A few holiday tunes to keep your toes tappin' this Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to one and all,and since the next few days are going to be busy with holiday cheer,we here at LRG would like to give everyone the gift of song(which is easier to hand out at the last minute than gift certificates).

Just a sample of lively festive tunes to play in the background as you wrap up that fruitcake from your Aunt Mary Lou to bring as your Secret Santa gift to the office party or ship out a fruit basket to all of those relatives who you thought you'd never hear from and yet they all decided to send you the entire Harry & David catalog. Ok,people,start your humming:

A MERRY MUPPET-MAS

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is one of my favorite holiday songs,not only for the quaint,old timey feel of it,but it's a great way to kill time. Trust me,any time you have a long wait during this time of year,just go thru this baby-it makes the passage of time that much more bearable. Here we have John Denver and the Muppets showing how it's done(Miss Piggy would grab the five golden rings part for herself!):



GET OUT THAT OLE CHRISTMAS WRAPPING!

I posted this fanmade clip of the Waitresses'"Christmas Wrapping" last year and since there's not a better video version of this song available,I figured why not bring it back? Christmas is about tradition after all,and some of the fun is pulling out some of your favorite ornaments/decorations,etc to happily display again. Plus,I love the toothpick animation and the girl in the video reminds me of Pam from The Office:



A VERY SCROOGEY SINGALONG

While my all time favorite version of "A Christmas Carol" is the Alistair Sim film,the Mr. Magoo cartoon musical take on the tale is pretty fun as well. This wickedly wonderful tribute to low rent villainy is performed during the Ghost of Christmas Future segment,as the folks who raided the home of the recently deceased miser cavort at the pawnbroker's over their hideous good luck. A good song to sing while passing the razzleberry dressing:



GONNA HAVE A GOOD TIME THIS HOLIDAY WITH A TASTE OF FISHBONE

My brother was very much into Fishbone at one point in his life,which is how I was introduced to this entertainingly eclectic band. I don't know if he still listens to any of their music but if he does,atleast they have one appropriate number for this season. Think of it as a Cliff Notes' version of It's A Wonderful Life,set to a snappy beat with bounce:



SUCH A GOOD OLD LANG SYNE

Sorry to end this on a sad note,but I've always loved this Dan Fogelberg tune and now that he's passed away,I just had to add this on as a tribute. Everytime I heard this on the radio,whether at home or out doing errands,I would slow down my pace to catch every word and savor all the bittersweet beauty of the narrative. It's like reading a really great short story,this song,one whose characters can't help but ring true and who still haunt you after it's done. Let us raise a toast to time for Dan here,taken from us much too soon:



On that cheerful note,Merry Christmas and I'll see you all later this week. Have a happy one,folks.