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Thursday, December 9, 2010

Countdown to Christmas #9: Snoopy's Christmas

 
"Snoopy's Christmas" is a Christmas song recorded by the Royal Guardsmen in 1967 as a follow-up to their hit "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron." The song chronicles a Christmastime aerial duel between the World War I Flying Ace and Germany's most notorious aviator and illustrates the power of Christmas to bring even the bitterest of enemies together, if only for a brief moment.

It is one of the best Christmas songs ever.



However, in one of the great Christmas injustices, you rarely hear it. The Christmas song-playing radio stations can run "Jingle Bell Rock" once every hour, but we don't get to hear this awesome song. Seriously, I'm one of those people who listens to nothing but Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving until December 25th, and I hadn't heard "Snoopy's Christmas" this year until I went to find that video. 

Which is a shame. Because it's awesome. In fact, I'm going to listen to it again right now...

15 comments:

  1. This is why I've stopped listening to the radio and created my own playlists either on iChabod or Pandora. I listen to Last Christmas by Wham pretty much every day up to Christmas and sometimes a little after.

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  2. i've never even heard of this song.

    As for Wham, Anne and i went out briefly on Black Friday and we heard that song literally like 5 times

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  3. This is full of win, except for the injustice part, which is full of lose, or, in other words, empty of win.

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  4. @Hannah: This is why I've stopped listening to the radio and created my own playlists either on iChabod or Pandora.

    Yeah, I have all my Christmas music on my iPod in a playlist, but I just listen to it on shuffle. And even then, it hasn't shuffled up to this song. I've heard other stuff plenty of times, but not it.

    @Falen: i've never even heard of this song.

    Then I'm glad I brought it up.

    As for Wham, Anne and i went out briefly on Black Friday and we heard that song literally like 5 times

    Yeah, "Last Christmas" gets a ton of play. Partially because now there's a couple versions other than the Wham! one.

    @Matthew: This is full of win, except for the injustice part, which is full of lose, or, in other words, empty of win.

    Ha! Exactly.

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  5. I love the Boss, but his version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is so overplayed and so not very good. That's the one that drives me crazy every time I hear it. And "Wonderful Christmastime" makes my ears bleed. I hate synth in Christmas music.

    "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" is probably my favorite Christmas song. It just reminds me of being a kid and watching the old Rudolph special. And I'm ashamed to admit, "Step into Christmas" is a very guilty pleasure of mine.

    Sorry for the deletes, it's early and I'm typo prone.

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  6. i've also never heard that song. But it's pretty good.
    Clearly there's a glut of same-old same-old xmas music and not enough of the really good ones like Queen Thank God it's Christmas and John Lennon So this is Christmas.

    Clearly

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  7. @Jeff: I love the Boss, but his version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is so overplayed and so not very good.

    Agreed. Definitely a song that's played more than it deserves to be.

    And "Wonderful Christmastime" makes my ears bleed. I hate synth in Christmas music.

    I don't mind a little synth here and there, but I can't stand "Wonderful Christmastime".

    And I'm ashamed to admit, "Step into Christmas" is a very guilty pleasure of mine.


    It's a fun song. I wouldn't call it a favorite, but I do enjoy it.

    @Anne: Clearly there's a glut of same-old same-old xmas music and not enough of the really good ones like Queen Thank God it's Christmas and John Lennon So this is Christmas.


    Absolutely (though "So This Is Christmas" has been gaining air time the last few years).

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  8. Snoopy's Christmas kicks all sorts of ass. If Snoopy's Christmas met The Christmas Shoes in the octagon UFC-style the end result would be such an epic, bloody beatdown that The Christmas Shoes would be unrecognizable and the sport of mixed martial arts would be outlawed and have to be disbanded.

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  9. @Dr. Bitz: If Snoopy's Christmas met The Christmas Shoes in the octagon UFC-style the end result would be such an epic, bloody beatdown that The Christmas Shoes would be unrecognizable and the sport of mixed martial arts would be outlawed and have to be disbanded.

    You're absolutely right, but, not to belittle the awesomeness of "Snoopy's Christmas", wouldn't that be true of most any song that got into the ring with "The Christmas Shoes"?

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  10. I got behind on my blog-reading, and I’m having a blast catching up today. And I must say, I’m getting such a kick out of all-y’all’s esprit de corps and repartee. (Short trip to the dictionary, there!) Teebore, you and your regulars chat like old pals, and it’s a joy to eavesdrop! One question: are you ALL from the frozen north? Or maybe all Minnesotans? There’s nothing like enduring the same hardships (like heaps of snow) to encourage unity in a group. (Before you ask, I live in Wichita, Kansas, where white Christmases are rare, but sometimes happen.)

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  11. @Marebabe: I got behind on my blog-reading, and I’m having a blast catching up today.

    Glad to hear it, and thanks for taking the time!

    One question: are you ALL from the frozen north? Or maybe all Minnesotans?

    Hannah, Falen, Anne and I are all in MN (we actually all met working at Barnes and Noble once upon a time).

    And both my fellow Gentlemen of Leisure are MN natives as well.

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  12. I haven't heard this song in ages. Thanks for that!

    While I love Christmas music, truly, and I want to hear it non-stop the week leading up to the big day, I really have a hard time tolerating it before then. I get that starting it right after Thanksgiving is a tradition, but it's too jarring for me until at least mid-December; the trend for radio stations to start it right after Halloween is, of course, just insanity, but it wouldn't continue if market research didn't bear out its success.

    I enjoy all the pop/rock Christmas songs in moderation, even McCartney's kitschy "Wonderful Christmastime". The Bing Crosby & David Bowie "Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy" duet is wacked-out win to me, best enjoyed in the video excerpt from the TV special. I haven't heard The Kinks' "Father Christmas" yet this year, I just realized, but that's a good one. I actually really like Hall & Oates' cover of "Jingle Bell Rock" (a perennial favorite in many versions), with Oates on rare lead vocals, which is never played either; it's on tap for my own Christmas post if I ever get to it. Any time the Rankin/Bass tunes pop up is appreciated, too.

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  13. @Blam: the trend for radio stations to start it right after Halloween is, of course, just insanity, but it wouldn't continue if market research didn't bear out its success.

    Yeah, that is crazy. Around here, I don't think the two radio stations that convert to Christmas music do it much before Thanksgiving (in fact, one of them waited until after Thanksgiving this year for the first time in years).

    But once Thanksgiving passes, I'm totally one of those "all Christmas, all the time people".

    The Bing Crosby & David Bowie "Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy" duet is wacked-out win to me, best enjoyed in the video excerpt from the TV special.

    Oh, I love that one! The first time I ever saw footage of that special was on a Time Life commercial for Christmas tapes that included that song.

    I actually really like Hall & Oates' cover of "Jingle Bell Rock"

    That one I haven't heard; I'll have to check it out; it sounds good.

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  14. I first heard the Bowie/Crosby duet when MTV ran it as a video, back when MTV actually played videos. As for Hall & Oates' cover of "Jingle Bell Rock"... See, I'm more of a rock-'n'-roll guy (or a solid pop guy) than a 'rock" guy at heart, so stuff like this, with a nice, old-school rockabilly guitar, is in my sweet spot; I first saw this one on MTV, too, when it was new, because I'm old. 8^)

    VW: savicar — The automobile that thinks for itself.

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  15. @Blam: See, I'm more of a rock-'n'-roll guy (or a solid pop guy) than a 'rock" guy at heart

    Same here.

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