christmas is sexier than you think

Have you ever noticed that for every "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" there are an equal number of sex-ay holiday tunes? As much as Christmas is (mostly) for the kiddies, there are also plenty of adults who want to get both naughty and nice around the holiday season.

The crown prince of  sexy Christmas songs has got to be "Baby, It's Cold Outside," a three-minute anthem to a man (nicknamed Wolf in the lyrics) using every wintery excuse in the book in order to convince the not-too-unwilling lady (nicknamed Mouse in the lyrics) to spend the night with him. It's become a favorite duet, with everyone from Ray Charles and Betty Carter to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jourdan doing their own version. The most recent incarnation has Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera dueling it out on his holiday album, Cee Lo's Magic Moment.

Also full of double-entendre is the teasing classic "Santa Baby."

Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
...
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

The original and best version is the 1953 recording by the inimitable Eartha Kitt, who can do more with phrasing and diction than just about anyone. A must-to-avoid is Madonna's Betty Boop-ish version. It would have been interesting if Marilyn Monroe had had the chance to give the song a shot, but Eartha's will always be "the" version.

Maybe a little more about romance than sex or commerce, but still decidedly more grown-up holiday songs are Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and The Eagles' "Please Come Home for Christmas," which have love, not presents, on the singers' minds.

I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you

Both songs are nods to old-style Christmas music, with Carey paying homage to the Ronettes and the Eagles' bluesy honky-tonk version tapping into the blues that can frequently accompany the holiday season.

Bells will be ringing this sad sad New Years
Oh what a Christmas to have the blues
My baby's gone
I have no friends
To wish me greetings once again
Choirs will be singing Silent Night
Christmas carols by candlelight
Please come home for Christmas
Please come home for Christmas
If not for Christmas by New Years night

It's nice sometimes to have an alternative to fa la la la la and pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.

rockin' to the oldies

I used to work at a design firm/service bureau where the radio provided background noise all day. After a while the radio soundtrack doesn't just become he day's soundtrack, it begins to infiltrate your consciousness. As people would walk through the central work area they might start humming whatever tune was currently playing. They couldn't help it.

Soon different factions formed, one that wanted pop hits, one rock, one hip hop, and of course, the fabulous hits of yesteryear. I soon became known as "the person most likely to turn off the oldies station." In fact I actually won a little "statuette" at a company party to commemorate the fact. Yet here I am, in the car, listening to The Four Seasons.

Vintage Advertisement 1940s Car Stereo, from Christian Montone, Flickr

Living in southern Florida, there are a ton of radio stations that play some mix of older tunes, as there are a lot of older folks who want to hear the music of their youth. There's the real oldies — '50s and '60s hits, stations that feature a "mix of yesterday and today," and even one that plays tunes from my misspent youth every weekend — "totally '80s."

I find myself flipping back and forth between contemporary and the mix of '70s, '80s, and '90s music most of the time. I still tend to avoid any station that would play "Leader of the Pack" and its ilk. But it is nice to hear my mom, who has dementia, humming along to something, recognizing some of her old favorites, like the Bee Gees, the Eagles, and the Steve Miller Band. It's also funny to hear my daughter singing along to Pat Benatar and Journey as well as Ceel Lo from the back seat. She may be the only 8 year-old around who loves Justin Bieber and K. C. And the Sunshine Band. Music helps time become more fluid.