A Month of Love: Billy Squier

“Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You” may be the big Kahuna of Holiday heartfelt howlings. It was the B-side to Billy Squier’s 1981 single ‘My Kinda Lover.’ And it has it’s share of covers.

Alexa Vega tries to Disney it up a bit. Darlene Love torches it up. Katharine McPhee certainly orchestrates it up. SR-71 and The Cute Lepers try to and metal and sass. Hurts my throat to hear ’em

But it’s Billy’s song. Here he is on crappy videotape lip syncing with his hair on MTV. Hey, is that You in the audience?!

A Month of Love: Mark Schultz

It’s Sunday Again! Time for Love to mean agape’. For, you know, God.

Churches still churn out original material, inspired as they are. Here is Mark Schultz writing for his Street Baptist Church a few years ago, and singing “When Love was Born.”

Mark Schultz

 

A Month of Love: Felix Gross

Old 78 rpm vinyl from the ’40s and earlier had a following, and some mad collectors. But not enough has been written about the artists. Felix Gross aka Sylvester Mike recorded on the Down Beat label and he sang it, swang it, poontanged it.

And check out this Christmas Essentials Youtube channel. They have got some great stuff you’ve never heard.

Here’s Felix Gross, “Love for Christmas.”

A Month of Love: Austin and Ally

The Disney Channel spews out fun/funny kids shows like a St. Bernard does his slobber. One wackadilly from 2011 (and going strong) concerns the music career ups and downs of teen best bandies Austin (Ross Lynch) and Ally (Laura Marano).

If you deign to study the video note the presence of audience members… without the context of their eight-year-old adulation this is harmonious horseplay. Ridickio.

So: Austin and Ally with “I Love Christmas.”

A Month of Love: Sandi Patty

I don’t mean to hopscotch from awesome to awful and sometimes to inbetween so much… but i find better odd holiday tunes that way.

Sandi Patty has been a Christian staple for so long: practically an album a year since 1978 (including 7 Xmas albums, and exclusives for Target, Hallmark and Walmart). She does power gospel ballads. You’ve gotta respect the range… although i do lose my place at times (what was she singing about again? oh, yeah, God!). The last minute of “Merry Christmas with Love” is a whole ‘nother song (‘Have Yourself etc.’ –turns out that old chestnut is better shorter).

A Month of Love: The Bellamy Brothers

I listen to country regular-like (from the wife’s influence), and i like honest country: Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn… but something happened near the ’80s. Pop music (including elements of disco) invaded and it just wasn’t country any more.

It was bad.

This 1996 Bellamy Brothers Christmas cash cow is just such awfulness. Listen to “Our Love is Like Christmas” all (including the wooden, cutesie couple banter intro AND outro) if… you… dare.