Joint Contrast

Warning: Not for the faint of heart (in case the headline doesn’t get that point across!)

The Vitals: Redneck reindeers? Christmas in jail? Would somebody actually have the balls to pop a cap in Santa’s ass? Those are just some of the twists and turns on the 2008 version of Happy Muthaf—in’ 2008 Holiday Season. Somewhere between the satire and sincerity there’s some good music amongst the mayhem, which has been included to help fight off the holiday anxieties while preparing to celebrate.

Copies of this comic escapade were shipped out to seven states, to 18 towns in all. Some showed up by surprise and others as expected. The music found its way out of Florida to California, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. To cities with names as familiar to some as Orlando, Chicago, Canton, Orrville, Wooster, Canal Fulton, Wadsworth and Sanford to those with obscure titles such as Alexandria, Pacifica, West Mifflin, Cross Lanes, Cicero, Nelsonville, Delaware, Magnolia, Urbana and Lodi.

By my estimation that’s a list which includes dirty politicians, the title of a Creedence Clearwater Revival song, the name of a state, some tasty butter popcorn, and the place Mickey Mouse takes a dump on minimum-wage workers each night.

But about the music. Read on to learn more about this special collection of holiday cheer…

Things Come Together: The idea stemmed from a creative night inside the shed behind my house. It was early summer 2007 and my brother and I had been recording and rerecording a few songs on an analog four-track. The later the night got, and the more inspiration we sucked down, I began rambling on about mailing copies of the recording to everyone we knew. I’d dub it our “Thanksgiving single” in honor of the holiday, at least so I reasoned at the time.

Rambling, rambling, rambling. That’s what I continued to do. Get a good buzz going and you’d be surprised at how clever you think are. I likened the idea to that of the vinyl singles Pearl Jam fan club members have received over the holiday season for more than a decade now. So as you may figure, the Thanksgiving song never saw the light of day once I awoke the next morning, or more accurately, early afternoon. Still, something even greater emerged from that session.

Months later I dug through the mounds of CD’s and music files I’ve hoarded over the years and compiled quit an interesting mix of alternative holiday songs. As it turns out, to little surprise, they happened to stray from the typical tunes that get played out each and every season. None of the selections were sought out for inclusion purposely. They just happened to be around when the set list was getting put together.

The Roots of the Release: The backbone to this year’s release, as opposed to what made up Volume I in ’07, is a country-music collection I bought for a buck or two at the Sanford Flea Market. I still remember the look on the black dude’s face as I paid for the Time Life exclusive Redneck Christmas earlier this year, with a beer in one hand and a backwards ball cap atop my head. That was the moment I knew a second volume of holiday goodies had to be served up.

There are 19 tracks in all on the newest version of Holiday Season with five songs coming from that one album alone, including “Leroy the Red Neck Reindeer”, “Xmas in Jail”, “Santa’s Big Parade”, “Truckin’ Trees For Christmas” and “You Can Call Me Nick”.

Five others join this year’s set list as carryovers from ’07. The few that did get their hands on the original will be pleased to discover that “Merry Muthaf—in’ Xmas” (Eazy-E), “Ain’t No Santa” (Trick Daddy), “Christmas in Hollis” (Run-DMC), ”Happy Holidays, Pt. 1″ (The Ohio Players) and “Santa Sucks” (Bigger Than Plastic) all made the cut.

I remember watching the video to that Run-DMC song over and over again as a kid in the late 1980′s. Eazy-Z obviously took the holiday concept to a different level several years later, and I got to hear all about it each time the cassette deck make its rounds. But if ”Christmas in Hollis” was the view from elementary school and ”Merry Muthaf—in’ Xmas” that of a rowdy teen, than Trick Daddy’s “Ain’t No Santa” is the grown folks way of appreciating what we’ve got during these unpredictable times.

Rounding out the bulk of the album are four songs from the Capital Records Christmas with the Rat Pack collection, featuring Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The sound of these habitual boozers and late night scenesters crooning holiday ditties fills me with great amusement as I top off another drink before bedtime.

(With the root of this tree firmly planted somewhere in irony, a dog stops by to paint snow a yellow shade beside you…)

In the Music: Take a good look at the cover art sometime of the self titled two-song E.P. from Bigger Than Plastic and tell me the image of a guy with a shotgun standing overtop Mr. Claus isn’t outrageous, in a humorous sort of way, of course. And that’s without mentioning the dead reindeer lying in the snow behind him. The first track is the menacing and somehow refreshing “Santa Sucks” followed by a pretty good cover of “Hello I Love You” by The Doors. I came across this by way of writing music reviews for a now-defunct national magazine once known as IMPACT Press (R.I.P.). IMPACT is also where I came across the included selection by Richard Youngs and where I had the pleasure to sample many of the early projects from Atmosphere.

The more random the songs or bands began to get as the list of options grew seemed to only propel this idea in the early goings. Including The Ohio Players was more than a sign of loyalty to the state from which I hail, just as the inclusion of Weezer had little to do with what I might have inhaled while I was there (ya know, all that factory smog and all). I mean, a song had to be at least mildly decent compared to the others to make the cut, which doesn’t say a lot for those left behind. A song title such as that from The Heliocentrics helped provide a nice break in the action while BT’s finale from atop a comedy stage seemed to bring things full circle, if in the most subtle of ways. I once saw BT perform live at the Orlando Improv, back when the place still existed.

That’s been gone a while now. Just as the many memorable and horrifically forgettable moments of our holiday past. All the more reason to make some new ones, no matter how screwed up they might get in the process.

Happy Muthaf—in’ 2008 Holiday Season (Volume II): “Leroy the Red Neck Reindeer” – [Joe Diffie]; “Merry Muthaf—in’ Xmas” * – [Eazy-E, Atbann Klann, Buckwheat, Menajahtwa]; “Christmas Time All Over the World” – [Sammy Davis Jr.]; “Xmas in Jail” – [Asleep at the Wheel]; “Santa Sucks” * – [Bigger Than Plastic]; “Holiday” – [Weezer]; “Santa’s Big Parade” – [The Louvin Brothers]; “Ain’t No Santa” * – [Trick Daddy]; “I Believe” – [Frank Sinatra]; “If I Was Santa Claus” – [Atmosphere]; “Christmas In Hollis” * – [Run-DMC]; “Nico Winter Song (remix)” – [The Heliocentrics]; “Truckin’ Trees For Christmas” – [Red Simpson]; “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – [Dean Martin]; “Happy Holidays, Pt. 1″ * – [The Ohio Players]; “Once It Was Autumn” – [Richard Youngs]; “You Can Call Me Nick” – [Dale Watson]; “I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)” – [Frank Sinatra]; “Holidays” – [BT]; ( * = appeared on volume one in 2007)