Snoopy's Christmas

Here's one more Christmas album for you before the holiday! I'm not sure who the singers are on this one. It's from Diplomat Records if that's any help. Anyway, this is one I grew up with, and I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Snoopy's Christmas
2. The Little Shepherd
3. Christmas Candy
4. Mary Christmas
5. The Snowflake Song
6. Jingle the Christmas Mouse
7. The Christmas Tree
8. Mr. Reindeer
9. Donner and Blitzen
10. Jack Frost's Christmas

Click here or here or here to download!

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Thanks Leland!)

I'd like to thank Leland for contributing this album to the blog. Apparently there was never an official release to this soundtrack when the movie came out. This is actually from a special 10th Anniversary edition that was limited to 20,000 CDs. The album is a combination of songs, incidental music, and dialogue from the movie. I do want to warn you about some language cautions on the dialogue, though. But if you've seen the movie, you should know what to expect. Leland's going to send me a scan of the front cover, but I wanted to go ahead and get this on the blog before Christmas gets here! ;-D (As soon as I get it, I'll add it to this blog entry.) Enjoy!

UPDATE: I found a picture of the front cover. It's not part of the file, so you'll have to save it separately.

Here's the track list:

1. Christmas Vacation (cartoon version) – Mavis Staples
2. Take it Russ…
3. Hey, Santa Claus – The Moonglows
4. Clark’s *sskiss Remark
5. That Spirit of Christmas – Ray Charles
6. Sh****r Was Full
7. Christmas Vacation Medley – Angelo Badalamenti
8. Aunt Bethany’s Arrival
9. Hallelujah Chorus – The Oratorio Society of New York
10. Feeding the Dog at the Table
11. Mele Kalikimaka – Bing Crosby
12. Clark Explodes
13. Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry
14. Eddie’s Gift
15. Joy to the World – Angelo Badalamenti
16. Hell’s Threshold
17. Christmas Vacation (end credits version) – Mavis Staples
18. Rocket’s Red Glare
19. Bells

***Bonus Tracks (not used in "Christmas Vacation)***
20. Holiday Road – Lindsey Buckingham
21. Dancin’ Cross the USA – Lindsey Buckingham
22. Holiday Road – Limp
23. Christmas Vacation (radio version) – Mavis Staples
24. Radio Commercial (trailer)

Click here or here to download!


NOTE: I took down the non-working links. This one should be OK.

My Very Favorite-ist Christmas Card Ever!

I picked up this Christmas card probably around 30 years ago, and it remains my favorite even after all these years. Even though it's an old joke, it still makes me laugh. I think one of the things that makes this card work for me is the art style. I don't know how to describe it (I'm sure one of you more artfully inclined can), but it's just very Christmassy to me. A couple of years later I saw this very same joke on a card done with simple line art, but I just didn't find it anywhere near as effective or funny.

And the best part about this card? It actually folds out to make one long picture! (If you click on each of the pictures it'll make them bigger and you can catch more of the detail.)

I'm hoping to get at least one more Christmas album on here before it's too late but if not I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas. Or a Chappy Chanukah! Or a Kooky Kwanzah! Or a Rockin' Ramadan! Or if you don't celebrate any of the above, Enjoy All the After-Holiday Sales!!

Tony

Way Out Junkmeister Meisterjunk

Merry Christmas from the Happy Chipmunks

They're not just chipmunks, they're HAPPY chipmunks!! (Happier than I am, since three more of my links have been deleted.)

This one's all right, but it's just not chaotic enough. They definitely needed a David Seville type character for them to play off of. During one of the songs one asks, "What are you getting for Christmas?" and another says, "I don't know. I haven't been very good." Even then, he doesn't sound very mischievous. They do, however, get bonus points for not actually performing "The Chipmunk Song" on this album. Anyway, it's silly, it's cheesy, it's (hopefully) still a good link, and I hope you enjoy it!

Here's the track list:

1. The Twelve Days of Christmas
2. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
3. Sleigh Ride
4. Little Drummer Boy
5. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
6. Silver Bells
7. Winter Wonderland
8. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
9. Up on a House Top
10. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Click here to download!

Underdog Movie Poster

You know, this movie (a live-action remake of the 60's cartoon) is probably going to be awful, but I love the poster for it!

(Found on Ain't It Cool News)

The Way Out Junk-mas Contest is OVAH!!! (Updated with some album links!)

The Contest is finished, and I'd like to thank our seven entrants for participating. We actually had a three-way tie (of seven correct answers) for First Place. While I originally said that there'd be a drawing in case of a tie, I decided to just award the prize to all three winners. So congratulations to our winners, Steve, Rob, and Tom! I'll get your addresses and get the prizes sent out to you as soon as possible. And our other four participants will be receiving consolation prizes as well. This one ran really close, with everybody ending up with 5-7 answers correct. So, without further ado, here are the answers and a bit of info about them:


Intro: Alan Sherman (from his song "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas"). Just about everybody got this one right.

12 Drummers Drumming: Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm (from the 1965 album "Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Singing Songs of Christmas"). This was one of the albums I got in that big haul a few months ago. Despite the fact that my HB links have been taken down, I'm going to try to make this available soon (I now have, and the link to it is here.)

11 Pipers Peeping: The Chipmunks (from the album "Christmas with the Chipmunks Vol. 2"). On most of these I tried to take the piece from the twelfth verse, but this one was an exception. This was from the 11th verse breakdown, where they just kept messing up until Dave got them back into it. I was hoping this would help differentiate it from the other high-pitched choices.)

10 Thousand Yards: The Dallas Cowboys, specifically Tony Dorsett (from the 1985 album "A Dallas Cowboys Christmas"). Dorsett had just recently achieved a record 10,000 rushing yards (only the fifth NFL player at the time to have done so). I knew this would be a tough one. I'm going to try to share this one as well, because there's nothing more inspiring than hearing football players singing! ;-D

9 Ladies Dancing: Woody the Woodchuck (from the album "Christmas with Woody the Woodchuck"). Steve was the only one who guessed this one correctly. This album is available here at A Christmas Yuleblog.

8 Reindeer Flying: The Care Bears (from the CD "Holiday Hugs"). I just bought this one a month or two ago, so I thought one of you guys would have gotten it. No one did though.

7 Dogs A-Logging: Ren and Stimpy (The song "The Twelve Days of Yaksmas" from the 1993 album "Crock O' Christmas"). This one's out of print, but it's available here at "Ape Shall Never Kill Ape".

6 Cans of Hairspray: Twisted Sister (from the album "Twisted Christmas"). I actually thought this would be one of the harder ones since this CD just came out recently, but everybody got it right.

5 Gold Rings (Ba-dum-bum-bum!): Miss Piggy and the Muppets (from "John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together"). I knew you'd all get that one, but I felt like it had to be included!

4 Thousand Volts: The Cryptkeeper (The song "The Twelve Days of Cryptmas" from the 1994 album "Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas"). This is one of my favorite warped Christmas albums. It's out of print so, if it's not being offered anywhere else, I'm gonna have it here. And here it is!

3 Candles I Should Light: The Smurfs (from the 1983 album "Merry Christmas from the Smurfs").

2 Turtle Doves: Tennessee Ernie Ford (That wonderfully deep voice is from his 1965 album "Sing We Now of Christmas")

And a Beer in a Treeeee: Bob and Doug McKenzie Another one that just HAD to be there!

I hope you all enjoyed the Contest, whether you entered or not. If I find out that some of these out of print albums are available, I'll put links to them. I'll also try to get some more music on here in the next day or two. Merry Christmas, Everybody!!

Tony
Way Out Junk

It's Contest Time! [CONTEST IS OVER]

Presenting "The Twelve Days of Way Out Junk-mas" Contest!

Here's the deal:

At the end of this entry you will find a file. Download and listen to the file. What you will hear is the last verse of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". However, the intro and each one of the numbered gifts is from a different version of the song (or a parody of it). Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to tell me the artists of each of these parts. Now I'm looking for the artist, group, or characters credited on the song. For example, if one piece has Moe from the Three Stooges, just saying the Three Stooges is fine. If Bugs Bunny sings one, you'd say Bugs Bunny, not Mel Blanc. When you have your guess ready, email it to me at wayoutjunk@gmail.com (Do NOT send it as a comment on the board! Email only!! In fact, to alleviate anybody getting overly excited on the guessing, I will set the comments to be moderated by me just in case.) Please make as the subject "Twelve Days Contest" or something similar to that, so I'll know that's what the email is about. You'll have to guess who does the Intro all the way down to number one (and when you enter, please number and answer them in that order). And whoever gets the most answers right without going over wins the prize! (Sorry, I went into Bob Barker mode there for a second. Hey, he's retiring, so maybe I can get his job! "Help control the population. Have your kids spayed or neutered." No, wait. That's not right.....)

What will the winner receive? A copy of all the music currently available on this site in handy-dandy mp3 form, and maybe a few musical surprises as well! I think you guys should be able to get at least half of these without breaking a sweat. That said, I really don't believe anybody here will get every one of them. However, you're a pretty sharp group so you may surprise me. (I know the question you all have: Will the files that have been recently removed be included on the CDs? My official answer is No. Interpret that however you choose.)

OK, here's the rules. If you're entering, please read them:

1. Entering the contest means you have read, understood, and will abide by these rules.
   
2. The entrant will email their guess to me (numbering them from Intro to 12 and all the way down to 1). Make sure to also supply your name, your username on this board if you have one, and your city and state (and country if you're outside the U.S.). The winning entrant will be the one with the most correct answers. In case of a tie, a random drawing will be held to determine the winner. Remember there will be 13 answers here. Don't forget the Intro!
   
3. Entries must be received by 11:59 Central Time on Saturday, December 16th.
   
4. I will not be held responsible for computer or internet screw-ups.
   
5. The winner will be sent copies of all music currently available on this site (as of 11/21/06) in mp3 form on however many CDs it ends up being. If winner lives outside the Continental U.S. they may be asked to help with postage, depending on how much the CDs cost to send.
   
6. Please read this one very carefully. The winner is welcome to give away or trade any of the contents on these CDs through snail mail or in person. However, the winner agrees NOT TO SELL any of the contents in any way, shape, or form.
   
7. Void where prohibited. I'm not exactly sure where that would be, but all contest rules seem to put that in, and who am I to buck tradition?
   
8. The judge's decision is final. (They say that one a lot too.)
   
9. Have fun with this!
   

And if you have any questions that I didn't cover, feel free to email me or put it in the comments here. Again, the comments will now be moderated by me to keep any overzealous people from posting their guesses here, but you are more than welcome to ask and I'll do my best to answer those questions. Good luck, everybody!!

Click here to download!

Here's a Rapidshare link if that'll work better for you:

http://rapidshare.com/files/6678388/twelvedayscontest.mp3

NOTE: The Contest is done, but the links are still active if you want to play for fun. You can go here to find the answers!

Hear Santa Coming to Your House! (if your name is Jennifer, that is...)

I know absolutely nothing about this record. Even the label (if it had one) is gone. It's one of those records that you would buy that would mention your child's name, but boy howdy they didn't go to much expense or trouble here. You hear Santa Ho-Ho-Ho-ing and talking about Christmas and how wonderful everything is while he's making his rounds. Then he asks whose chimney he's come to, and some lady that they probably just grabbed out of the office says, "Jennifer's chimney, Santa Claus." Then Santa replies, "Oh yes, Merry Christmas to you!" and goes on Ho-Ho-Ho-ing and wishing you a Merry Christmas again. And that's it! First of all, I didn't think Santa took on elves as riders on his annual trip. Secondly, isn't Santa supposed to know which house he's come to, without having some unimpressed elf telling him? I think I would know i got ripped off even if I was little Jennifer! Anyway, I figured you guys would appreciate the pure cheesiness of it, despite the fact that it's not in best shape. Enjoy!

Click here or here or here to download!

Children's Treasury of Superman Musical Stories

I just had to share this album with you, especially since it ties in so well with yesterday's entry. This album from 1966 features a bunch of fun songs about Superman and his cast of characters. There's two each for Superman, Lois, Jimmy, Superboy, Krypto, and Mr. Mxyptlk. What's fun is that a lot of these songs are supposedly sung by the characters themselves. For example, in the song "Lois Lane", the singer says, "I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll keep her in line even if it means changing her name to mine or my name isn't Superman!" And if you were hoping for a definitive pronunciation of the name Mxyptlk, you won't get it here. When Mxyptlk himself says it, it sounds like a cross between a chicken and the Tasmanian Devil! By the way, I've heard that there's supposedly another album of this vintage of Justice League songs. I've seen one from the 70's but not this one. Anybody here heard of it?

Anyway, hope you guys like this, and I promise to throw some Christmas stuff in here soon!

Here's the track list:

1. Superman
2. Clark Kent
3. Busy Busy Busy
4. Lois Lane
5. Superboy
6. Kid Stuff
7. Don't Want to Go Back to the Fifth Dimension
8. Mr. Mxyptlk
9. Jimmy Olsen
10. The Lion and the Cub
11. Krypto
12. A Dog's Life

And here's the link:

Click here or here or here to download!

And by request, here's the back cover. It's not part of the zip file, so if you want it, you'll need to right-click and save the picture that way.

It's Superman! (sort of...)

(I was told that the YouTube link for this no longer worked, so I found a different link to it.)

In honor of the Superman movies being re-released on DVD:





A company called Onar Films is supposed to be putting this movie out on DVD later this year. Unfortunately all their stuff is in PAL format, so it wouldn't work here in the United States. I hope you enjoy this little snippet of it!

Zero Mostel Reads "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Hey, it's my first Christmas album for the blog! I don't have a whole lot of Christmas albums that aren't either still in print or available elsewhere, so I'm going to have to spread them out a bit.

This is a pretty neat album from 1975. Side 1 is Zero Mostel reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Mostel starts out pretty calm, but after a while he just goes nuts! I think this is the first Grinch I've heard that just sounds out-and-out insane!! Side 2 is a number of Christmas songs from around the world (sung in English) by a man named Alan Mills. I don't know him, but he has a definite Burl Ives-ish quality about him. I hope you guys like this!


Here's the track list:

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas


2. Bring a Torch (French)


3. The Friendly Beasts (English)


4. Mary Had a Baby (American)


5. Come and Sing (Russian)


6. Gently the Maiden (Polish)


7. Fum-Fum-Fum (Spanish)


8. The Simple Birth (Netherlands)


9. Haidom-Haidom (Czechoslovakian)


10. O Christmas Tree (German)


11. The Bagpiper's Carol (Italian)


12. St. Basil (Greek)


13. Little Bitty Baby (American)


14. Twelve Days of Christmas (Anglo-American)

Click here to download! (THIS LINK IS FIXED AS OF 12/13/10)

And by request, here's a picture of the back cover.