XXX-Mas Week Day Five: The Classics, "Thank God It's Christmas" Queen & "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" David Bowie and Bing Crosby

Even with my predilection towards modern music, it's always a good idea to know and respect your roots. With music from influential heavyweights like Kate Bush, The Pogues, The Ramones, Queen, and David Bowie, "The Edge of Christmas" has some classics in the alternative Christmas music cannon. The two songs I've selected for tonight are by no means the only great tracks on this album, but to be sure they're two of my favorites. It's interesting to me, sometimes, to think about the nature of my particular musical addiction. I am constantly seeking out new and interesting bands, not just for ThaBombShelter, but for myself as well. Even so, it wasn't until recently that I began seeking out and exploring the roots of the music that I love. I'm still in the infancy of my trek back through the musical family tree that has begat some of my favorite bands, but I am always exploring. You may very well have heard these two particular tracks, however, it's always a good idea to refresh your brain with some great classics in the Alternative Christmas Music genre.

"Thank God It's Christmas" by Queen is an excellent way to highlight the sheer power of Freddie Mercury's voice. As the GF so eloquently put it a few minutes ago upon first hearing the song, "Goddamn, Freddie Mercury could fucking sing." Pair that extraordinary voice with sleigh bells and Christmas lyrics and it's a perfect fit for XXX-Mas week here at ThaBombShelter. The only qualm I have with this question is merely a hindsight related qualm, and that would be the use of a pretty bad synth line. But then, it was recorded sometime in the late eighties/early nineties, so you've gotta kind of keep that in mind. I mean, everyone was using the hell out the bad synth back then, so you can't blame Queen for doing the same.

The David Bowie/Bing Crosby track is probably well known by most of you reading ThaBombShelter, but maybe you don't know it, maybe you've only heard of it. Whether you've heard it or not, you're probably like me and don't know the whole story behind this iconic piece of Christmas music. According to the David Bowie FAQ, Bing Crosby wanted a contemporary musician to sing a duet with him while he was taping his Christmas special in London. He had no idea who Bowie was, but his kids did, so they got the Thin White Duke to come sing with ol' Bing. The show was taped about a month before his death, and unfortunately wasn't aired until afterwards, but that did nothing to prevent this song from becoming one of the seminal moments in Christmas music history. And keep an ear out around the 2:07 mark, because if you don't get chills when Bowie hit's that note on "Men of goodwill!", you really do deserve a lump of fucking coal in your stocking.

Queen Official Site
David Bowie Official Site
Bing Crosby on WikiPedia
Buy "The Edge of Christmas" on Amazon.com

"Thank God It's Christmas" Queen
"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" David Bowie and Bing Crosby

And here's that famous clip of Bing and Bowie courtesy of YouTube (God bless YouTube...)