Cleaning wax off your menorah is slightly easier than dismantling an 8-foot tall fir tree

It's the second night of Hanukkah. The fried food is still appetizing. And here's some more Hanukkah songs for you -

The Chanukah Song Part 2  Adam Sandler -




Little Drum Machine Boy  Beck -




The Ballad of Judah Maccabee  Margie Rosenthal and Ilene Safyan -




The Rocky Hora Chanukah Song   The Shlomones -




Swingin' Dreidel Kenny Ellis -




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.


Two songs from Frozen (if you are easily susceptible to earworms - do not listen to them.)





Really, don't open them if you can help yourself.



And so it goes.

No big, fat guy getting stuck in your chimney

Remember: Hanukkah means "dedication".



And you add the candles from right to left but light them left to right. So, let the serious eating commence


Original Hanukkah Song Adam Sandler -



Hanukkah Song Mashup Dance Spectacular!



Latke Recipe  The Maccabeats -



Ocho Kandelikas  Flory Jagoda -



The Dreidel Song  South Park -



Please pace yourself - Eight days is a long time. And kids, know when a simple game becomes an addiction - please no actual gambling while playing with your dreidels. Gamblers Anonymous (718) 352-1671


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:

Evolution of Santa Claus -



Santa School -



Santa Claus and His Helpers (1964)



Santa Claus  The Sonics-



Boogie Woogie Santa Claus  Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra -




Today is the 51st anniversary of the original broadcast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, we have another Christmas video countdown today - Rudolph!

Rudolph was born 76 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) -



Mad TV: Raging Rudolph -



Mad TV: Reinfather



various commercials feature Rudolph and his friends -

Aren't there any non-union leaping lords?

OK kids, PNC bank has reported that there is a .6% increase in the price of the items needed for the 12 days of Christmas. In the 32nd year of their survey, PNC has found that the 12 items come out to a grand total of $34,130.99, a mere $197.77 increase from last year. (I did not know this but you do not get any bargains by purchases these item online; buying all 12 items from the comfort of your living room would cost you $43,626.73, an increase of 1.6% from last years total of $42,959.07.)

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 $155,407.18 !

Bing Crosby & The Andrew Sisters -




The Twelve Daze of Christmas -




The Twelve Days of Yaksmas -




Allan Sherman -




Yet Another Partridge In A Pear Tree -




Fay's 12 days of Christmas (1995) -


(sorry about the promos in the beginning of this video - the actual video starts about 7 minutes into this clip)



And so it goes.

Until the other kiddies knock them down

ACME has been court ordered again, I mean that we've asked back one of our guest programmers to share with us some of their favorite Christmas songs. When I explained to Julietta that she had to pick different songs than the ones that she picked last year - her direct quote - "Well that just sucks. I already told you my favorites."  With that ringing endorsement, here are SOS' choices for this year;

Sleigh Ride -



Although this song is often sited as one of the top 10 Christmas songs, the song's lyrics specifically has no mention of the holiday or religious connection.


Christmas (Baby Please Come Home.) -



Darlene Love climbed onto Paul Shaffer's piano at the end of the song in an effort to avoid breaking down in tears - she knew she would cry if David Letterman hugged her, so she took to the piano because she knew he wouldn't follow her up there.


Do You Hear What I Hear? -



(Here's a great bar bet winner - not that SOS is in the habit of making bar bets - the songwriters,  Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne, who were married at the time, wrote the song as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis.)


Santa Claus Is Coming to Town -



The song become and instant hit after it was sung on the Eddie Cantor radio show in 1934 and sold over 30,000 within the first 24 hours.


Winter Wonderland -



Once again, here is another holiday classic that makes no direct mention of Christmas.

And so it goes.

... if you feel it, you can't help but move to it.

As our tribute to the anniversary of St. Elvis' comeback -

It's an Elvis Christmas today

White Christmas




Santa Bring My Baby Back (to me)




Merry Christmas Baby




Lonely This Christmas




If you all tingly in your nether regions, don't worry,

you're listening to Elvis; he understands.

There's no ego when you're a ukulele player.

Nothing says Happy Holidays more that a pair of ukulele playing knitted puppets - It's the annual U900 Christmas Special featuring Usagi-no U (Rabbit U) and Kuma-no Kulele (Bear 900).



And so it goes

Life during Wartime

Not to be a Debbie Downer but sometimes the underlying reason for the holidays is lost in the fog of war - Today's theme - The holidays during wartime -


The Christmas Truce on the Western Front of 1914 -




I’ll Be Home for Christmas  Bing Crosby -




Christmas Eve In My Home Town  Eddie Fisher -




Christmas in Viet Nam  Soul Searchers -




Christmas in Fallujah  Billy Joel -




Christmas in Afghanistan with 2nd platoon Angel Company 3-187th INF (2014)




Happy Xmas (War Is Over)





And so it goes