Dear Friends,
The month of December provides most of us our only opportunity to listen to thematically unified music from multiple decades (or multiple centuries).
When during the year should Christmas music be played on loudspeakers, if at all? Should it be classical only, instrumental, or choral? Can the song “Holly Jolly Christmas” be barred? How about “Little Drummer Boy,” even though David Bowie was involved in one of the versions?
Other favorite singers, from Johnny Cash to Willie Nelson, from The Beach Boys to (even) Bob Dylan, from Louis Armstrong to Ella Fitzgerald, from Nat King Cole (my mom’s favorite) to Stevie Wonder, have all released Christmas albums. Do we listen to any of those? Sometimes some singles sneak into Christmas playlists, but I suspect that most of these did not transition well from vinyl to digital.
Many families amuse themselves with “gag” Christmas albums. We listen to the 1979 classic John Denver and the Muppets – A Christmas Together every year, largely unironically. Denver’s earnest sweetness helps to compensate for the irreverent zany genius of the Muppets. We watched the ABC special when it aired – there were so many Christmas specials in that era – so I was delighted when my wife Kate brought the album to our relationship almost 35 years ago. Ray Charles was a vocal arranger for the album, ensuring the highest quality of the performances.
Perhaps “gag” Christmas hits started with “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” by Spike Jones (distant cousin). Others in the tradition included “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” by Gayla Peevey in 1953, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” by The Chipmunks in 1958, “Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas” by the aforementioned John Denver in 1973, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo & Patsy in 1979, and “What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)?” by the Star Wars Intergalactic Droid Choir in 1980.
Like so much Christmas music, any one of these might have been amusing the first time we heard it, or even the first dozen times, but to return to opening these one-hit presents every Christmas season, as well as songs such as McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” or Wham’s “Last Christmas,” can make one hesitate to turn on the radio or spend any time in a shopping mall or a commercial building at this time of year.
Luckily, we are rarely captive audiences for such songs. We all have our favorite holiday songs, or songs that we love hear during the holidays, or songs that remain our favorites no matter what others are listening to. Many of us who love old winter stories (such as “The Snowman,” “The Fir Tree” (about a Christmas tree), “The Snow Queen,” or “The Ice Maiden” might also remember his famous quotation about music: “Where words fail, music speaks.”
I hope music speaks to you this holiday season. I look forward to speaking with you in 2025.
We are holding the pub quiz tonight at Sudwerk, our last one of the year, as well as on January 1st. I hope you can start the year off in a festive mood while answering some trivia questions. Saturday will be the shortest day of the year, which means that before you know it, our pub quiz contestants will again enjoy warm temperatures and sunshine on the patio.
The temperatures will be brisk at Sudwerk tonight, but I’m sure some of you will bundle up and join me for the outdoor show on the patio. Some of you will want to head inside where Elliott is often the bartender. He’s bright, so sometimes a team at the bar recruits him play on their teams. Also, I plan to move the quiz along quickly — the entire quiz is a mere 959 words long!
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on continental changes, wide plains, later modernist classics, energy sources, basketball, martyrs, holiday music, Christians, people pleasers, holiday trees, alliterative titles, soccer, Prussians, American lakes, European discoveries, New York City, contacts that come from inside the Marx Brothers house, Caribbean culture, BART spending, alcoholic drinks, Oscar hunks, collaborative projects ancestors, drakes, people named Doris, the places where east meets west, open fires, toys, passes, friendly people, British borders, Iowa, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare.
I share the entire Pub Quiz with subscribers via Patreon every Monday. Because Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, next Wednesday, I will video record a pub quiz and publish it by Christmas Eve, making it available to all my paid subscribers, no matter the level. If you enjoy the quiz and would like to share the content with a friend or family member, or if you would like to see what the Christmas quiz looks like, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscribers Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, who keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the dropping temperatures and the cost of avocado. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three questions from last week:
1. Books and Authors. Charles Dickens first published A Christmas Carol in the same year that biologist Camillo Golgi, composer Edvard Grieg, novelist Henry James, and President William McKinley were born. Name the decade.
2. Film. Which of the following people with the first name of Joan was the only person to win an acting Oscar for work in an Alfred Hitchcock film, that being the film Suspicion: Joan Collins, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Joan Plowright?
3. Countries of the World. When one alphabetizes the five countries that border Syria, which comes last?