The kids are going to be a little hyper today

Here's 31 Things You Didn't Know about Holiday Songs



Well, maybe you knew some of these facts (especially if you've been playing the home version.)




We're all having our Christmas Eve dinner of the seven fishes, we keep losing track of how many fishes we've consumed, (it might have something to do with the number of bottles of white wine that we've consumed.)

Why not watch these cartoons for your family while we try to sober up -

Topsy Turvy World  Rocky and Bullwinkle -




Son of Stimpy   Ren and Stimpy  -




One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.


Now that you're in the proper mood for the holidays - I'll leave you with these thoughts from Ogden Nash and his poem: The Boy Who Laughed At Santa Claus.



I've told my kids and maybe you'll tell yours - Dammit kids, get to bed!  The sooner you go to sleep, the quicker Christmas will be here.



Norad Santa



And so it goes.

It's the Eighth night of Hanukkah.

You've probably run out of gifts at this point, wrap your family's fresh laundry as the gift that shows you've done the laundry.

At this point, look up a local oil recycler - it will do better for everyone as a biofuel.


And here, I promise, is the last set of songs celebrating Hanukkah -

Hanukkah With Veronica Monica




Hanukkah in Santa Monica  Quire Cleveland -




The Holiday Armadillo  Friends -




Schlepp the Halls with loaves of Hallah  The Three Weissmen -




Santa Gey Gezunderheit  The Klezmonauts -



Hey, somebody has to clean up all of that wax on the break front. And somebody's got to call the guys who pick up used cooking oil for bio-fuel. 


It's only fair play: Today's Christmas video countdown - Male Rockers Perform:

Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto  James Brown -




Pretty Paper  Roy Orbison -




Blue Christmas  Lou Reed  -




Merry Christmas Baby  Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -




Christmas Island   Bob Dylan -




Christmas, Baby Please Come Home   U2  -




Feliz Navidad  Jose Feliciano -




Fairytale Of New York   The Pogues & Kirsty McColl -



And speaking of alcoholic holidays, here the wonderful poem A Child's Christmas in Wales read by it's author, Dylan Thomas -




And so it goes.

There are 2 days until Christmas

Open a window someone.

It's the seventh night of Hanukkah.



That oil is a tad rancid

If you can stand it, more Hanukkah songs

Chanukah Medley performed by the London Jewish Male Choir  -




Chanukah Yippie I Oh!    Dovid Kerner  -




Chanukah Lights   The Jabberwocks of Brown University -




Hashtags: #HanukkahSongs  -




Maybe I've miscounted, it is the seventh night?


Another favorite Christmas video countdown - Sisters are doing it for themselves: Female Performers:


Merry Christmas Baby  Etta James  -




Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day   Brenda Lee  -




Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem   Annie Lennox -




Christmas Wrapping   The Waitresses -




Three Ships  Cyndi Lauper -




It's Christmas Time  Melissa Etheridge -




The Christmas Song   Sheryl Crow -




Santa Claus Is Coming To Town  Stevie Nicks (with Chris Isaak) -




And so it goes.

The magic is starting to wear a little thin

It's the Sixth Night of Hanukkah

At this point you may want to skip the unnecessary calories and just drink the oil - but not too much. Mussolini used to use this as a torture for his political enemies.


Chanukah Royals Parody




Telly plays Drediel




CBS Cares Hanukkah Pap Smear PSA




Bruce Bruce the Hanukkah Moose  Bob Rubin -




You should begin thinking about where you are going to store your Menorah? (I don't mean to insinuate that you aren't normally observant. Perhaps you proudly display your heirloom menorah in your living room. I can't be everywhere.)


Remember, on TV, it's Christmas 365 days a year.

Our Second Christmas Countdown - It's a TV Christmas

Cold Turkey Absolutely Fabulous -




Merry Christmas Mrs Moskowitz  Frasier -




My Own Personal Jesus  Scrubs -




She Of Little Faith  The Simpsons -



The Alan Brady Show  The Dick Van Dyke Show -




His Busiest Season  The Bob Newhart Show -





And so it goes.

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.

It's the Fifth Night of Hanukkah

Impress your friends: The fifth night of Hanukkah is called 'the darkest night', not because it falls on one of the last days of the Hebrew month of Kislev (meaning there is no moon), but because it is the only night of Hanukkah that can NEVER fall on Shabbat.

Happy Joyous Hanuka   The Klezmatics -




Rolling in the Deep   Ash Soular -




How Do You Spell Channukkah?




Eight Nights  StandFour -



The oil fatigue may have already set in. Hold on, you will get through this.


Our other holiday special - Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people

December 20, 1946 -
The Frank Capra film It's A Wonderful Life had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, (a day before its official premiere) on this date.



The film is regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world, although, due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office, financially, it was considered a flop.



(Another, more adult alternate ending of the film) -



This is truly a strange little film.




It's a little sadder Christmas season: Darlene Love made her final appearance on the David Letterman Show last night to sing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) -



Darlene Love's 2014 appearance




And here's Darlene Love's very first Christmas appearance on the David Letterman Show
 



Our Second Christmas video countdown – Happy Holiday from Prisoner 1073015
Phil Spector - Biography




The Phil Spector Christmas Album




(Just in case you missed it last night.)
Jay Thomas and the Lone Ranger Story  (2014)





And so it goes.

You know, Godiva makes Kosher Chocolate.

It's the Fourth Night of Hanukkah - Don't leave small children unsupervised in the kitchen.  Especially with all that hot oil.



now it time to figure out how to send all the mishpokhe home.


What is Chanukah and How Do You Spell it?  This Week in Jewish History -




The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming




Look To The Light  Erran Baron Cohen -




Happy Hanukkah  Matisyahu -



Check to see if the oil has gone rancid?


Our second holiday them - Guess the theme?

Silver Bells




Let It Snow




It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year




Santa Baby




Get outside and get a little exercise: with all of the eating everyone's been doing, you probably need it.



And so it goes.

It's candle lighting time again

Tonight is the third night of Hanukkah -



Let's see what's on the Victrola for Hanukkah this evening -

The Chanukah Song Part 3  Adam Sandler -




Chanukah Light  Ari Goldwag -




Chanukah Makes You Jewtiful  Jew Direction -




Hanukkah: Fighting the Darkness with Light



Remember to eat some steamed vegetables or a bran muffin.


Today's other Christmas countdown - Holiday Cartoons:

Mickey's Good Deed (1932)  -




Santa's Surprise (1947) -




A Space Ghost Christmas -




Somewhere in Dreamland 1936 -




Christmas Night (aka Pals) 1933  -



I'm not sure how long you can keep being on the 'nice' list this year.  Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip.


And so it goes

Tonight is the second night of Hanukkah -

And here's some more Hanukkah songs for you -

The Chanukah Song Part 2  Adam Sandler -




All About That Neis  The Maccabeats -




Chanukah (Shake It Off)   Six13 -




Dreidel  Shir Soul -




And our second special of the evening

December 17, 1843 (there is some controversy concerning this actual date) -

Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, on this date. Dickens wrote the novel after his first commercial failure. His previous novel, Martin Chuzzlewit had flopped, and he was suddenly strapped for cash. Martin Chuzzlewit had been satirical and pessimistic, and Dickens thought he might be more successful if he wrote a heartwarming tale with a holiday theme.



He got the idea for the book in late October of 1843, the story of the heartless Ebenezer Scrooge, who has so little Christmas spirit that he wants his assistant Bob Cratchit to work on Christmas Day.

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Dickens struggled to finish the book in time for Christmas. He no longer had a publisher so he published the book himself, ordering illustrations, gilt-edged pages and a lavish red bound cover. He priced the book at a mere 5 shillings, in hopes of making it affordable to everyone. It was released within a week of Christmas and was a huge success, selling six thousand copies the first few days, and the demand was so great that it quickly went to second and third editions.



God bless us, everyone!!!


Our other holiday video countdown – A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1984) -



Scrooge (1951) -



(It isn't really Christmas in our home unless we are watching this at about 2 am Christmas morning 'assisting Santa' with the gifts.)

A Christmas Carol  Thug Notes -



Scrooge Gets an Oscar  The Odd Couple -




And there is no better way to get into the holiday spirit than drinking spirits -


Eggnog is usually thought of as a Christmas beverage and to tell the truth I am not a huge fan of Eggnog. So I find it amusing that the recipe that I'm posting is for Eggnog.

Coquito, a Puerto Rican twist on the classic, is a family favorite and I thought I’d share it with you and perhaps you can try it out on your family.

Please note: these drinks go down quite smoothly and are very potent – they could be administered as a calmative for frayed nerves during the holiday season.

Ingredients:

* 4 large egg yolks
* 1/4 cup of sugar
* 1/2 can of (14-ounces) condensed milk
* 1 14-ounce cans evaporated milk
* 1 1/2 cans of 15-ounce cans cream of coconut
* 1/2 of a Fifth of white rum (or more)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon coconut (or vanilla) extract


Tools:

* Drink Blender
* Can opener
* Glass


Directions:
Add the egg yolks, sugar, spices and vanilla into the blender. Mix until well blended.

Add the evaporated & condensed milk to the blender and briefly mix. (Condensed milk is very thick - you may want to open the can up all the way and scrap out all of the milk with a spatula.)

Vigorously shack the can of cream of coconut (it tends to separate.) Pour the cream of coconut into the blender and mix well. Scrap out any remaining coconut stuff from the can.

Add the rum and mix. Taste. If you think you need more rum, add it.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve cold.


A Christmas Carol  Tom Lehrer -





And so it goes

You add them from right to left but light them left to right.

Hanukkah means "dedication"



so let the serious eating commence


Original Hanukkah Song  Adam Sandler -




Scarlett Johansson & Matt Damon’s ‘Chanukah Special’  -



The Hebrew Hammer -



Dreidels  Louis Black -



And kids, know when a simple game becomes an addiction - please no actual gambling while playing with your dreidels. Gamblers Anonymous (718) 352-1671

Remember, pace yourself - Eight days is a long time


Today's other theme is funny Christmas songs (that aren't about the vehicular homicide of your grandmother by St. Nick,)


Five Pound Box Of Money  Pearl Bailey -




There Are Much Worse Things to Believe In   Stephen Colbert -




Christmas in Heaven  Monty Python -




 Merry Christmas...If That's Okay  Mystery Science Theater 3000 -




And why not, Christmastime for the Jews  SNL -



So laugh it up folks


And so it goes.

It's that time of year again

OK kids, PNC bank has reported that there is a 1% increase in the price of the items needed for the 12 days of Christmas. In the 31th year of the survey PNC has found that the 12 items come out to a grand total of $27,673.21.  $27,393 which is a $1,762 increase from last year.



These prices are, of course, just for one verse of the song. If you add up the total cost of all the items from the entire song (what PNC Wealth Management calls “The True Cost of Christmas”) it would surmount $116,273!

Burl Ives  -




Bob and Doug MacKenzie -




The Twelve Days of Yaksmas -




Allan Sherman -




Frank Kelly's Christmas Countdown-




Polkadot Cadaver -





And so it goes.





There are 10 days until Christmas.

Mobbed Up Christmas again

Today's Christmas countdown - Those gentlemen from Bensonhurst were so moved by our themes concerning Frank and Dino that after much grappa and threatened 'kisses of death', I have be persuaded (forced at gunpoint) to have another Mobbed Up Christmas this year. This is not to say that any of these singers are in anyway associated with organized crime. It's just that Frankie Cervello, Molluschi Vincenzo, Joey Finocchio, etc, 'requested' these songs.


Shake Hands with Santa Claus  Louis Prima -




Merry Christmas Baby  Dion -




Do You Hear What I Hear?  Bobby Vinton  -




O Come All Ye Faithful   Al Martino -




The Christmas Song   Jimmy Roselli -



After many shots (of scotch) and plates of scungilli, baccalà alla vicentina and fried calamari, the boys want to wish everyone 'Buon Natale'.

If you drink don't drive. Don't even putt.

OK, Frank wasn't the only member of the Rat Pack to sing carols -

today's theme is A Dean Martin's Christmas (Dean died on Christmas day in 1995.)


Silent Night  -




Jingle Bells -




The Things We Did Last Summer -




Silver Bells -




What the hell, let's have Dean and Frank sing a medley for Christmas -




Ahhh, you can practically taste the Bourbon in the air.

And so it goes.

There are 13 days until Christmas.

May your days be merry and bright; It's a Sinatra Christmas

I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, fine family - and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.

I'll be home for Christmas  -




Christmas Dreaming  -




O, Little Town Of Bethlehem -




Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! -




There are things about organized religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in his name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion, and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions…I'm for decency—period. I'm for anything and everything that bodes love and consideration for my fellow man. But when lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday—count me out.


Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank  -




And so it goes.


There are 4 days until the start of Hanukkah.

Happy families are all alike (part 2)

... even kids abused by their domineering father- (the Motown edition)

Today's Christmas countdown - A Jackson Five Christmas


Little Christmas Tree -




Someday At Christmas -




Up on the Housetop  -




Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer   -




We here at ACME are wishing you time to enjoy the simple pleasures of this holiday season. 

And if not, Joe will be coming by to give you the beating of your life.


And so it goes.

There are 14 days until Christmas.

Happy families are all alike (part 1)

Even kids abused by their domineering father

Today's Christmas countdown - A Beach Boys Christmas

The Man with All the Toys -




Little Saint Nick   -



Blue Christmas -




Another Christmas song they got around to sing in between the verbal abuse from their father -



There is no place like home for the holiday.



And so it goes.


There are 6 days until the start of Hanukkah.
There are 15 days until Christmas.

It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.

Charlie Brown Christmas  Performed by the Cast of Scrubs -



A Christmas Miracle  The Making of a Charlie Brown Christmas -



A Charlie Brown Christmas  Vince Guaraldi Trio -




In honor of our depressed little pal:  Let's all get in the mood and have a depressing Christmas -

Faith In Santa  Red Sovine -




Merry Christmas from the Family  Jill Sobule -




Pretty Paper  Roy Orbison -




Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)  Sufjan Stevens -




7 O’Clock News/Silent Night  Simon And Garfunkel  -




You may daub your eyes now, you just have a little dust in them.  I know you are not crying.



There are 7 days until the start of Hanukkah.

There are 16 days until Christmas.

Count your life by smiles, not tears

Love is the flower you've got to let grow.

This is a better way to remember John Lennon on this sad anniversary






Here's my second guest programmer - Olivia's favorite Christmas jingles (Wow, if I could only have them decorate the house for Christmas every night, I could have them asleep by 8 PM all the time.)

Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey  Lou Monte -



(None of us at ACME are endorsing this song but our guest programmer wanted to play it - so be it.)


I want a hippopotamus for Christmas  Gayla Peevey -



(Once again, we're not endorsing it; do you have control over your 12 year old's taste.)


Carol of the Bells  Trans-Siberian Orchestra -




Jingle Bells Rocks  Mean Girls -




Hark to the Bells  Pentatonix -





And so it goes



There are 8 days until the start of Hanukkah.
There are 17 days until Christmas.

But you can bet your boots ...

December 7, 1969 -
Another Rankin/Bass production, Frosty the Snowman, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Voice actress June Foray was cast for both Karen and the Teacher and had recorded vocals for both characters. However, only her recordings for the Teacher made it into the final special as another actress was called in to replace Foray's Karen, for reasons that even Foray herself to this day does not know.


The original recording of  Frosty The Snowman by Gene Autry was his seasonal follow-up to his successful recording of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1949.



This time he peaked at #7 in December 1950.


The Snow Man (1940)




Frosty The Snowman (1953)




Snowman's Dilemma (1960)




The Snowman (1982)



When this program first aired on PBS stations in the United States, the introduction featured a newly filmed introduction by David Bowie instead of Raymond Briggs on the grounds that the animation needed a star.



And so it goes.


There are 9 days until the start of Hanukkah.

There are 18 days until Christmas.

Be good for goodness sake!

It's the Feast of Saint Nicholas (yes, that St. Nick.) Amongst other things, he is the patron saint of children and was known for his generosity. He's also known as the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, merchants, the falsely accused, prostitutes (Huh), repentant thieves, pharmacists and broadcasters.

Let's check out some other ways St. Nick has been portrayed:

'Zat You Santa Claus -




Santa School  -




History of Santa -




It Must Be Santa -




Today is the 50th anniversary of the original broadcast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, we have a second Christmas video countdown today - Rudolph!

Rudolph was born 75 years ago this Christmas season, at the Montgomery Ward department store headquarters in Chicago. He was the star of a humble coloring book, written by a copywriter, Robert May, who almost named the protagonist “Reginald.” May, who’d been lonely as a child, based the character on himself. Store executives fretted that shoppers might think Rudolph’s nose was red because he was drunk, but something about Rudolph’s story spoke to people. He was an outcast, down on his luck. When Santa gave him a job (it was the Great Depression, after all)—well, something clicked. That Christmas, the company passed out two and a half million copies of the book

Original Rankin/Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer GE Commercials




Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer  1944 -




Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  The Simpsons -




Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  Destiny's Child -

There are 10 days until the start of Hanukkah.
There are 19 days until Christmas.

We interrupt our regular programming

Once again, we've asked back one of our guest programmers (I actually had no choice, I was court ordered,) to give us a few of her favorite holiday songs.  Take it away Julietta -

Last Christmas  Wham -




All I Want For Christmas Is You  Mariah Carey -




Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer  Elmo and Patsy -




Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer  Gene Autry -




Carol of the Bells  Trans-Siberian Orchestra -





There are 11 days until the start of Hanukkah.



There are 20 days until Christmas.

Nothing says Christmas more ...

... that a pair of ukelele playing knitted puppets - It's a U800 Christmas Special




There are 12 days until the start of Hanukkah.
There are 21 days until Christmas.

Elvis is still in the building (for the moment.)

As our tribute to the anniversary of St. Elvis' comeback - It's an Elvis Christmas today

Here comes Santa Claus (right down Santa Claus Lane) 




If I get home on Christmas Day




On a Snowy Christmas Night




Winter Wonderland




If you all tingly in your nether regions, don't worry, you're listening to Elvis; he understands.





There are 13 days until the start of Hanukkah.

There are 22 days until Christmas.

War is hell on the postal service

Today's Christmas theme - The holiday during wartime -


The Christmas Truce on the Western Front of 1914 -




White Christmas  Bing Crosby -




The Reason For The Season   Christmas message - Korean War -




Silent Night & the 11 O'Clock News  The Shurfine Singers -




Is It Christmas In Iraq? (2006)




Christmas in Afghanistan with 2-87 Infantry (2013)




Happy Xmas (War Is Over)




There are 14 days until the start of Hanukkah.

Our Seventh Annual Holiday video festival.

Once again the holiday season (for better or worse) is upon us.

Today, we bring you - Really Bad Christmas songs


Justin Bieber - Little Drummer Boy



I strongly advice you to just briefly listen to this song, listening to the entire clip may induce madness.


The Jingle Cats - White Christmas



I can only think of one reason to listen to this song, if you needed to break you lease.  Playing it continuously in your apartment, while you are safely in another state would drive your neighbors to beg your landlord to get rid of you.


Duck the Halls - Ragin' Cajun Redneck Christmas



The faux-down home family Robinson continue to pull the wool over the unsuspecting eyes of the gullible public with this awful tune about their 'simple country' Christmas celebrations.


The Cheeky Girls - Have A Cheeky Christmas



I can only believe that this group exist as a rejected Vladimir Putin Christmas gift


And our perennial favorite -

NewSong – The Christmas Shoes



What list of cheesy holiday songs would be complete without this wretched dreck concerning a filthy child's odd foot fetish with his dying mother - always an uplifting tune.



But I will give Patton the final word on the subject.



There are 16 days until the start of Hanukkah.

There are 25 days until Christmas.