Year-round Yuletide oddities
Neil Young dropped this off his 1989 album Freedom… the lyrics criticized the George H. W. Bush administration… became the de facto anthem of the collapse of communism… rated number 216 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Chris Townsend’s annual Xmas exacta knife humor revisits this tough time with “Keep on Shopping’ in a Free World.” Yeah, it’s mad about materialism.
B-52s had their biggest hit and first million-copy seller with this song… their first song to reach the Billboard Top 40 charts… peaking at number 3… also reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart… and number 1 for eight weeks in Australia… number 1 for 4 weeks in New Zealand… number 1 in the Republic of Ireland… number 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart… named as one of the 365 Songs of the Century in 2001… named the Best Single of 1989 by Rolling Stone… ranked #246 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Bob Rivers gets on board with “Toy Sack.”
As do The Mistletones with–ahem–“Toy Sack.” They’re lyrically diffie, i swear (mostly).
Billy Joel’s instanthem hit #1 US Billboard Hot 100… #2 Australia, Canada… #3 Ireland… #4 Germany… #7 Austria, UK… as a fun cultural puzzle, its lyrics included brief, rapid-fire allusions to more than 100 headline events between 1949, the year of Joel’s birth, and 1989… its album Storm Front was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
Not an easy parody, but when you are as devoted as ApologetiX “We Didn’t Start Messiah” writes itself.
Tone Lōc’s song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in… spawned at least two parodies (by ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, called ‘Isle Thing,’ about Gilligan’s Island and was Yankovic’s first rap parody, and by Christian band ApologetiX, called ‘Child King’)… eventually sold over two million copies… peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.
Not too many of these parodies get the Wikipedia nod. Go ApologetiX. Go “Child King.”
U2’s first number-one single in the UK and Australia… reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S… topped both the Modern and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts (the first song to reach the top of both of these charts simultaneously)… reached number two on the Dutch Top 40… won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
“Messiah” by ApologetiX almost loses its meaningfulness in the balls out R+B.
Michael Jackson peaked at number 1 in the United States with the fourth single from his seventh solo album, Bad (1987)… nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards… topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks… peaked at number 21 in the UK Singles Charts (in 2009, following the news of Jackson’s death, the song peaked at number 2)… became the number 1 single in iTunes downloads in the US and the UK (over 1.3 million digital copies).
The Mistletones worry about your celebrational culinary decisions around this time of the year with “Fat in the Mirror.” Quit eating out of the bottom of the barrel.
Never a single, never a video, this Barenaked Ladies crowd pleaser has been included in several of their albums and ALL of their live shows. So no charting, but apparently this one has become a special memory for concert-goers worldwide.
Joel Kopischke does it again with “If I Had a Secret Santa.” Noel, Joel.
George Michael needed a hit after deserting Wham! and he got it. This signature number held the number one position on Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks… according to Billboard magazine, it was the number one single of the year in the United States in 1988.
Joel Kopischke (+ Kelli Cramer) (live) builds nicely with his “George Michael ‘Faith’ Christmas Parody.” A kinky title to say the least for a professional, but the fun of the comedy here is what the take off on the title leads to during this time of present wrapping strife.
Van Halen’s song about a car became their anthem…. #13 on the US Billboard Hot 100… #30 on the Irish Singles Chart… #64 UK Singles Chart.
ApologetiX weaves from Kringle to Christ with their “Santa Claus.” Poppin’ fresh.
From Murray Head’s Chess album came a single which topped the charts in many countries, including South Africa, West Germany, Switzerland and Australia… peaked at no. 3 in both Canada and the United States… no. 12 in Head’s native United Kingdom.
Look out public–here’s ApologetiX’s “One Night in Betlehem.”