A Christmas Gift For You
2003
For a brief time, I'm offering free MP3's of a five treasures
from my voluminous collection - songs I love and that I'm confident you can't
find easily at any store.
These are relatively lo-fi files (128 kbps), so no one should get too upset (we
hope) at this petty larceny. Click on the pictures, song titles, or MP3 links to
get your Christmas off to a rockin' start! Like Phil
Spector, I'm pleased to offer this Christmas gift for
you.
Randy Anthony
BRYAN ADAMS, "REGGAE CHRISTMAS" (1984)
Yes, Bryan Adams - the Canadian rocker of renowned mediocrity - cut a holiday
record I cherish. "Reggae Christmas" is, in fact, best remembered
as the b-side to a truly excrable ballad, "Christmas Time." Adams
and company, however, really have a blast on the faux rasta flip, and
it's a record that I think you'll cherish, too. (Originally issued as
a fan club bonus single in 1984, it is this rare issue that is pictured.
Also released one year later as the B-side to "Christmas Time";
this is the more common version - relatively easy to find on festive
green-vinyl.)
MP3,
2.5 MB (ripped from vinyl)
KARLA DEVITO, "SANTA
CLAUS IS COMING TO MY HOUSE" (1982)
Karla DeVito was cute as a bug and possessed of a voice the size of a house
when she emerged full-formed on an unsuspecting pop scene in the early 80's.
Sadly, the world proved unready for a brash, quirky, diminutive howler from
New York City. Though that would all change when Cyndi Lauper broke large
just a few years later, Karla DeVito's recording career ended after a brief
period of notoriety. Devito's debut LP, "Is This A Cool World Or What," was
brilliant, and this song followed the next Christmas - an irresistible flute
of bubbly camp.
MP3,
2.3 MB (ripped from vinyl)
KEITH RICHARDS, "RUN RUDOLPH
RUN" (1978)
This 45 - the first solo recording Keith Richards ever released - predates
the fabled New Barbarian tour by a year and Keith's first proper solo album
by a decade. In fact, both sides of the single - the Chuck Berry Christmas
chestnut featured here and Jimmy Cliff's reggae anthem "The Harder They
Come" - had their genesis in some aborted sessions circa 1976-1977.
Regardless, the sound is classic Keef - raw, rockin', spirited, and soulful.
Out of all the reindeer, we know who's the mastermind....
MP3,
2.9 MB (ripped from vinyl)
TREACHEROUS THREE, "SANTA'S
RAP" (1984)
This storied trio of hip hop pioneers is best remembered for two things -
spawning rap star Kool Moe Dee and performing this song in Beat Street,
one of several hip hop flicks from the early 80's. Like many great rap records, "Santa's
Rap" (which also features Doug E. Fresh - not a regular member of the
crew) is both scabrous and side-splitting, a bleak tale of ghetto holidays
leavened by ribald jokes and dirty dozens. Interestingly, "Santa's Rap" (a.k.a. "Xmas
Rap") was bleeped and truncated on the original 45 and soundtrack LP;
the MP3 I've provided for you is the full-length, unexpurgated version.
MP3,
5.5 MB (ripped from CD)
WEEZER, "CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION" (2000)
The story of Weezer is a story of pop redemption - a story I hope to tell
more completely at a later date. "Christmas Celebration" is
extracted from a two-song promotional disc Weezer issued as they prepared
to cap their unlikely comeback with 2001's amazing Weezer (the
green album). The song is exactly what we've come to expect from Rivers
Cuomo and company - the loudest, best pop since Cheap Trick, plus ennui
out the ass.
MP3,
2.1 MB (ripped from CD)