Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

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Vote For Your TOP FOUR Songs To Advance

Poll ended at 10 Dec 2022, 1:41pm

Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry
7
18%
Tracey Thorn - Sister Winter
5
13%
Annie Lennox - In the Bleak Midwinter
6
15%
Phil and Eddie - 12 Days of Christmas
4
10%
Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
11
28%
The Replacements - Bundle Up
7
18%
 
Total votes: 40

Flex
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Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

Post by Flex »

Here it is folks. The group stages. Excitement. Mayhem. A great chance for some giant-slaying. Out of our 24 song nominations* 16 will go on to fight another day. For the group stage we'll have 4 groups of 6 songs, with the bottom two songs in each group getting eliminated. I've tried to group them so no one has both their nominations in the same group. I'll include music videos and any comments that were provided with the initial nomination in this post below.

Because voting for stuff is fun, each person gets FOUR votes - four get to move on after all - so use them wisely. Voting will continue until the morning (in the United States, anyway) of Saturday, December 10th. Anticipate the Round of 16 polls going up that same day.

*For those keeping close track, I included all FOUR of revbob's suggestions - the scamp - and also LDL's suggestion of Tom Waits' Silent Night so we could have an even number of songs when all was said and done.

Group C

Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry (nominated by Heston)


"that brass band is just marvellous"

Tracey Thorn - Sister Winter (nominated by Dr. Medulla)


"Achingly beautiful melancholy about atonement and forgiveness. In its own way, it feels spiritual to me. If your heart doesn't tighten a little, you might be a monster."

Annie Lennox - In the Bleak Midwinter (nominated by Low Down Low)


"so many fine versions of this haunting piece, including some great brass and instrumental arrangements, but I'll go for the Annie Lennox vocal one. I think she does this type of thing really well."

Phil and Eddie - 12 Days of Christmas (nominated by motorsmell)


"A more traditional approach and what an angelic performance from little Philthy. (The whole album is a stroke of festive genius if I'm honest)"

Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (nominated by revbob)


The Replacement - Bundle Up (nominated by Sparky)


"...or we could always go with some Replacements "Bundle Up"! I mean with a line like "Not a creature was stirrin' 'cause they all was drunk" how can you go wrong? Just says Christmas cheer."
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

Flex
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Re: Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

Post by Flex »

Okay, my thoughts on group c. I think this is the group that includes the most songs that aren't necessarily regular listens for me (not a reflection on the quality of the songs themselves, of course, just my own limited time on this plane of existence), so this one will be interesting for me.

Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry

I really appreciate the message here, but musically this whole thing is very Not For Me. Sorry to those who love the song, but a "no" vote from me.

-Tracey Thorn - Sister Winter

This is a Sufjan Stevens cover, I believe. Doc has talked this song up before. I love it, the original is exceptional and Thorn does a wonderful - even definitive - interpretation of it. I love winter-seasonal songs that have an almost mystic feel - as the Cocteau Twins selection did - and this really digs into vibe. The song feels like a sunny but cold day in midwinter. Really wonderful stuff. A "yes" vote from me.

-Annie Lennox - In the Bleak Midwinter

Most of the superlatives that I used for the Thorn song can be applied here. Lennox handles this haunting classic masterfully. I agree with Low Down Low that this is a favorite old carol, so I'm glad to see it was included in this exercise. As a side note, Lennox is one of my mom's favorite artists so I got this CD for her upon release back in 2010 and it's been a regular listen when I'm home for the holidays ever since. Lovely feelings attached to this track and album, and a "yes" vote from me.

Phil and Eddie - 12 Days of Christmas

Oh man, sorry. I really wanted to get excited for this song but 12 Days of Christmas is a rough song at the best of times, and P&E don't, ah, mitigate the repetitive irritation of this one. The upside is that I downloaded the Phil & Eddie album to check out and I really enjoy a lot of the rest of this more than this particular track. Maybe I'm unfairly biased against even send-ups of 12 Days of Christmas, such is my general dislike of the original song itself, but this is a "no" vote from me. I feel humorless, again sorry.

-Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Joey's take on this ultra-classic is a big-sound affair and one of the few covers that can stand toe-to-toe with the original. Solo Joey adds a slight tough of world weariness and heartache into his vocals that, when influencing his classic delivery, makes him a perfect candidate for this song. At the end of the day, I'm not quite sure it's better than the original - and we may have an opportunity to make that call in a round or two - but it's damned good. Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) gets all the Ramones holiday attention but for my money this is the heartfelt seasonal tunes of the Ramones-universe. A "yes" vote from me.

-The Replacement - Bundle Up

It's unbelievably funny that this is in the running (and as of this writing in second in the group). I honestly never really considered this a "holiday" song but I'm being won over. A "yes" from me. Oh Replacements, is there anything you can't do?
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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Re: Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

Post by Low Down Low »

Flex wrote:
08 Dec 2022, 1:21pm
Okay, my thoughts on group c. I think this is the group that includes the most songs that aren't necessarily regular listens for me (not a reflection on the quality of the songs themselves, of course, just my own limited time on this plane of existence), so this one will be interesting for me.

Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry

I really appreciate the message here, but musically this whole thing is very Not For Me. Sorry to those who love the song, but a "no" vote from me.

-Tracey Thorn - Sister Winter

This is a Sufjan Stevens cover, I believe. Doc has talked this song up before. I love it, the original is exceptional and Thorn does a wonderful - even definitive - interpretation of it. I love winter-seasonal songs that have an almost mystic feel - as the Cocteau Twins selection did - and this really digs into vibe. The song feels like a sunny but cold day in midwinter. Really wonderful stuff. A "yes" vote from me.

-Annie Lennox - In the Bleak Midwinter

Most of the superlatives that I used for the Thorn song can be applied here. Lennox handles this haunting classic masterfully. I agree with Low Down Low that this is a favorite old carol, so I'm glad to see it was included in this exercise. As a side note, Lennox is one of my mom's favorite artists so I got this CD for her upon release back in 2010 and it's been a regular listen when I'm home for the holidays ever since. Lovely feelings attached to this track and album, and a "yes" vote from me.

Phil and Eddie - 12 Days of Christmas

Oh man, sorry. I really wanted to get excited for this song but 12 Days of Christmas is a rough song at the best of times, and P&E don't, ah, mitigate the repetitive irritation of this one. The upside is that I downloaded the Phil & Eddie album to check out and I really enjoy a lot of the rest of this more than this particular track. Maybe I'm unfairly biased against even send-ups of 12 Days of Christmas, such is my general dislike of the original song itself, but this is a "no" vote from me. I feel humorless, again sorry.

-Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Joey's take on this ultra-classic is a big-sound affair and one of the few covers that can stand toe-to-toe with the original. Solo Joey adds a slight tough of world weariness and heartache into his vocals that, when influencing his classic delivery, makes him a perfect candidate for this song. At the end of the day, I'm not quite sure it's better than the original - and we may have an opportunity to make that call in a round or two - but it's damned good. Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) gets all the Ramones holiday attention but for my money this is the heartfelt seasonal tunes of the Ramones-universe. A "yes" vote from me.

-The Replacement - Bundle Up

It's unbelievably funny that this is in the running (and as of this writing in second in the group). I honestly never really considered this a "holiday" song but I'm being won over. A "yes" from me. Oh Replacements, is there anything you can't do?
Happy to get some backing on Annie. I honestly didn't expect it to get any support at all so intrigued to see it's polling respectably. And definitely with your mom on the album, I was never really grabbed by Annie's pop stuff, but on those old hymns and carols, she's top notch. Lullay Lullay and First Noel are great too, but Bleak Midwinter is the alpha tune, the sheer power her voice lends to it just blows me away every time.

Of the other songs listed, i guess you have to be from limey land (or just across the pond!) to appreciate it. Pure dollop of sweet nostalgia for me, wouldnt be a proper xmas without it.

While I thought Tracey Thorn and the Replacements were good songs, stylistically they don't feel like xmas songs to me, so I didn't vote for them on that basis. Bundle Up does remind me of another song but can't put my finger on what it is!

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Re: Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

Post by Sparky »

Low Down Low wrote:
09 Dec 2022, 8:25pm
Flex wrote:
08 Dec 2022, 1:21pm

-The Replacement - Bundle Up

It's unbelievably funny that this is in the running (and as of this writing in second in the group). I honestly never really considered this a "holiday" song but I'm being won over. A "yes" from me. Oh Replacements, is there anything you can't do?
Happy to get some backing on Annie. I honestly didn't expect it to get any support at all so intrigued to see it's polling respectably. And definitely with your mom on the album, I was never really grabbed by Annie's pop stuff, but on those old hymns and carols, she's top notch. Lullay Lullay and First Noel are great too, but Bleak Midwinter is the alpha tune, the sheer power her voice lends to it just blows me away every time.

Of the other songs listed, i guess you have to be from limey land (or just across the pond!) to appreciate it. Pure dollop of sweet nostalgia for me, wouldnt be a proper xmas without it.

While I thought Tracey Thorn and the Replacements were good songs, stylistically they don't feel like xmas songs to me, so I didn't vote for them on that basis. Bundle Up does remind me of another song but can't put my finger on what it is!

In true Replacements fashion (and probably after some adult beverages) they ripped it off from Hank Mizell "Jungle Rock".

God, what a mess, on the ladder of success
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung

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Re: Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

Post by Low Down Low »

Sparky wrote:
09 Dec 2022, 9:42pm
Low Down Low wrote:
09 Dec 2022, 8:25pm
Flex wrote:
08 Dec 2022, 1:21pm

-The Replacement - Bundle Up

It's unbelievably funny that this is in the running (and as of this writing in second in the group). I honestly never really considered this a "holiday" song but I'm being won over. A "yes" from me. Oh Replacements, is there anything you can't do?
Happy to get some backing on Annie. I honestly didn't expect it to get any support at all so intrigued to see it's polling respectably. And definitely with your mom on the album, I was never really grabbed by Annie's pop stuff, but on those old hymns and carols, she's top notch. Lullay Lullay and First Noel are great too, but Bleak Midwinter is the alpha tune, the sheer power her voice lends to it just blows me away every time.

Of the other songs listed, i guess you have to be from limey land (or just across the pond!) to appreciate it. Pure dollop of sweet nostalgia for me, wouldnt be a proper xmas without it.

While I thought Tracey Thorn and the Replacements were good songs, stylistically they don't feel like xmas songs to me, so I didn't vote for them on that basis. Bundle Up does remind me of another song but can't put my finger on what it is!

In true Replacements fashion (and probably after some adult beverages) they ripped it off from Hank Mizell "Jungle Rock".

Ah, bingo! Thanks sparky, at first i was thinking the Nips King of the Bop but that wasn't it, then i hit on Beach Boys Barbara Ann which is definitely closer but that's definitely nailed it.

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Re: Flex's Ultimate 25 Days of Christmas (Songs) World Cup: Group C

Post by Flex »

Congrats to the following songs, which all advance!

-Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (nominated by revbob) 11 votes
-Jona Lewie - Stop the Cavalry (nominated by Heston) 7 votes
-The Replacements - Bundle Up (nominated by Sparky) 7 votes
-Annie Lennox - In the Bleak Midwinter (nominated by Low Down Low) 6 votes
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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