Category Archive

Put some funk back in your season cheer with Snoop and his friends. 100b wishes you a wonderful Christmas with this mellow number off the Christmas On Death Row CD.

   Snoop Dogg ft. Dat Nigga Daz, Nate Dogg, Tray Deee & Bad Azz - Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto

Filthy Little Angels’ elves have been hard at work to bring you this year’s albums filled with Christmas songs by various unsigned bands. Go on over to their site and unwrap the 60 tracks they have up for free. Thank you Filthy Little Santa!

For a taste of the Filth check out ShiSho’s sweet cover of Sufjan Stevens’ C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s gem. I have a weak spot for ShiSho so I’m biased, but I think I might like their version better than the original. The second song is The Housewives’ cute, but pervy rendition of an old Christmas favorite of mine.

   ShiSho - Get Behind Me Santa
   The Housewives - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

I never understood why Wham!’s “Last Christmas” is so popular, because I thought that had to be the most depressing Christmas song. Then the other day I came across a serious contender for the title. In your right hand corner we present John Denver’s “Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)”!! They always say the suicide rate goes up during the Holidays and I have a feeling this song had something to do with it. It’s about an eight-year-old who pleads to his dad to not repeat his Seasonal Souse Fest, because he doesn’t want to see his momma cry. Most depressing line: ‘You came home at a quarter past eleven, fell down underneath our Christmas tree’. Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas!

   John Denver - Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)

For those who don’t know, the Christmas Number 1 single is a really big deal in the UK. I have no idea why but the single at Number 1 on Christmas Day is a extra special spot to hold and it’s (as far as I know) unique to the UK. Looking at this list, I see that most of the songs that have had this special honor have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas.

Traditionally, the Christmas Number 1 is something a little sappy, or maybe some novelty song aimed at children … alright, let’s just be honest. They’re usually pretty crappy songs. Check out the 1996-1998: The Spice Girls held that all-important spot for three years in a row and they were perfectly capable of a decent bubblegum hit but those are all of their worst songs. There’s some pretty weird songs in there as well. I just don’t know how else to say it - these are just do not go well with the warm and fuzzies that Christmas is supposed to bring.

1975 & 1991 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

“Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.” Ah, yes - the traditional murder ballad. Granted, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is pure genius and a classic - and loved enough to be the Christmas Number 1 twice (thanks to Wayne’s World). But it’s still an odd song to be humming over your eggnog.

1979 Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall

I guess anytime is a good time to Stick It To The Man. Still, it seems a little less powerful if you think about it as the soundtrack to crazed shoppers snapping up bargains in a frenzied mall.

1981 The Human League - Don’t You Want Me

I’ll just admit I don’t quite know what’s going on in this song/video. The song is, apparently, based on the movie A Star Is Born, which I’ve never seen. The, erm, ‘concept’ of the video is the making of a murder mystery movie. Interesting. Based solely on the lyrics, it seems there was some chick and some guy - he made her into a success somehow, then she dumped him. Now nobody wants anyone. Or something. (I’ll also admit that I didn’t try extra hard to follow the lyrics.) In any case, the wikipedia says that Human League lead singer Philip Oakey described “Don’t You Want Me” as “a nasty song about sexual power politics”. And everyone knows there’s nothing more Christmassy than sexual power politics.

After those oddities, here’s something actually Christmassy.

1984 Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas?

And then again …

1989 Band Aid II - Do They Know It’s Christmas?
(Kind of crappy quality video, it’s the best I could find.)

Oh wait, there’s one more …

2004 Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It’s Christmas?

All sarcasm aside, this is the only Christmas Number 1 I really approve of - the 1984 original anyway. It’s actually a seasonal song, so that helps. It’s definitely a little lame, but the whole Band Aid thing kind of gives you a feeling of goodwill in the world, when you think about that kind of thing happening for the first time. We’re so cynical now, but Band Aid was a good thing, and mostly done by people who made the effort because they knew someone had to. I’m not so sure that’s true of the later versions but even mentioning that misses the point of the song. Yes, I get a little choked up and I don’t care if that makes me a sucker.

So what will this year’s Number 1 be? Any guesses?

I’m feeling especially Christmassy today - everything is all frosty and sunny, it’s warm and cosy inside, and the world seems like a pretty good place. I’m waiting anxiously by the door for my internet gifts to get here so I can wrap them up all purdy and put them under the tree. All in all, I’m getting pretty excited about the big day. Here’s two versions of one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs - the first by the glorious Ronettes, from 1963’s A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector and the second from last year’s indie Christmas compilation It’s Not Like Christmas (which deserves and will get a 100bells post of its own soon).

I hope you all feel Christmassy today, too!

   The Ronettes - Sleigh Ride
   The Late Greats - Sleigh Ride

The days are shorter, the air is crisp and cool, reindeer and mangers are popping up like mushrooms, and the magical smell of spray-on snow is in the air. Oh yes, the Holidays are upon us, which means it’s time for 100bells! The place where we post our favorite songs that celebrate the birth of Santa. So dust off the old Christmas records, gather around the fire and let’s have ourselves a good old fashion sing-a-long. To get us started here’s Twisted Sister with their version of an old Yuletide classic. It starts out sweet, but soon everyone’s favorite hair band is reminded that they don’t play things nice and easy, they play things nice and TWISTED. Ho-Ho-Ho, let’s go!

   Twisted Sister - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Here’s a reflection of the amazing year the band had and a really bad Christmas cracker joke. God, I really hope they call their new album Gary Barlow.

This is my all-time favorite Christmas song! Without it it just wouldn’t feel like Christmas to me. It’s so much fun and the fifties slang is hilarious. The line “hi- ho Silver Kimosabe and all that cowboy jazz” never fails to crack me up.

   Johnny Preston - (I Want A) Rock And Roll Guitar

In case anyone was wondering, my least favorite Christmas song is “Last Christmas”. I can’t think of a less christmassy Christmas song and it’s just incredibly depressing. Yeugh.

(Thanks to Plan59 for this wonderful picture.)

Here are some awesome oldies for Christmas, from my favorite cheesy compilation CD (which I got for free in the mail from some random place, many years ago. I still don’t know where it came from, it was like a surprise gift from Santa himself!). The Louis Armstrong is one of my absolute favorites, I love singing along in my crazy Louis voice. And the Lou Monte - well, you just have to hear it. It’s either the worst / stupidest song ever or pure genius. But I feel I should warn you: if you listen to it once, you’ll have it stuck in your head for months, be careful.

   Louis Armstrong - Zat You Santa Claus
   Lou Monte - Dominick The Donkey

It has arrived! This year’s Filthy Little Angels’ free Christmas downloads are back in town. Oh what a treat! It’s three discs worth of songs by all their Filthy Little Bands.

I haven’t heard them all yet, but it’s gonna be hard to top this song by the adorably badass ShiSho. They sing about “peace, booze and snot … and breasteses in a Christmas song! Kids these days, I blame rock Music.”

ShiSho - Merry Christmas. Now Leave!

If you’re looking for a wide variety of holiday music to get you feeling all jolly, check out emusic’s “The Best Of The Holidays” list. They’ve got everything from Rosemary Clooney to Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas (one of best Christmas albums of all time) to Kill Rock Stars Winter Holiday Album. There’s something for everyone - Santa would be proud.

Ho, Ho, Ho! I have a couple of indie Christmas gems to share today. I don’t have much to say about these songs, just get them and get all Christmassy with your bad selves.

First up, Miss Holly Golightly and her charmingly country “Christmas Tree On Fire” - couldn’t you just imagine Loretta Lynn singing this oddly morbid, yet very jolly, holiday ditty?

   Holly Golightly - Christmas Tree On Fire

And for the more, ahem, traditional Christmassers, we have The Boy Least Likely To and their Christmas tune, “Little Donkey”. As Rough Trade describes it, it “tells the Christmas tale of the Journey to Bethlehem, but from the donkey’s point of view”. Ah, who could be more perfectly adorable at this time of year than The Boy Least Likely To? Buy it for almost nothing over at Rough Trade Digital.

Christmas is just around the corner and as always a lot of bands dust off their jingle bells and try to spread the cheer. We’ll be doing our part by posting a series of our favorite songs celebrating the birth of Santa. The first is from last year’s Filthy Little Angels’ Christmas release. I’m already looking forward to this year’s free Christmas downloads, so I’ll be keeping my eye on their filthy little site.

And What Will Be Left Of Them? - Have Yourself A Filthy Little Christmas