A Beezer's Dozen...My Top 12 Christmas Songs

It's the Holiday Season...And I haven't felt very festive...I've been too busy at work, and too broke to really get going into Christmas too much...We also just knocked out Molly's 4th birthday Sunday...4 years already...Holy shit...Now that both the girls birthdays are out of the way, it's time to get our Christmas on...So, I thought I'd revisit the old Christmas songs to see if that would help get me in the spirit...

So lets get right to it...

1. The Kinks- Father Christmas....The poor kids anthem, and a classic Kinks riff...




2. Billy Squier- Christmas is a Time to Say I Love You...Showing my age...The days when MTV played music...Totally underrated Christmas song...





3. Dead Sara- Snow in Los Angeles...This is a new one...Released a couple years just after I had done a list of Christmas songs...This one shot up right away on my list...




4. Pearl Jam- Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time) Back in the early '90s none of us expected  these guys to do a Christmas song, but they did, and it's excellent...





5.  "Blue Christmas"  This one is an old standard...It always makes me think of those I wish were still with us...I'm sure there are plenty of people feeling this year...I don't like Elvis...And since my favorite band did it a couple years ago, I'll go with them...Our Lady Peace...





6. The Pretenders- 2000 Miles...I just flat-out love this song...My favorite song from the Pretenders...




7. Daniel Mustard- Since Santa Ain't Coming...I shared this a couple weeks ago...An anti-Christmas song, from a guy who just months before recoding it was homeless...





8. Let it Snow...Another old standard...You gotta love how Dean could lay it down...And I have to say, the Rat Pack Christmas album is awesome...





9. Silent Night....I'm going with the Sarah McLachlan version...But there are so many great versions, it's hard to screw up...If you really want to get depressed check out the Lisa Hannigan version...Uhgg





10. Chris Cornell- Ave Maria...Everyone knew the Soundgarden front man could sing, but when he did this for 1997's  "A Very Special Christmas Volume 3" everyone was blown away to hear just how amazing of a singer he is...




11. "Memory"  -Savatage...Long before you heard of TSO, some of those guys were in a group called Savatage that loved to write Metal Operas...This is from one called "Dead Winter Dead"...It's also where that famous TSO "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) came from...



12. "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis"  -Tom Waits...It's a beautiful song about, just what the title says...There is also a great remake by Neko Case...




That's it...What do you think?  What are your favorite Christmas songs?

If you're interested, here's my LIST of the 15 top Christmas Movies...

Have a week...

The Beeze.

Monday Moaning

 

Christmas is just about here, and Santa needs to get busy...But he always has time to not only give, but sometimes, he likes to receive as well...And the Beeze has been busy too...I've been trying my best to get into the Christmas spirit...And once the world didn't end Friday, I was forced to...The Mrs. and I had done no Christmas shopping at all...So Friday I did a little after a hellish day at work...Saturday morning she did a bunch...Then Saturday afternoon I went out and finished...

But I still wasn't super Christmasy...So I dug in and did some blogging...I posted my top 15 Christmas movies HERE...and my top Christmas songs HERE...

Sunday lead to spending more money on groceries for our annual family Christmas Eve party...It's become a tradition at our house, that my oldest daughter won't let die...I hope to one day have a bigger house and add friends to the mix, but right now it's just family...Mostly my side...The menu isn't fancy...We'll have a ham...Hanky Pankies...(ground meet, sausage, cheese, oregano, garlic, all mixed together and baked on party rye's)...Buffalo Chicken Dip...Shrimp Cocktail...My Holiday Balls...(Meat balls, thrown in a crock pot with chili sauce and grape jelly...Shockingly awesome!)...Beer, wine, soda, and my holiday punch...(Raspberry sherbet, ginger ale, strawberries, and vodka)...

So my Sunday was full getting that stuff together, and getting the kids out of the house so, my wife could get all the kids stuff wrapped, and hidden...Once again the kids and I went skating...The boy is getting better each time...

I watched a little of the Browns game...They looked like dirt, stinkin' ass...Bunch of guys got hurt..Who cares...After the game Josh Cribbs started firing off tweets at fans who are finally seeing what I've seen...The guy has become useless...Way to botch a punt return...Returns are all this guy did really well, now he sucks at those too...He's talking about leaving, and let me be the first to say, goodbye!    Fucking waste of a roster spot!

The Indians signed Nick Swisher to a $56 million contract for 5 years...He's 32...WHY!?! So he can strike out a lot like the other guys they picked up this off-season...Oh, and lets not how he faded out last year with the Yankees...What is he going to finish the season strong with the Indians now...Surrounded by a weaker lineup, and out of the playoff hunt...People are excited about this move...Not this Cleveland pessimist...I think it's another mistake, in a long line of front office mistakes...

See people, this is why I was digging into Christmas hard...Because Cleveland sports make me sick...So, I'm announcing my baseball fandom is going to test the free agency market...I'll decide on which team I'm gonna get on board with in April, and for how long...As the NFL rolls into the playoffs, I'm all in with the Patriots...But I'll be rooting for the Seahawks in the NFC...Shit, I love how gritty that team is...Did you see them just blow up the 49ers Sunday night...42-13...WOW!

Next week, I'll have more sports for you...The College Bowl madness will be in full swing, and I'll be getting geared up for Notre Dame vs. Alabama...Can't wait!

With that all said, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas...Or Happy whatever the fuck you celebrate...Just be sure to enjoy it, and enjoy it with the ones you love...

I'll leave you with a song from a group called Savatage...They did "Metal Operas" back in the day...Eventually a couple of them started Trans-Siberian-Orchestra...I always break this album out around Christmas, because the story takes place at Christmas time...The famous TSO "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo)" was originally on this disc...This is the closing song, and I still love it...(Thanks Chorba)





Merry Christmas..Have a week...

The Beeze.

The Beeze's Top Christmas Songs

So last night I broke out my favorite Christmas movies...So of course now it's time to take a look at my top Christmas tunes...Again, not going with the normal numbers...This time I'm stopping at 11...

1.  "Father Christmas"  -The Kinks...The poor kids anthem...Classic Kinks riff...




(Bad video quality but good sound) 

2. "Christmas is a Time to Say I Love You"  -Billy Squier...From the good ole days when MTV played music...To me this has always been an underrated Christmas tune...




3. "2000 Miles"  -The Pretenders...I just love this song...I would call this the best Pretenders song...




4. "Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time)"  -Pearl Jam...Back in the early '90s none of us expected  these guys to do a Christmas song, but they did, and it's excellent...




5.  "Blue Christmas"  This one is an old standard...It always makes me think of those I wish were still with us...I'm sure there are plenty of people feeling this year...I don't like Elvis...And since my favorite band did it a couple years ago, I'll go with them...Our Lady Peace...




6.  "Since Santa Ain't Coming"  -Daniel Mustard...For being an anti-Christmas song it's good...But it falls under the scope of Christmas songs, and I like it...




7. "Christmas Song"  -Sleeves...Here's an odd one...A little known one...But it's catchy...




8. "Memory"  -Savatage...Long before you heard of TSO, some of those guys were in a group called Savatage that loved to write Metal Operas...This is from one called "Dead Winter Dead"...It's also where that famous TSO "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) came from...




9. "Let It Snow"  -Dean Martin...Another old standard...You gotta love how Dean could lay it down...And I have to say, the Rat Pack Christmas album is awesome...




10. "Silent Night"  I'm going with the Sarah McLachlan version...But there are so many great versions, it's hard to screw up...If you really want to get depressed check out the Lisa Hannigan version...Uhgg





11. "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis"  -Tom Waits...It's a beautiful song about, just what the title says...There is also a great remake by Neko Case...





That's my list...What's yours like...

The Beeze.