Year-round Yuletide oddities
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.”
The Police had their biggest US and UK hit with this… topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks… their only number-one hit on that chart… #1 UK Singles Chart for four weeks… also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for nine weeks… nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Record of the Year, winning in the first two categories… Sting received the 1983 British Academy’s Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically… Rolling Stone critics and readers voted it “Song of the Year”… in the US, it was the best-selling single of 1983 and fifth-best-selling single of the decade… Billboard ranked it as the number-one song for 1983… ranked number 84 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time… included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll… also ranked number 25 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.
The Mistletones play the music and make the funny with “Every Wish You Make,” but they don’t quite get the gravity of the song.
So let’s have Robert Lund unpack its mysticism with a paranoid screed about Santa watching “Every Toy You Break.”
Milwaukieans Violent Femmes’ album Violent Femmes became the band’s biggest-selling album and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA… themselves went on to become one of the most successful alternative rock bands of the 1980s, selling over 9 million albums by 2005. The original song here is one that helped make them famous, fight, and fall apart.
Joking ’round with it, jumpin’ Joel Kopischke needs a vacation from snow with “Christmas in the Sun.” Australia p’raps?
British heavy metal band Judas Priest released the inspiration here on their 1982 album Screaming for Vengeance and made it a single later that year… May 2006, VH1 ranked it fifth on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs… became one of his signature songs, a staple of the band’s live performances… peaked at No. 66 in the UK Singles Chart and in the US it reached No. 4 on the Billboard rock chart.
The rock anthem is honored (mashed up with ‘Nat. Lamp’s Christmas Vacation’) via “You’ve Got Another String Comin'” courtesy of Les Gomez.