Fit to be tied: These shoes were made for walking—away from this song. (Credit: SparkleToes3)
A very Merry Christmas, LDBCers! We here at LDBC Central wish to thank you for indulging our desire to subject you to 12 craptivatingly crummy Christmas tunes, and we want to let you know that crowdsourcing works! Several of you cited Newsong’s “The Christmas Shoes” as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad song. And after enduring the nearly five-minute video for the sake of research, I must concur. Yes, that’s Rob Lowe in there, playing a grinchy lawyer who discovers the real meaning of Christmas with the help of a young boy in need. I pray that Lowe has made enough money from his recent tell-all autobiography so that he never has to appear in a maudlin made-for-TV Christmas movie ever again. — Mrs. LDBC
Yes, LDBCers, the Season of the Drum has officially come to a close. But that doesn’t mean that we have run out of craptivatingly craven Christmas tunes to criticize—there are two more!
Until recently, I was completely unaware of the existence of Cyndi Lauper’s “Christmas Conga”—and I was totally okay with that. But now that it’s occupying valuable neuronal space that could otherwise be pressed into service for remembering lines from Goodfellas, I must share the joy with you. I’ll let the “music” speak for itself. — Mrs. LDBC
So how’d you do? The Little Drummer Boy Challenge ends at midnight, your time, on Dec. 23rd. Now, we love seeing you brag or mourn, depending on your result, on the Facebook page. But it also helps us out quite a bit if you fill out this form to record your win or loss officially. So take a minute and increase your Challenge karma exponentially. — Mr. LDBC
Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me: Drum Devil courtesy El Rey
When the going gets tough, the tough get creative. Thus, an LDBC-inspired masterpiece from our artist friend James Barnett, better known as El Rey. — Mr. LDBC
Oh, my Aiken ears: Clay’s mind-bendingly maudlin musical mess
This latest helping of holiday hokum was a staple of Clay Aiken’s “Joyful Noise” Tour (2004-2007). But there’s nothing joyful about this noise, my friends. Clay is the closest thing we in the real world have to a Rankin/Bass stop-motion character. However, Kris Kringle, Yukon Cornelius—hell, even Hermey—wouldn’t be caught dead warbling this syrupy Yuletide twaddle. This one’s enough to make me turn into Sombertown’s Burgermeister Meisterburger right quick. Or, to paraphrase Marsellus Wallace, “I’m gonna get Bumble on your ass.” — Mrs. LDBC
We need a holiday—from Madge’s saccharine “Santa Baby.”
Madonna’s treacly take on Eartha Kitt’s slightly less treacly 1953 hit appeared on 1987’s “A Very Special Christmas,” along with such enduring Yuletide classics as The Coug’s rendition of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (see my last take-down, er, post) and Bon Jovi’s version of “Back Door Santa.”
According to my airtight source (an unreferenced statement on the “Santa Baby” Wikipedia entry), “Santa Baby” is one of only two Christmas hits penned by a woman (Joan Javits, the niece of NY Senator Jacob K. Javits, for all you factoid-heads). The other one? “Carol of the Drum” by Katherine K. Davis—better known as “The Little Drummer Boy.” — Mrs. LDBC
Uh-uh: The Coug and friends cut loose to bring you a heapin’ helpin’ of cruddy Christmas cheer.
Full disclosure: Mrs. LDBC has nurtured a white-hot hatred of the Christmas classic “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” since she was a wee lass in the hinterlands of suburban New Jersey. Mommy two-timing Daddy with a bearded guy in red velvet who shows up once a year to chow down on milk and cookies? HELL TO THE NO. Add in a Tawny-Kitaen-maned Coug, fiddles, and acid wash, and the white-hot hatred morphs into apoplexy. My fervent Christmas wish: that folksy, homespun music types swear off making zydeco-infused versions of creepy Yuletide tunes. They won’t, of course. But ain’t that America? —Mrs. LDBC
Shock to the system: the surprising Mark “Jacko” Jackson
The Aussies are some of my favorite people on the planet, and I mean that in all seriousness. Whether trekking in Nepal or blowing my knee out in the Alps, I’ve found them to be among the toughest and best-humored travelers around. Which is why it disturbs me that we’ve been at war with them for decades. We make them look stupid on The Simpsons and give them a bad name in medium after medium. They send us Yahoo Serious and Jacko. Frankly, I think we’re losing. (Don’t believe me? Have we ever come up with adequate retaliation for the commercial below? I think not.) Anyway, LDBCers such as Jennifer Dixon, who contributed the following account of her demise, help give me hope for a lasting peace between us.
I’m out.
You northern hemisphere types won’t appreciate this: it’s 104 degrees out there, in country NSW Australia. I’m in this town doing a locum whilst my family is thousands of kilometres (sorry, MILES) away and I’m bored. I’ve come to the closest thing that passes for a mall in these parts. Just browsing goddawful summer dresses in the plus-size section…. Damn! Unidentified boy band (the worst kind).
A friendly stranger asks me what the matter is (friendly, country folk are everywhere) and, try as I might, I just can’t explain my outburst of obscenities to them. “but it’s just a Christmas song”. They shake their head and walk away from the crazy big city type.
Gross is the word: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as Danny and Sandy 2.0
Back in 1978, Danny and Sandy jetted off from Rydell High in their shiny red jalopy. Now, 34 years later, everyone’s favorite greaser couple is back to bring you this electrifyingly egregious Christmas tune. Travolta’s ’do is a cross between a ’70s-era G.I. Joe and Merlin’s headplate from Excalibur. And when did Newton-John start channeling Joan Rivers?
Wham! There it is—the latest craptacular Christmas tune!
Yes peeps, it’s Day 6 of The 12 Days of Christmas Songs Worse than LDB. We mark the halfway point with a truly craptivating holiday offering from ’80s duo Wham! (I guess they dropped the “UK” like a hot ramekin of figgy pudding by Christmas of ’84.) According to the video, George Michael’s Girl of Christmas Past is now Andrew Ridgeley’s Girl of Christmas Present. The take-home message? Relationships in the ’80s worked out best when you shared the same coiffure. — Mrs. LDBC