Christmas 2024 Theme Mix Tape (Side C)
The Twisted Tinsel: Christmas 2024 Theme Mix Tape (Side C) can be found on Spotify. Listen in-blog below for a more rich experience, or on Spotify for uninterrupted music. Please note below each song is a link to song lyrics for accessibility. Check out more details on how to best enjoy mix tapes.
Good day! You’re listening to KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
I’m your host, DJ Ponyboy, and I’m excited to keep the Christmas tunes coming with Side C of the Christmas 2024 Theme Mix Tape – Twisted Tinsel: Reworked Christmas Classics, where I share some of my favourite new interpretations of jolly old classics.
There are two types of people at this unique time of year – those who are glad the holiday is over and those who feel it is just beginning. I aim to please both camps!
Here is your chance to discover some new versions of old Christmas tunes, save them for next year, and surprise future you with fun new takes on your favourite holiday songs!
I believe a good cover achieves dual goals that are seemingly at odds with each other: it should remain faithful to the original while adding a unique flavour all its own.
The American Christmas carol “Jingle Bells” was originally published in 1857. Just over one hundred years later, Preservation Hall Jazz Band began keeping the flame of the New Orleans jazz legacy. Another sixty or so years after that they graced us with this fantastic recording of “Jingle Bells”.
Their cover reminds me of the Gordon Jenkins arrangement recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1957, but has its own flair and more energy with a New Orleans jazz band vibe.
Here is Preservation Hall Jazz Band with their 2019 cover of “Jingle Bells” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band with one of my favourite arrangements of “Jingle Bells” (the other is Barbra Streisand’s).
Up next, the 1958 Christmas rock ‘n’ roll classic that raises more questions than it answers. “Run, Rudolph, Run” is a difficult tune for an artist to add their own flair to, but the inimitable Cher manages to succeed.
However, the unnecessarily gendered verses of this song have always bothered me. Why can’t the girl child be longing for a rock ‘n’ roll electric guitar? Maybe what would please the boy child most to get is a little baby doll that can cry, sleep, drink, and wet. And what about the non-binary children? Maybe someone needs to take a stab at re-writing these verses!
I have more questions, but first, Cher with her 2023 cover of Chuck Berry’s “Run, Rudolph, Run”.
Cher and “Run, Rudolph, Run”. Other things I don’t understand about that song . . . 🤔 How would the freeway with traffic be faster than flying through the air with little-to-no traffic?
Additionally, I don’t ever remember Santa’s sleigh stopping along the way to ask little kids what they want; where is that in the literature? By the time Santa is in his sleigh, shouldn’t he already have all the gifts packed?
It doesn’t matter – the tune is a whole vibe. 😅
Another song that is difficult to add new flair to is “Santa Baby”, originally recorded by the iconic Eartha Kitt; but I think Brandy manages it.
Covering Kitt’s sultry Christmas track sixty years after the original, enjoy Brandy on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado.
Brandy with “Santa Baby”; the instrumentation, vocals, and arrangement all add new life to this fantastic vintage song.
Our next tune was originally recorded by Gene Autry in 1950! I grew up watching dozens of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry Westerns as a kid, so this one has always had a special place in my heart. 🥰
Have you guessed the song yet? It’s a Christmas tune about imagination, magic, and childhood, but also about self-awareness and mindfulness – the main character knows he doesn’t have long and leans into enjoying the time he has; we could all learn from him!
Bowling For Soup with their 2011 cover of the 1950 children’s Christmas tune “Frosty the Snowman”.
“Frosty the Snowman”, another difficult song to add new flair to, but Bowling for Soup does a fantastic job! The rhythm, energy, instrumentation, and vibe all get a makeover; my favourite part is the life they managed to breathe into “Thumpity thump thump”!
Our next cover manages to make me enjoy a song I don’t really care for! I’m impressed, but not surprised! I’ve been a fan of our next artist since I was young and have followed her career closely.
Originally recorded in 1949 by the Boston Pops Orchestra, enjoy Miley Cyrus with her 2017 cover of “Sleigh Ride”.
“Happy holidays everybody – especially you!”
“Sleigh Ride”! I love Miley’s energy, delivery, and the arrangement; I think the “ah’s” really add something. 😅
This year is the 50th anniversary of The Year Without a Santa Claus, a 1974 stop-motion animated Christmas television special based on Phyllis McGinley’s 1956 book, narrated by Shirley Booth and starring the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, and George S. Irving.
Covering some of the music from that beloved Christmas classic is ska band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, right here on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
That was a cover / re-arrangement of “The Heat Miser Song” and “The Snow Miser Song” from the 1974 stop-motion animated Christmas television classic The Year Without a Santa Claus – that version by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
You still have a few more days to save 20% on MTJ products using the discount code SANTA20 at checkout! Don’t forget to check out our monthly Patreon tiers too!
Growing up, my family would spend Christmas Eve with my grandparents on my Dad’s side, then drive late that night to my other grandmother’s house to wake up Christmas morning and celebrate Christmas with my Mom’s half of the family.
During that drive, my dad would tune around to different Chicago-area radio stations to find the zaniest and most fun Christmas music – songs we never heard at my house! Songs like “Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer”, “Rusty Chevrolet”, and our next tune, “Feliz Navidad”.
Originally recorded by José Feliciano in 1970, my favourite version was recorded nearly fifty years later. The youthful, cocky, playful energy exhibited by the band throughout this cover is fun, energetic, and quite honestly sexy AF.
Keeping the Christmas tunes coming, it’s Why Don’t We with their 2018 cover of “Feliz Navidad” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
While Feliciano’s original was one of my favourites as a kid, it is very simple and repetitive; this version expands on the lyrics and enhances the party vibe, making it even more fun and enjoyable.
Similarly, Tyler, the Creator manages to somehow take a fifty-plus-year-old song that was already a banger and turn it up to eleven.
Originally from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, an American animated television special based on the 1957 book by Dr. Seuss, and featuring the voice of Boris Karloff, the original version of our next tune was recorded by Thurl Ravenscroft and Boris Karloff in 1966.
Tyler, the Creator, and 2018’s “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”.
You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch Lyrics
“Bad banana!”
Tyler, the Creator’s unique approach and arrangement are genius, and create a whole new song.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and I hope you have been enjoying Twisted Tinsel: Reworked Christmas Classics, the third of three Christmas-themed mix tapes for 2024. Make sure to check out the other two as well – Tinsel and Tears: Grieving Through the Holiday, where I hold space for those who are not feeling festive this season; and Snowflakes and Surprises, featuring non-traditional Christmas songs.
Up next, Steve Taylor kindly keeping it Christmas with his cover of a song originally recorded in 1934 by Richard Himber and his Orchestra; Taylor’s version offers a totally new flavour featuring a Mariachi band and a verse in Spanish!
That cover recorded in 1994, sixty years after the 1934 original.
Closing us out, Le Tits Now! Johnny Reid and his cover of the 1945 Vaughn Monroe tune “Let It Snow” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
Johnny Reid. Tracks from his 2020 EP My Kind of Christmas have been included on all three of my Christmas mix tapes this year; I highly recommend checking it out for yourself.
I have had so much fun with you this holiday season and I want to extend a huge thank you from me to you; I’m so grateful we get to spend this special time together.
Make sure to come back next week for the best new music from December 2024, and keep coming back every Sunday for new mix tapes in 2025.
You have been listening to KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
I’m your host, DJ Ponyboy.
Until next time, stay gold.