I got the idea for this year's them by playing a Christmas category with my wife on Songpop2. The playlist is called Christmas 60s-80s. For the most part, the songs you have to guess correctly are standard fair. Last Christmas by Wham! Dolly Parton's Hard Candy Christmas. Sinatra and Andy Williams. That kind of stuff.
But there was one song that was a really odd selection. It was so strange that I had never heard of it before. Plus, the group in question wasn't known for doing holiday music. So I got the idea to start researching other artists who did Christmas songs while otherwise not being known as a holiday artist as my holiday advent for 2018.
But first let's go back to Andy Williams. The guy in synonymous with Christmas thanks to like 25 years straight of producing holiday specials on TV. The guy's most famous song is Moon River. Yet when you list singers known for doing holiday music, he is consistently up there. Probably top 3 or 5 for sure. And when you ask someone to name an Andy Williams song, 4 out of 5 dentists are going to answer with a holiday tune.
Today's featured band isn't really a band. Or it is? I dunno. It's all very meta AND METAL! I'm talking about Spinal Tap! The song is called Christmas With the Devil. It's from the epic 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap! from the mind of the always delightful Rob Reiner. The band members are portrayed by Michael McKean (as David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel) and Harry Shearer (as Derek Smalls).
I vaguely remember this song being played as a joke in the movie. I thought it was a very weird selection for my Songpop2 playlist. Especially, since it was only a small segment of a comedy movie. But upon doing some digging, I discovered that in 1984 and again in 2002, this song was released as a single by McKean, Guest, and Shearer playing as Spinal Tap! So it qualifies as a Christmas album. I bet 100 out 100 oral surgeons wouldn't even list the band I am featuring today as ever having released a Christmas record. And yet they did!
One needs to keep in mind several things about this song. 1. Spinal Tap was a parody of heavy metal bands. 2. while the song is about celebrating the birth of Christ with the devil, again, it's a parody. And 3. the views of this song do not reflect the values of this author because again, it's a PARODY!
So for your first Advent of 2018, I present to you Christmas With the Devil by Spinal Tap!
Enjoy and may God have mercy on your soul...
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