christmas

I'm really not the biggest fan of Christmas. The actual holiday I don't mind, but the buildup sucks. I'm not going to go into a rant about commercialism and exploitation, but lets just say sometimes it's a little too much. I mean, I know the birth of Santa Claus (that's what Christmas is about, right?) is important, but do we need to hear Christmas songs in mid-November? This also makes me dislike most Christmas music. Exceptions include this rocking version of Oh Come All Ye Faithful.




Talk about sacrilegious! It sure does rock though.



Also, leave it to Phil Spector to make fine art out of the same old bland Christmas songs.



I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - The Ronettes
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love
Frosty the Snowman - The Ronettes

This album is fantastic. Bob B Soxx and The Blue Jeans, and the Crystals are also on it.

But we all know it's not really Christmas until you hear this...



All I want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey

Spectoriffic

Just a little simple math here. "Then He Kissed Me" + "Be My Baby" = "Back to Me" by the Positions. Is this a bad thing? Nah, if you're gonna bite, they picked the right person to bite from. Both parts are taken pretty obviously too, so maybe we can say that it's some kind of homage. At the end of the day, I'm enjoying the Positions. The vocalist sounds like Monique from Save Ferris (they did that ska cover of "Come on Eileen" that was sort of popular around 1999?) and since the band has a lot of horns, I thought it might actually be her at first. Turns out the vocalist is named Nicole Stoop though. Maybe it's just an alias.

"Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals
+
"Be My Baby" by the Ronettes
=
"Back to Me" by the Positions

The other stuff I've heard by them is pretty cool too. Thank excellent online for "It's Okay, It's Alright".

"It's Okay, It's Alright" by the Positions
"Bliss!" by the Positions

One more thing, a friend of mine sent me the new Deftones, which I wouldn't really have sought out on my own. I was definitely surprised by it. You won't think this first song is the Deftones at all. You'll believe the second one is them. They haven't really been my bag for a long time (even though they were the opening act at my first real concert) but I like this spaced out vibe that their new album has.

"Pink Cellphone" by the Deftones
"Cherry Waves" by the Deftones

Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound

So I'm pushing back the top 5 list a little bit because I want to talk about this documentary I watched last night called Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound. First off, I have to say that anyone who has a chance to catch it, should do so. I was a little letdown by the lack of Crystals stuff and Bobb B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, but I think it may have been intentional. Darlene Love talked about how Phil Spector owned the names of most of the bands he produced, and would often release Darlene Love songs with different (or the same) groupings of backup singers and bill them as the Crystals or Bobb. B Soxx..., etc etc. They focused a good amount on how Phil Spector is basically fucking nuts and fucking talented, which was good to see. They also had a ridiculous amount of great performances, including a live version of "Be My Baby" that is the tastiest thing I've ever seen/heard.

Okay, so I already loved the Ronettes, but this movie really reminded me again. I mean, they were little badasses. Instead of singing "I love him, I love him..." etc, it was "I love you". It's totally saucier to sing to the boys instead of about the boys. There was also a great clip of Ronnie, Estelle, and Nedra doing a cover of "Shout!".

If Ronnie's voice could be visualized, I think it'd be Nedra's dancing. Schawiiiing. I was searching for these videos online and I came across a really goofy video of the Ronettes lipsynching to the song for a "stay in school" video. Man if you thought they were sexy before, just imagine what they look like waving sandwiches at you. Double hot. The full video isn't on youtube, but you can check it out at the Media Funhouse Blog. Oh and one last Ronettes note, Ronnie Spector is going to be at BB Kings in December and I know I'll be there.

The documentary also reminded me of how much Diana Ross looks like an alien with a great set of pipes.