers and mash and more at the Leaky Cauldron. No word if they'll have spotted dick.

Visit Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour for frozen treats in a variety of tantalizing and unique flavors such as strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice-cream and many others.

Yes yes yes. Bring it all on. I can't wait.

Here Lies Love Returns to the Public Theatre

 

Here Lies Love, the fantastic musical about Imelda Marcos by David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim, is returning to the Public Theatre starting March 24th for an open-ended run. My tip of the day is get your tickets now! Last year Here Lies Love was the hottest ticket in New York City and for good reason: it's terrific. Here's what the Public Theatre has to say about the show:

"Within a pulsating dance club atmosphere, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim deconstruct the astonishing journey of Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos retracing her meteoric rise from childhood to her subsequent descent into infamy and disgrace at the end of the People Power Revolution. Here Lies Love is neither a period piece nor a biography, neither a play nor a traditional musical but a wholly immersive theatrical event combining songs influenced by four decades of dance music, adrenaline-fueled choreography, and a remarkable 360-degree scenic and video environment to go beyond Imelda’s near-mythic obsession with shoes and explore the true tragic consequences of power and responsibility."

I was fortunate enough to see it last year and loved every minute of it. It's a complete theatre-immersion experience. The space (The LuEsther) is set up to look like a disco and fewer than 200 people can fit in at one time. You stand the whole time but that's okay because you're dancing, you're shoulder to shoulder with the actors and you're having an amazing time.

And my friend Melody Butiu is in it and she rocks it.

You can buy the original concept album on iTunes. The cast album will be released this spring.

And here's a video from a benefit the cast did for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines a few months ago.

Free Bagel at Einstein Bros Bagels

Who doesn't like free stuff? Einstein Bros Bagels is giving away a free Thinstastic Bagel with Shmear tomorrow (1.15.14).

Escaped Prisoner Turns Himself In Because It's Too Cold

You know it's cold when an escaped prisoner calls the police to come get him because he's too damn cold. Robert Vick, 42, escaped from a minimum security facility in Lexington, KY on Sunday, but when the temperature dropped into the low single digits on Monday, Vick walked into a motel and asked the clerk to call police.

Wind chill temperatures were 20 below zero on Monday. So I'd say three hots and a cot looked a whole lot better than the frostbite he suffered.

New Year's Resolutions

 
Another year is upon us and that means another round of resolutions are made. I read somewhere that only 8% of New Year Resolutions are successful. That's not a great statistic but it might not be the worst thing in the world. Think of the stress relief when you no longer have to succeed at a resolution. Take my resolution to write a post every day in 2014. Already broken. Boom. I now have 362 stress-free days.

There are, however, some really wonderful resolutions for the new year.  Here are some I found. Mashable has an article 7 New Year's Resolutions That Take 5 Seconds Each. I particularly like:

• Keep in Touch With Your Parents. I have one left so I plan on keeping in touch with my mom as much as possible. She now has an iPhone so it's easy to text when we can't talk.
• Learn Something New Every Day. The coldest temperature ever recorded is -135.8F. FYI: a witch's tit is warmer.
• Help Someone Achieve Their Dreams. Crowdfunding sites, like Kickstarter and Indiegogo are hot. My friend Jane Lui did a Kickstarter campaign so she could record a kick-ass version of Waterfall. She met her goal in about an hour. Awesome.

The Daily Beast has 15 Achievable New Year's Resolutions. I fancy:

• If you want to quit smoking: This year, no smoking and pooping at the same time!
• If you want to eat better food: no meals from gas stations.
• If you are someone who struggles,who messes up, who dwells on past mistakes, who tries to do right, who imagines they are a sham, and not the person they can and should be: Yes, me too, and every single other human being in the world. This year, just try to be 4 percent nicer and carry around antibacterial gel.

And here's the video my friend Jane made.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. May 2014 bring you happiness beyond belief.

Here are some images of New Year celebrations from around the world.

New Year's Eve, London

New Year's Eve, Scotland

New Year's Eve, Moscow

New Year's Eve, Kuala Lumpur

New Year's Eve, Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong

New Year's Eve, New York

New Year's Eve, Great Wall, China

 

New Year's Eve, Taipei

Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

 
Today's song is not only a fantastic song but a cherished tradition on The David Letterman Show. In 1986 the incomparable Darlene Love performed Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and has performed the song every year since then.

A ton of people have covered the song since it first debuted in 1963 on the Phil Spector produced album A Christmas Gift To You From Phil Spector. But no one sings it like Darlene Love. No one. She's the original. She's the best. In fact, in 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) first on its list of The Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs.

A Christmas Gift To You From Phil Spector was released on November 22, 1963, the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Neither JFK nor the album faired well. But unlike JFK, the album has found new life over the years and in 2003 Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #142 in their 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time. Pretty darn good for a Christmas album.

Above is video of Darlene Love singing the song this year on Letterman.

Buy the song on iTunes here.

Get it for slightly cheaper on Amazon here.
 

Below is her singing it for the first time in 1986.

Hollywood Undead - Christmas in Hollywood

This Christmas song is not, I repeat, not a family song. It's Christmas in Hollywood by Los Angeles-based rap band Hollywood Undead.

I can't explain why I like this song. It's laced with foul language but I like the hook of the song. So if you're leaning towards a profanity-laced Christmas, this song is for you.

You can buy it at iTunes here.

Buy it at Amazon here.
 

Mel Torme - The Christmas Song (Michael Kessler Open Fire Mix)

What could be better than Mel Torme, The Velvet Fog,  singing The Christmas Song? How about Mel Torme singing The Christmas Song but remixed? Today's song is The Christmas Song (Michael Kessler Open Fire Mix).

I have no idea how this remix came to be but I like it.

The Christmas Song was written in 1944 by Mel Torme and Bob Wells in a blistering 40-minutes. Best 40-minutes of their lives. This is another song in which nearly everyone who has ever lived has covered it: Robert Goulet, Babyface, Twisted Sister, and The Temptations to name just a few. And I mean just a few.

Buy it at iTunes here.

Buy it at Amazon here.
 

Slow Club - It's Christmas and You're Boring Me

Here's a Christmas song  for everyone who's bitter at this time of year. It's Christmas and You're Boring Me by the English duo group Slow Club. It's a fantastic break up song. I mean come on, lots of people pick this time of year to break up and it sucks. Well, it sucks any time but it especially sucks at Christmas.

Your mother's heart is bursting for me
As we sit by her impressive tree
Her heart is open, but mine it is torn for her first-born
It's Christmas and you're boring me
Now what can I possibly do?
You've made me happy but you don't excite me
I'll wait till New Years to tell you we're through
This Christmas the bells ring out of tune

It's Christmas and You're Boring Me song was released in 2009 on the Christmas, Thanks For Nothing EP. What a fantastically bitter title. So if you're feeling bitter this holiday, this is the song for you.

Buy it at iTunes here.

Buy it at Amazon here.

Aimee Mann - Whatever Happened to Christmas

Christmas. It's all holly and jolly until melancholia sets in. Today's song - Whatever Happened to Christmas - matches my mood.

 Whatever Happened to Christmas was written by Jimmy Webb. I was just talking about him today. Jimmy Webb wrote a gazillion songs, among them Wichita Lineman and MacArthur Park. Whatever Happened to Christmas was first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1968 for the album The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.

I like the Sinatra version but Aimee Mann's version particularly grabs me. I think it's a beautiful and touching song.

You can but it at iTunes here.

Get it at Amazon here.
 

Lou Rawls - Christmas Is

Christmas Is, sung by Lou Rawls, is my song of the day. This song makes me sway and swoon. It's from Lou's album Merry Christmas Ho Ho Ho, which I believe was released on Jan 1, 1967. Missed the Christmas album buying window by that much.

Christmas Is has been a mainstay on my holiday play list for years. The opening sax is as smooth as a hot chocolate martini. Hmm. That's sounds yummy right about now. If you'll excuse me, I have a drink to make. But first, let me put on a some Lou Rawls.

Buy the song at iTunes here.

Keith Richards - Run Run Rudolph

What do The Grateful Dead, Kelly Clarkson, and Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mahyem all have in common? They've all recorded one of my favorite Christmas Songs - Run Run Rudolph.

But the version I prefer is by today's birthday boy, Keith Richards, who turns 70 years old today. Crikey. Happy birthday, Keith.

Keith's version is fantastic. It's gritty, it's rocking, and it's Keith Richards for crying out loud. It was released as a single and the B-side is Pressure Drop with Toots and the Maytals. How awesome is that!?

First recorded by Chuck Berry in 1958, the song was released as the single Run, Rudolph, Run on Chess Records (the same fantastic label that released The Gems' Love For Christmas). All subsequent releases of the song have been under the title Run Run Rudolph. Probably because that's what it says in the lyrics. I'm just guessing.

Buy it at iTunes here.

Buy it at Amazon here.

Amy Winehouse - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Here is a very rare recording of Amy Winehouse singing I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. I think it's from the Q Awards in 2004. Side note: The Pet Shop Boys were award the Q Inspiration Award and The Red Hot Chili Peppers won the Best Act in the World Today at the 2004 Q Awards.

Anyway, I'm a huge Amy Winehouse fan and and love this version of the song. The only place I've seen it released is on a Dutch produced CD compilation called Best of Christmas.

You can buy it at Amazon.
 

The Gems - Love For Christmas

Oh how I love the song Love For Christmas by The Gems. The Gems was a Chicago-based group from the early 1960s and featured a very young Minnie Riperton. Minnie went on to have a number one hit with Lovin' You in 1974. The Gems were on the Chess Records label, started by a couple of Polish immigrant brothers with the last name of Chess. Go figure. Love For Christmas was written by Raynard Miner, who also wrote the Jackie Wilson hit (You're Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.

 All that said, Love For Christmas is a terrific holiday song.

 You can buy the song on iTunes here.

 Get it at Amazon here.
 

The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song

I really dig The Christmas Song by the Danish band The Raveonettes.

This is such a great song. I don't have much to say about this song other than it's lovely and should be on your playlist.

Get it at iTunes here.

Get it at Amazon right below.
 

The Beginning of the End - Gee Whiz, It's Christmas

What's Christmas without a Christmas song with a Junkanoo beat? Exactly. So here's Gee Whiz, It's Christmas by The Beginning of the End. The Beginning of the End was a band from Nassau, Bahamas.

They formed in 1969, released their Funky Nassau album in 1971, hit number 15 in the Billboard Top 100 Chart, and then abruptly dropped out of sight. But this version of Gee Whiz, It's Christmas is the one that rings my bell.

Buy it on iTunes here.