A VERY DALY CHRISTMAS Volume 2

'TIS THE SEASON FOR HOLIDAY TUNES! In the second volume of A Very Daly Christmas, brothers Ryan and Neil share more of their favorite Christmas tracks, as well as personal stories of spending Christmas in the hospital, dressing up like Santa Claus, and having inappropriate thoughts about Little Cindy Lou Hoo. They also address last year's listener feedback and spotlight some listener-suggested Christmas songs.

Track list

  1. "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" by Ramones
  2. "My Grown-Up Christmas List" by Michael Buble
  3. "A Great Big Sled" by The Killers
  4. "(Everybody's Waitin' for) The Man with the Bag" by Kay Starr
  5. "Washington Square" by Chris Isaak
  6. "What Christmas Means to Me" by Stevie Wonder
  7. "Oi to the World" by No Doubt
  8. "Where Are You Christmas" by Faith Hill
  9. "If You Don't Wanna See Santa Claus Cry" by Alan Jackson
  10. "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses
  11. "Maybe This Christmas" by Ron Sexsmith
  12. "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" by The Chipmunks
  13. "O Holy Night" by Trombone Shorty and Tipitina's Foundation Musicians
  14. "Hardrock, Coco and Joe - The Three Little Dwarfs" by The Three Little Dwarfs

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

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Thanks for listening!

18 responses to “A VERY DALY CHRISTMAS Volume 2

  1. Once again those Daly Bros knock it out of the park. Definitely adding that No Doubt song to my holiday lineup.

    Goodness knows you two don’t need my help picking songs, but I’ve got a few suggestions for the future, just in case.

    “A Spaceman Came Traveling” by Chris de Burgh
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmZg7tvGN9o

    “The 12 Days of Christmas” by John Denver & the Muppets
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBMzGq1vhs

    “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by the California Raisins

    1. I love that California Raisins version of Rudolph. We had that Claymation Christmas Special on tape and I watched it all the time.

      1. Same. I probably watched it too much. I really enjoyed most of the takes on songs in the special, but I figure the pop culture significance of the Raisins grants them a little extra signal boost.

      2. Ryan, after seeing this comment, I had to buy the dvd! This was one of my favorite Christmas specials. Watched it over and over on vhs.

  2. I had totally forgotten about Hardrock, Coco and Joe! We had Chicago’s WGN on our cable starting in 1984, and my friends and I loved watching the Bozo show, mostly to make fun of it in an MST3k-style and see the toy commercials. But I remember the Christmas episodes with these old-school, pre-Rankin/Bass stop-motion films. Wow!

    And I loved the Chipmunks special with the Golden Harmonica, which was directed and produced by none other than Chuck Jones. Speaking of Jones, who directed and produced the animated Grinch, it was Boris Karloff as the Grinch, not Lon Chaney, but we’ll forgive Neil. Chipmunks were a Christmas staple at our house, as my sister had several records before I came along.

    For a twisted version of the original “Chipmunk Song”, I give you Bob Rivers…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja6xjkMJjyw

    And the immediate sequel, “Chipmunks Roasting On Open Fire”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xj-jGAJgZY

    There is some unfortunate casual racism, casting “Nat King Cole” as Rochester from The Jack Benny Show, but I think they were poking fun on the 50s portrayal of African-Americans in media, myself. Your mileage may vary. The rest is hilarious, though.

    Great show as always guys! I loved the Christmas stories. And yes, I get that action figure reference, for sure! The bit about Ryan getting a snowball in the face during his Christmas epiphany was priceless.

    Chris

    1. OMG, I can’t believe I had a total brain fart and said Lon Chaney! Being an avid classic Universal Monsters fan, that is blasphemy on my part. So thank you Chris for correcting me!

  3. It should come as a surprise to no one that I am a Grinch. I had some nice giftmases growing up, but between economic downturns and my father coming into my life, the family I actually lived with just sort of shrugged and said “we’re done with all that now.” I’m not a Christian, but my father’s family is, so I go out to visit them most Christmases. To me, the holiday season is most defined by mileage, deciding the appropriate amount of time to spend at a place where I’m never physically comfortable, sleep deprivation, allergy aggravation, and stressing over gifts to give. Hence my not responding to Volume I last year (unless it was on Twitter and I forgot.)

    There are far too many love songs, and they take up the majority of popular music. Can we at least try to do a single about the virtues of a socialism and reproductive choice? You guys laugh, but “Blue Sky Mine” and “Indian Reservation” are bangers. Anyway, I feel the same way about Christmas songs. They’re the overwhelming majority of holiday songs, they repeat the same themes endlessly, and they’re typically either achingly saccharine or dreadfully maudlin. Can we get one decent Hanukkah jam, ffs?

    Of your offerings this year, the only all-timer for me was “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses. I think it was Christmas of 1992 that I’d either been gifted a Walkman, or simply got significant usage out of it that year. I was with my father’s family out in the country, and they’re pleasant enough folk, but a lot of common ground with an angsty long-haired social misfit. I can’t recall if I had an actual cassette of Suzanne Vega’s 99.9F° or if I’d just dubbed a copy off my father’s CD, but I was playing it over and over again. When I took a break from that, I’d tune into the only FM station playing remotely contemporary music, probably 104.5, Houston’s longest lived top 40/dance option. There weren’t a lot of options back then for modern, relatable Christmas songs, but “Christmas Wrapping” had that post-punk monotone and told a story of single life in the big city. I couldn’t yet relate to it, but at least it was aspirational, not that I ever had any sort of romantic holiday meet-cute. See, again, most years I drive out to the sticks y’see?

    Also, “Rapture” was Blondie in total disco mode coupled with the unintentionally amusingly awful white girl para-rap. I don’t know what the hell Neil was talking about.

    I think part of Michael Buble’s success is that he’s an out conservative pushing a throwback musical style. My right wing brother tried to sell me on Buble, even though he never expressed any interest in that mid-century jazz from any other artists. We don’t talk anymore.

    On the other hand, my brother also introduced me to The Vandals, who I introduced to my more punk-appreciating buddy Joe, who especially embraced “Slap of Love” (a sardonic ode to domestic battery.) I didn’t realize “Oi to the World” was such a recent vintage, as it had a classic punk vibe when not sung by some bubblegum ska band with a nasally chick frontwoman. (I’m just teasing No Doubt, who produced at least one dead solid classic album, but hard no on “Oi.”)

    Chris Isaak has about one good album in him, which he’s spread over a career of nostalgic mediocrity. “Wicked Game” is a shower favorite of mine, and “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” is aces, plus I’d further recommend “You Owe Me Some Kind of Love”, “Somebody’s Cryin'”, and “Blue Hotel” for your Elvis/Orbison mash-up needs. The video for “Dancin'” involves a stripping Tasha Yar for those who may be interested.

    I’m pretty sure I had “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” on an LP of The Chipmunks, and I still can’t hear “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” without mentally inserting Alvin’s ad-libbing “Chipmunks” and Dave yelling at him for it.

    I think Superstation WGN took Bozo nationwide, but as with Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo, I was always to jaded for that mess.

    Stevie Wonder is not adequately revered in this universe. It’s one of the ways we know we’re in the bad one.

    I’m Bizarro-Neil in that I only like the AM country I grew up on, and loathe the modern poppy sound. Perhaps Dolly Parton can bridge the divide with “Hard Candy Christmas,” a personal favorite both as a holiday selection and the overall musical it’s derived from, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Similarly melancholy is Lyle Lovett’s “Christmas Morning.”

    If you want something a little more bluesy and seductive for variety next year, consider “Merry Christmas, Baby” by Charles Brown.

    If you like odd foreign cadences, I’d offer “I Don’t Intend to Spend Christmas Without You” by Claudine Longet in place of another point-and-laugh-at-the-freak Jan Terri cut. And if between Brown and Longet you hook up, the exteded cut of Depeche Mode’s “Christmas Island” should help you keep rhythm. And then if you can’t get her to leave after, strum Primus’ “Hail Santa” until you creep her out.

    If you really want to put the Christ back into Christmas, be sure to gather your pastor and fellow congregants for a rousing rendition of “Jesus Was Way Cool” by King Missile. Hey, go ahead and let the whole album play, even. It’ll go over like gangbusters at your place of worship!

    Looking forward to Elvis’ inclusion next year, as he has several slots in my favorites for this subgenre.

  4. Impressive podcast. Most impressive. ool songs. Ah Name 5 Remon songs…k. 1. 1.“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight 2. Blitzkrieg Bop 3. I wanna be Sedated. 4. I’m a t…t…tough guy. 5. Teenage Lobotomy

    Any way cool song choices. I always liked the Waitress song. What no Father Christmas give us your money? By the Knicks? Also Run DMC had a Christmas song. And of Corse Grandma got ran over by a rain deer. Can’t wait to hear the next podcast.

  5. I have to share this Calgary based band with Neil, a sort of latter day cocktail music group. I know they produced at least two Christmas albums. One is called “Give Boney M A Break”

    Here is the Youtube link to the other:

      1. NOw that I recall “Give Boney M a break” was the album’s marketing tag, not the actual album. One of the band members said that his parents would drag out that Boney M Christmas album every year, and he wanted to put out this one just to give them an alternative!

  6. I’m late! Last minute listening, unless you celebrate all twelve days of Christmas, as one should!
    First, I admire and respect the Daly brothers wide-ranging tastes in music. Some of these choices set my teeth on edge, but Kay Starr and The Waitresses are near perfection!
    Here are some links to a few of my favorite radio programs, where the DJs, not an algorithm, curate the songs. These will be available for two weeks form the original air date.
    For 60s-70s Christmastime rock and soul here is Lost and Found: https://www.wmbr.org/cgi-bin/arch#
    For mid-century Christmastime jazz, here is Coffeetime: https://www.wmbr.org/cgi-bin/arch#
    For the best in vintage Rock-and-Roll, Country-and-Western, and Rhythm-and-Blues, here is backwoods: https://www.wmbr.org/cgi-bin/arch#

    And to blow my own horn, literally, here is my band, Stop Calling Me Frank with “Santa, Buy Me a Beer.” Much more like Ramones than Kay Starr! https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/track/santa-buy-me-a-beer

    Happy Holidays, Fire & Water folk!

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