We are slowly working our way through the month, and this is roughly the midpoint for my Advent Countdown. Four more to come after this one, though I may try to squeeze in an extra one as there are still so many that I want to play! Today’s selection is a little different, and you can thank Pete for that. In his comment on the previous one of these he mentioned that it was good that I played a new song. This got me thinking: I try to add in new ones when I can but that rather depends on the quality of what is on offer. But I took this as a challenge and today you see the result: I haven’t played any of these before. Two of them are very recent additions to YouTube and the other three have all been around for less than a year or so. As usual, they are a real mixed bag.

I’m starting off with one of the best covers bands I know, and have played several times before. The original of this song is one I have previously played, but this new version appeared on YouTube just a couple of days ago:

This novelty Christmas song was written by Randy Brooks and was first recorded in 1979 by the then-husband and wife duo of Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg. It offers a dire warning about the dangers of staggering out into the snow while off your head on eggnog and prescription medication – one that we should all heed, I think. It has been re-recorded and re-released several times, and has a number of appearances in the US Country chart to its name – it even made the main Billboard listing in 1997, when it reached #87. There have been many cover versions, and it seems about time that First To Eleven added their take on Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. And as their singing elf – Audra Miller – is incredibly cute I couldn’t resist this one!

Another of my favourite cuties is up next. I’ve played several of her songs before but not this one:

Nina Nesbitt released the first of her four albums to date back in 2014, when she was just 20, and the most recent, Mountain Music, came out this past September. I guess you could call her a folk/pop singer songwriter if you felt the need to put her into a box, but I just enjoy her music however you describe it. Christmas Time Again was released as a digital-only single in November 2023, with this video to accompany it: I love the way it includes Nina and a cast of friends enjoying each other’s company as she kind of gives us a diary of her year. It’s fun, and that should always be something we get from music.

This next one came out in January of this year, so it missed the cut for my Advent Countdown last year. If it had been in time it would definitely have been in there, and I’ve waited nearly a year to play it! This is a familiar song, given a new treatment and some additional lyrics, and it is lovely:

The Hound + The Fox are a husband and wife duo, Reilly and Mackenzie Zamber, joined on this one by the beautiful violin of Taylor Davis. I was enchanted by this version of the song, so much so that I did something I rarely do: I commented on their video. This is what I said: “I’ve heard so many versions of Simple Gifts over the years, all of them taken at a quicker tempo. This is stunningly beautiful, and reworking the song as a lullaby is a stroke of genius. Beautifully sung and played, wonderful harmonies and superb musicianship. My new favourite version!” I wasn’t expecting a reply, but my comment was ‘liked’ and I received a response from, I think, Mackenzie, as she usually does that role. She said “Aw thank you! It’s one that came back to us when our oldest was in preschool. And then when our youngest was born, we started singing this to him regularly and it evolved into this unique version naturally!” I stand by what I said then: this is still my favourite version of the song, and I think it is incredibly beautiful as a lullaby.

In the immortal words of Mr Python: and now for something completely different. How about a pub singalong:

I hadn’t come across The Ramparts before, so this was another success for YouTube’s algorithm of recommendations. They tell their story on their YouTube page: “We are an all-male Dublin based choir set up in February 2016. We love to sing Pop, Traditional Irish, Folk, Barbershop, and a touch of Classical, all strictly A Capella. We have approximately 30 members and rehearse in Dublin City Centre. We have performed on the BBC, RTE, Virgin Media, The Joe Show, Liveline, various music festivals, as well as private parties, weddings, corporates, charity events, international tours and a particular favourite of our – flash mobs. We also put on our own shows twice a year, one at Christmas and one in the Summer.” This is their take on Ralph Vaughn Williams’ arrangement of The Wassail Song, and it is very pleasing to my ears. And if you are in the vicinity they will be performing this song, along with many other Christmas classics, on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th December at Gardiner Street Church, Dublin. I wish I could be there!

To close today, here is something even more completely different. How about a pop rock hit single from 2000, reworked in a Christmas version last year, with a superb video? Here goes:

That was Wheatus with Christmas Dirtbag – I assume the Teenage incarnation had grown up in the intervening 24 years! It’s a nice reworking of the song, with a great animated video, and it is rather touching that they dedicated it to the memory of their pet dog, who must surely have been the inspiration for it. The original Teenage Dirtbag came out in June 2000 and was a massive hit just about everywhere except their US homeland. It only got to #124 there, but made #1 in Australia, Austria and France, and #2 in the UK, Germany, Ireland and Sweden. It sold over 5m copies worldwide, 2.4m of those in the UK, where it has been in the singles chart on several occasions, most recently in November 2023, no doubt on the strength of this video.

That’s today’s five tunes done and dusted, and that just leaves my final non-musical offering for you. I’ve played a couple of this guy’s Christmas videos in previous years, and it feels right to give you this year’s offering too. It’s a little harrowing to start with, but it tells its story well and has a nice ending:

Phil Beastall, who made this, is a Commercial and Advertising Director. In 2018 his Christmas film was a huge worldwide success: it currently stands at more than 2.6m views in the UK alone and has been shared over 100k times on social media. As a result, Phil was interviewed on ITV’s This Morning and Good Morning Britain and was featured in many news and radio articles. This year’s is another lovely addition to his catalogue: he is a filmmaker of quality.

Before I leave you today I should mention that I was honoured to be included in a post earlier this week by the lovely Maddie Cochere – a prolific published author, no less – in which she highlightted several of the blogs she follows, in the spirit of those awards that used to be doled out between bloggers. This is her post, in which she says nice things about me, and I can return the compliment: do visit her blog – Breezy Books – you won’t be disappointed!

See you again soon 🎄