SINGLES (Part 2)

I've often said that the next generation will never know the joy of two things from my childhood--pinball and the 45rpm single.  But long after the industry declared vinyl dead, independent artists and labels kept the format alive and collectors continued to seek out and purchase these stacks o' wax.  As the overall music buying population has contracted, the share of the remaining market that prefers vinyl has grown.  As a result, we're seeing more Christmas vinyl released this year than at any time in recent memory.  Singles, though, remain largely the province of the independent artist and label.  They are generally limited in number and tend to come on colored vinyl.  

Amazingly, we do have one 45 this year that could fairly be called mainstream.

Collectors Choice Music is releasing a CD collection of Bing Crosby Christmas music this year and "The Bing Crosby Christmas Sessions" contains many rare and previously unreleased tracks.  But one unreleased track it doesn't contain is the B-side of the limited edition single on your left.  The A-side of this red vinyl single features the ubiquitous Bing & Bowie duet, but the B-side is a duet between Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald on "White Christmas".  The single has a scheduled release date of November 23 and is limited to 2000 copies.

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Also due November 23 is a split 45 (i.e. a different artist on each side) featuring roots artists Nathan Maxwell and The Original Bunny Gang on the A-side singing "Does It Feel Like Christmas?"  The flip will feature North Pole United (actually former members of the Reggae/Soul band The Aggrolites) and "Christmas Spirit of 69".  This one comes in both basic black vinyl and a festive red-and-white splatter version.  Place your pre-order at SideOneDummy Records.

One of the most anticipated holiday vinyl singles this year is from The Mynabirds.  The Mynabirds were created by Laura Burhenn after DC Indie duo Georgie James was dissolved. The Mynabirds offer up what I'd call a grunge style with a sound they'd like to think approaches Neil Young meets Motown.  The group released their debut album, "What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood", earlier this year and generated quite a bit of buzz.  Judge for yourself.  Visit the group's web site and pick up a couple of non-holiday tunes free of charge.  The forthcoming single (12/7) features the anti-Xmas song “All I Want Is Truth (for Christmas)” backed with a cover of The Zombies’ “This Will Be Our Year”.  It's available through Amazon and Interpunk.

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Shannon & The Clams offer up a sound that lies somewhere between 60s garage, 80s punk, and 90s grunge--all with modern indie sensibilities. Well, that's my take anyway. Whatever it is, I kinda like it. You can check out some tunes from the group at their web site. No time machine required.

"Ruin Christmas" includes three songs from The Clams' long out of print 2008 CDR of Christmas songs; "Melekalikimaka", "All I Want For Christmas" and "Blue Christmas", plus the newly recorded "Fat Daddy".  The 7" EP will be released on 11/30/10 on black vinyl (100 copies) and red vinyl (500 copies) and will not (they say) be reprinted.  

You can buy this one at 1-2-3-4 Go Records:
Black vinyl
Red vinyl
Or through Interpunk

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Fortuna Pop is one of those Indie Pop labels (out of the UK) of long standing and, in better economic times, they even graced us with a couple of exquisite (if nearly impossible to find) holiday compilations.  And so, OK, this single isn't a Christmas single in the strictest sense of the word.  But it's got "December" in the title and it comes on bubblegum colored vinyl, and that's got to count for something.

"December Boy" is the first single to be taken from The Loves' fourth and final album “…Love You”, and the first on which Jenna Love (The Loves' J-Lo) takes lead vocals. Recorded live at Soup Studios in London's glittering East End, it turns the chorus for "September Gurls" by Big Star into a Spector-esque girl group pop number, with help from Liz Hunt from The School and Emma Hall from Pocketbooks on backing vocals, as well as Rob Jones (AKA The Voluntary Butler Scheme) on organ. Real life violins also make an appearance. The flip-side, "Bubblegum", is equally upbeat, but with more of a 60s garage Nuggets feel.  This one's available from Fortuna Pop direct (where you can even preview the A-side) for as long as it lasts.  £3.00 is the price. £2.00 shipping to the US (free shipping within the UK). Whole thing works out to about $8.25.

There will be lots of vinyl flowing (most of it limited) on "Back to Black Friday", or, as it's more descriptively known, "Record Store Day".  Intended as an industry show of support for independent record stores, Record Store Day (held the day after Thanksgiving) features a slew of very limited edition vinyl releases--this year including yet another vinyl release of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Drummer Boy" (I think it might be the third one this year) and a faithful reproduction (in 180gm vinyl) of Frank Sinatra's immortal "Jolly Christmas" LP.  In terms of holiday singles, "Back to Black Friday" will feature a supposedly previously unreleased holiday track from Sick Puppies, "That Time Of Year Again" backed with "Odd One".  My personal complaint?  If you're trying to help independent record stores, why are you allowing on-line outlets to offer these items on 11/21, 5 days before Record Store Day?

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Finally, for this piece, we have Dave Bazan.  Dave's holiday singles are something of an Indie Rock tradition and this will be his 7th such release.  The 45 features a Bazan original on the A-side, "Wish My Kids Were Here", and a reworking of Longfellow's "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" on the flip.  Dave previously recorded the latter for his 2002 holiday single (his first), but decided it was time for an update.  The 7" is limited to 1000 copies, 200 in orange vinyl, 400 in opaque red and 400 in opaque yellow.  Make no mistake, they will sell out.  Orders are being taken through Suicide Squeeze, now.  So, if you're interested, best reserve your copy today.