I just read the OP and had to check out Jasper Carrott's 12 Days of Christmas. This was originally done by a Scottish folk singer/comedian who I saw live a few times in the seventies, Bill Barclay, hence the Wee Heavy in the first verse. Give it a listen, it sounds better in a Scottish accent.
A couple of my favourites: Frosty the Snowman by Leon Redbone and Dr John Back Door Santa by Clarence Carter
I found the Springsteen track: The Summit, Houston 1978, but Roger Scott must have got hold of the promo single that it first came out on, as it was only officially released relatively recently as part of his archive series.
Perplexity.ai tells me the reference was really to the Subbuteo team - and also that the song is a parody of "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" - so we'll have to play them back to back!
Shame you can’t shoe in “I was a teenage, armchair Honved fan”.
Everyone, thanks again for your suggestions, several of which are already on the playlist.
I've got two follow-ups. One is re the lyrics of "Dukla Prague away kit" which I'm going to have to explain, live, on air, and probably in Czech😂. Is the away kit on the Subbuteo team, or is the kid himself wearing the kit while he's playing?
Now I've got another track I want to get hold of if possible. It's Springsteen doing "Santa Claus is coming to town', live. BUT not the version that's easy enough to find. The one I'm after starts with Bruce doing an opening monologue wherein he talks about "Me' n' Steve" (van Zandt) walking at night down a snowy street (I suppose Asbury Park), and then some kind of Christmas magic happens. It's pretty old - in my fading memory bank, I heard it on Capital Radio back in the day, played by Roger Scott, who was an early Springsteen champion. If this jogs the memory of any Springsteen fan, please lead me to it. Cheers!
There is another Springsteen version recorded in December 1975 at the CW Post College Greenvale NY.
Everyone, thanks again for your suggestions, several of which are already on the playlist.
I've got two follow-ups. One is re the lyrics of "Dukla Prague away kit" which I'm going to have to explain, live, on air, and probably in Czech😂. Is the away kit on the Subbuteo team, or is the kid himself wearing the kit while he's playing?
Now I've got another track I want to get hold of if possible. It's Springsteen doing "Santa Claus is coming to town', live. BUT not the version that's easy enough to find. The one I'm after starts with Bruce doing an opening monologue wherein he talks about "Me' n' Steve" (van Zandt) walking at night down a snowy street (I suppose Asbury Park), and then some kind of Christmas magic happens. It's pretty old - in my fading memory bank, I heard it on Capital Radio back in the day, played by Roger Scott, who was an early Springsteen champion. If this jogs the memory of any Springsteen fan, please lead me to it. Cheers!
There is another Springsteen version recorded in December 1975 at the CW Post College Greenvale NY.
I’ve read about that one, but so far not heard it. But I found the one I was talking about. Had to download and convert it from a You Tube vid. They have released an album of the whole concert, but on this track they omitted the intro spiel, so I passed on that. Odd thing to do.
Don't know if it qualifies as quirky, but the Mike Oldfield version of In Dulce Jubilo where he plays all the instruments is a favourite. Plus Smashmouth - Better do it Right.
A BBC article about the Sunderland punk band Toy Dolls's version of Nellie the Elephant, which got to No 4 at Christmas 1984, selling half a million copies!
This may cross the line from quirky into surreal, but around 10 years ago, while in his early 90s, Christopher Lee recorded a few heavy metal Christmas songs.
I'm finding the concept of a heavy metal version of Silent Night a tad incongruous.
ETA,
gone to have a look on youtube, and that was deeply disappointing.
Metal guitar noodling overlaid on a vocal of a completely different
tempo. However, the filked version of Hark The Herald Angels Sing is
quite fun:
Comments
A couple of my favourites:
Frosty the Snowman by Leon Redbone and Dr John
Back Door Santa by Clarence Carter
Slf, white Christmas (live)
Make of this what you will
Surprised this isn't on the list yet (HMHB)
(It probably is and I've just missed it)
Plus Smashmouth - Better do it Right.
A BBC article about the Sunderland punk band Toy Dolls's version of Nellie the Elephant, which got to No 4 at Christmas 1984, selling half a million copies!