Year-round Yuletide oddities
Of the nearly 1000 songs over six seasons (1/10 of those were ‘Don’t Stop Believin”), this show covered most standard top 40 carols. Not too much novelty for me.
But i will include “Extraordinary Merry Christmas” despite its pop uptempo unrelenting froth. I’m going to need some insulin.
Rick and Morty‘s creator’s earlier brilliant-but-what’s-the-demographic? sitcom was not known for breakout songs, but attention must be paid to these study group misfits during the holidays.
The 2010 stop motion episode ‘Abed’s Uncontollable Christmas’ brings it.
The “Intro Song” is a takeoff of The 88’s series opening music this time with Xmas.
The characters turn into Christmas claymation tropes and have a couple memorable 3-line songs for characterization, including “Brittabot” and “Christmas Douche.”
The meaning of Christmas is put together in the show stopper “That’s What Christmas is For.” John Oliver! Christmas pterodactyl!
The next year is about singing Xmas for Glee club. To win over the surly main character, the Jewish nerd girl sings “Annie’s Christmas Song.” Brother, that’s jazz striptease junk with Betty Boop botheration.
The overlooked housewife gets a big gospel (half) number with “Happy B-Day, Jesus.” Go tell it on the lafftrack.
The actual “Community Glee Club” performance is a sad throwaway about how the hot blonde is tone deaf.
“Troy & Abed’s Christmas Rap Battle,” however, convinces the Asperger’s kid and the conflicted cool athlete to celebrate a holiday they would otherwise disdain. Much prettier, or at least much faster.
Comedy gold from those boys finally in order to convince the geriatric in “Baby Boomer Santa,” an addictive song about the evolution of St. Nick through musical genres. An American Pearl.
This Icelanidic people-wearing-puppet-outfits oddity made its way to Nick Toons for a while, but creeped out kids with a hero who looks like the Captain America villain Batroc, and a bad guy handsome as Bruce Campbell.
Stephanie, the irrepressible eight-year-old never seen without a smile, sings “Jolly Holidays” and “I Love Christmas.” Believe (in exercise)!
Ah yes, teens. The conscience of the world, but the solution as well (think canon fodder). This ’90s melodrama needed insta-mood for establishing its quick scene settings. So, maestro! (Thanks to fanforum.com as a reference so i don’t have to watch this classic televised bildungsroman.)
Not a lot of cool undiscovered songs here, so let’s go with best of from the only two Xmas episodes.
Season 4’s “Christmastime” by Smashing Pumpkins. Soulful alt.
Season 6’s “Wild Christmastime” by Chris Trousdale. Playful pop.
The tenth episode of the tenth series of the Mystery Machine sleuths was the usual ice creature for Christmas. But the chase scene music by Hevy Trevy was pretty boss. “Santa Claus, Santa Claus.” Far out, man.
The biggest moneymaker from Nickolodeon ever isn’t just a can of rocks shaken for the lovely sound it makes. It’s also musical.
The eighth season featured a all-singing formulaic story about Plankton taking over, blah blah. ‘It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!’ is stop motion which throws the surrealism out of whack but is otherwise serviceable. Stick to the album.
“Santa Has His Eye on Me” opens the story with just the right amount of repetitive mush and exposition.
These iconoclastic kid bits often push genres. Patrick the starfish’s “Pretty Ribbons and Bows” is a ’60s rock ‘splosion of ADHD fun.
Limp country from Sandy the Squirrel in “Ho Ho Hoedown.” I think i’ll stick to the better stuff.
The bad guy gets a real showtune carol in “Christmas is Mine.” Mwah ho ho ho.
The Brit pop anthem to kids “Don’t be a Jerk (It’s Christmas)” is the big hit, though. Falsetto ululate, all!
UK’s answer to Teletubbies was the pop song children in a nursery teaching and learning and coloring. Their album drops in ’04 and at least one song climbs to the top 100 of the Brit seasonal charts.
Starting out is the oo-ooh backbeat doodle “I Believe in Christmas.” Well, i believe in a formula for kidsong–fulfilled it. Ditto “Can’t Wait for Christmas.”
Reflective pop rears its stiff upper head with “Light up the World.” Social consciousness: check.
Most infectious is kidboppop “Fab-A-Rooney Christmas.” You know what’s coming….
The Turtles were around for a decade, mid ‘eighties to mid-‘nineties, but the nasty cash grab begins in the early ‘nineties. “We Wish You a Turtle Christmas” is more cheaply made than porn, although it tries harder on the songs than on the dialog because this is the touring rock show in their own special.
Title song gets a cinematic treatment, as the big box office films came out before this video villainy. Pop.
“Michaelangelo’s Christmas Opera Song” is ‘O Tanenbaum’ done funnily. It helps the plot a bit.
“Gotta Get a Gift for Splinter” is percussive ska with an almost catchy beat.
Thus begins the nuevo wave-o of ’90s cartoons from cable channel Nickelodeon. The disgusting dog and cat gross-fest woke up a new generation previously taught not to pick their noses in public.
By 1993 a holiday album Ren & Stimpy’s Crock o’ Christmas an original story spunoff of their Yaksmas holiday shenanigans. I have offered songs from here before, so let’s mention a couple new ones before i barf.
Concert rock is the platform for the contrariness of “Decorate Yourself.” Should have mentioned this one earlier. Starts out amusingly….
Ren has the holiday blues for the whole album, despite Stimpy’s antic efforts to cheer. “I Hate Christmas” is the hilarious plot twist revealing the fat dog still grumbles. Smooth lounge blues.
Father-son sentimentality is pretty straightforward in “What is Christmas?” which i guess reveals the irony of the ’90s. If it’s honest emotion, sneer for all you’re worth. Quiet pop.
The juggernaut of prime time cartoons has outlasted the age of irony, post-irony, and colonial irony. Naturally most of its holiday contributions are parodies of carols (caroldies).
“The 39 Days of Christmas” (sorry about all the non-song bits) came after “The 12 Days of Christmas (parody).” “The Grinch (parody)” nobody remembers. (Get that poster a tripod for Christmas.)
Better are the Nutcracker bits.
The holiday-inspired “Everybody Hates Ned Flanders” is the winner here, by a single Homer hair. (I mean, David Byrne covering…!) [To discover why this is considered a carol, watch the poorly recorded 40 second intro here–then stop watching.]