#tuccac
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trwesterman.bsky.social
Day21

Don’t Believe In Christmas
by #thesonics.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7XJ...
& Bonus:
December is for Cynics
By #thematches
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgFa...

#music #musicsky
#musicchallenge #musicadventcalendar #adventcalendar #tuccac #xmas #nowplaying #carols #christmas #garagerock
Day 21 of the Underplayed Advent Christmas Carol Calendar 2025. A bow tied around a wrapped present with polka dots divides the paper into 4 quadrants, with two one panel comics on the bottom, and a four panel divided into squares read from left to right on the top. Top: A surprise run in between St Nick and Jesus turns to a hug until both say (jinx) that they’re the other’s favorite imaginary character. Bottom left: reporters surround a man holding a sign that says “may reason prevail,” hounding him about his next tactic on the war on Xmas. Bottom right: a man with a stack of presents shouts at a diverse quintet of Santa’s putting up a billboard that says “Peace on earth, Goodwill towards Men and Women,” berating the “atheists” for not respecting the Xmas’ spirit. The Sonics were one of the earliest American rock bands from Washington. Jack White shouted them out during his rock and roll hall induction as worthy of the award. After Bill Haley & the Comets and Minnesotan Eddie Cochran, the Sonics helped start garage rock, the northern strain of early rock and roll. The Sonics sound much more like the final form, as Cochran and Haley retained a bit more of the wildcat sound, as they were called then, albeit now we call that Rockabilly. The Matches hail from Oakland, California, most active from 1997 to 2009 albeit they play reunion shows to celebrate album milestones. Formed as the Locals, the group changed their name after five years to avoid conflict with a Chicago band of the same name. Rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist Shawn Harris, bassist Justin San Souci, and drummer Matt Whalen anchored the band for its entire tenure, with Matt Esposito and Jonathan Devoto each serving stints as lead guitarists. They had some independent album chart success and even charted on billboard.
December 21, 2025 at 8:31 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 19 1st day, last (& hardest) theme.

Christmas Solo by #HollyGolightly
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C25B...
& Bonus: Christmas Duel, #Hives feat. #CyndiLauper
youtu.be/My5Bzf0PQhc?...

#music #musicsky
#musicchallenge #musicadventcalendar #adventcalendar #tuccac #xmas #nowplaying #carols #christmas
Day 19 of the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025. Holly Golightly throws chicken wings at a tied up Lawyer Dave in long-red full body underwear, a Santa Claus hat over his eyes like a blindfold. Holly’s song Christmas solo where she sings “go take these frozen chicken wings and have your Christmas solo.” Christmas solo fits the 4th quarter theme, and pairs well with this bonus that also involves a feuding couple, their thematic connection, but not how it connects to the overall theme of the next quarter of 6 days (each has a theme to guess come Xmas). Holly and Dave’s fight takes place in front of a Xmas decorated room with a tree and blazing fire. I included a shouting Hive and Lauper who sing the Christmas Duel bonus, one of the filthiest Xmas songs outside of “Christmas for my Penis” that evokes a most unusual girl going down on a granny hive. I’ve also included the album cover and vinyl puck from Holly’s Xmas single. Day 1 of this playlist was the A-side. Christmas solo is the b-side. Enjoy! 😉
December 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 18: I lied. Today’s the real last day of theme 3. See alt-text for more.

Wizzard: youtu.be/IJPc7esgvsA?...
Bonus cover: Frank Sidebottom:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxmq...

#music #musicsky
#musicchallenge #musicadventcalendar #adventcalendar #tuccac #franksidebottom #wizzard #xmas #nowplaying
Day 18 of the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar; A colored pencil imagine of Wizzard performing with a choir of kids, surrounded by a frame. Frank Sidebottom joins them in the side bottom. The Wizzard song I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday isn’t underplayed in the UK, and has made inroads worldwide, but the Frank Sidebottom bonus version isn’t as well-known in either county. Due to holiday madness, I skipped day 14’s planned selection, this, moving all my planned picks down a day, and used what I planned for posting a Western Wed on a Tumbleweed Tues, as I will re-dub it. 🤦 So 1 more day on this 3rd 6-day quarter theme, kids. Sorry I lied and said we were done. But tomorrow we start the 4th and final quarter of 6 days. Thanks for your understanding but the content remains the same, but no wonder Willie failed to get likes! People were like WTF you moron! Mea culpa, gang. Wizzard is a UK famous band led by ELO member Roy Wood. This perennial staple of the UK went top 5 and returns yearly. Frank Sidebottom you might know from the movie Frank. He performed with his puppet son little Frank in a paper machete head novelty songs, as depicted in the movie Frank. Sadly, Longbottom died of cancer but Wizzard plays on, especially on BBC Christmas episodes such as the Great British Baking thingy.
December 18, 2025 at 8:13 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 17: 3rd quarter theme finale.

Daddy Looked a Lot Like 🎅 by Rev Horton Heat.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=txx5...
plus: Vandals return!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNlf...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #musicadventcalendar #vinyl #xmas #psychbilly #revhortonheat
Day 17 of the Underplayed Christmas Advent Calendar celebrating Jim Heath better known as the Rev Horton Heat. The song is “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy,” a Buck Owens & the Buckaroos cover—a country rewrite of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa” but supercharged by the Rev’s psychobilly shredding. You might remember his “Psychobilly Freakout” from Guitar Hero II. The image has a cartoon depiction of Heat with Rudolph and a classic car in the left corner, and a stylish 50s sophisticat opening her book so Rev Heat and his band (bassist J-I-M-B-O) pop out like Jack in the Box toys for Christmas. Jim in a Santa hat in his Xmas stage setup centers the image, his name projected on a red curtain behind, flanked by silver tinsely fake Christmas trees that also evoke 50s vintage. I included a Vandals song that paired well that has less to do with the last day of the 3rd quarter theme, but relates nicely to the main selection. The white vinyl copy of We Three Kings: Christmas Favorites.
December 17, 2025 at 6:48 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 15

Candy Cane Children
by the White Stripes.
youtu.be/_xkh6b53Z2M?...
Live bonus:
youtu.be/5WtJJ8jiwBY?...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #musicadventcalendar #vinyl #xmas #whitestripes #jackwhite #megwhite #rockhall2025
Day 15 of the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025, the White Stripes Candy Cane Children. Jack paints a drumhead with Meg’s favorite candy, a peppermint swirl, that gives the band their name. Meg in pigtails sits on the drum head, on a peppermint cushion while holding a have eaten peppermint lolly in her toes, tempting Tarantino. Lego White Stripes set on the drumhead. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame logo comes from Jack’s brush as well, labeled 2025 inductees (2nd ballot, 2nd year eligible). 15 is written over Jack and Meg sitting on peppermint drums. Also seen: the white vinyl 2002 Xmas single, today’s Song Selection. I included a live version to show what a raw and great live cabaret act the Stripes were. The B-Side has Jack reading the story of the Magi followed by Meg singing Silent Night. It’s a thoughtful, sincere and raw single so please seek out the B-side too. Jack married Meg to take her name, annulment being cheaper than legally paying to change Jack Gillis to Jack Stripes, both wanting a namesake stake in the band; their romantic relationship ended before the White Stripes recording career began. Both belonging to close knit Detroit families, they avoided “Will they, won’t they?” dynamics by taking the stage persona of siblings. The White Stripes lyrical themes often deal with childhood, reinforced by the band’s dress, use of toy / learners instruments, and aesthetic of doing the simple exceptionally well, following the rock rules in rock club colors. Meg White’s primitive, untrained approach to drumming unlocked Jack’s songwriting on guitar, finding her grooves infectious and akin to Robert Johnson keeping time tapping his foot on the wooden board (never got to worry about locking the door). This approach overlayed with Jack filling the rest of the sound out left plenty of room for his lyric storytelling, focused on growing up. Candy Cane Children also became the White Stripes’ fandom’s collective name. I’ve seen Jack live 30x A polar bear and penguin tour poster for the White Stripes London show. A Christmas goose in a Christmas hat in red, white and black—rock club colors—for the White Stripes Paris tour poster.
December 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
#music #musicsky #tuccac #xmas #christmascarols #christmasmusic #underplayed #musicchallenge #nowplaying #vinyl #advent #adventcalendar #musicadventcalendar

Thanks to everyone who has engaged so far! Were a little pass the halfway mark to 🎄! (My shopping is not done 😬), 💵 boycotts & blackouts…
trwesterman.bsky.social trwesterman.bsky.social @trwesterman.bsky.social · 20d
🤮 the baby talk of Scary Merry Carey? Simply 🤢 of Wonderful Xmastime?

Fear not!

While annoying, notorious standards persist, torturing tasteful retailers, good Christmas music exists!

For 24 days in December, I will post an under-played Xmas song as a digital advent 📆.
#musicsky #adventcalendar
The Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025, a naughty list you wanna make. For the next 24 days and maybe Xmas time permitting, I commit to introducing or reminding you of a lesser known Christmas banger of the song variety. If you’re sick of overplayed standards, freshen up your holiday playlist with some Christmas music you should anticipate hearing. At the end, I will provide a score sheet and answer key where you can tabulate your (self-reported albeit Krampus is watching) score of “knew-it-already” picks. A high music knowledge score will be the consolation prize 🏆 for not learning a new great tune. 🎶
December 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 14

Dónde Esta🎅 (where is 🎅?) by Augie Rios.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGoj...

& a chromesthesic Bonus: Walking in the Air, sung by adult and child Aled Jones.
youtu.be/engSQve1CKU

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #musicadventcalendar #Snowman #xmas #Santa
Day 14 of the Underplayed Advent Xmas Carol Advent Calensar, a snow Christmas scene lies outside the decoratively decorated window a young cartoon Augie Rios looks out, as Santa happens to be walking by. There’s also two merry little Easter eggs walking in the air. Another track used recently in Merry Little Batman, Dónde está Santa Claus (Where is Santa Claus?) aka Mamacita. It’s been covered by the amazing Los Lobos, and even made its way into Cheech and Chong’s holiday hit “Santa Claus and his Old Lady.” 12 year old Augie Rios had sang in Broadway musicals including Jamaica when asked to record this 1958 Christmas Novelty song penned by George Scheck, Rod Parker, and Al Grenier backed by the Mark Jeffrey Orchestra. I love this song for its early rock and roll incorporation of Latin rhythms, and how excellent the phrasing gets across the intention behind the lines. I learned Augie Rios had coaching on his phrasing that facilitated the final result. If the kid could phrase like that, he’d likely have gone on to an even bigger career albeit he had a good run. The b-side “Ol’ Fatso,” also has a lot more fun and snark than most novelty 50s songs boast. Bonus: Walking in the Air by Aled Jones, the 2 Voices version. Aled had a surprise hit covering the song from the original Snowman 🇬🇧 animated film in 1985, but didn’t really embrace the success for most of his life. He had to leave if it played in public and still won’t play it at home. However, when he revisited the song with more polished phrasing that smoothed out his Welsh accent, the voices still pair so well coming from different sizes of the same instrument, that the song evokes a lot of colors in the mind. This version is underplayed everywhere albeit the UK knows the song well.
December 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 13: 3rd Quarter theme.

Bad Kid, by JD McPherson, my favorite newish Xmas song.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=voyZ...

&

Oi,To the World! by the Vandalls. Many no doubt know No Doubt’s cover…
youtu.be/oo4gEPiKm3w?...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #vinyl #xmas
Day 13 of the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar, snowing a naught list yearbook page full of bad kids. Can you identify them all? I spotted you the cartoonish JD McPherson; his 2nd and final appearance on the calendar, with his hit Socks single “Bad Kid” being today’s selection… “Kris Kringle got a tingle running up his spine / he saw me and he run and hid / he’d heard his own name had ended up on a list / it was written by a bad, bad kid.” Def poet. The bonus song comes from the best Christmas Punk album of all time, the title track, by the Vandals, “Oi! To the World.” Many know the No Doubt cover, but fewer know the original (yet they should!) “Haji was a punk just like any other boy…” Today begins the 3rd 6 day quarter with a new theme… Vinyl of Socks by Jd McPherson. It’s an evergreeen green vinyl. The Vandalls greenish tinted album for Oi to the World! The best punk Christmas album ever recorded. Check it out!
December 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 12: theme finale!

Stuff the 🦃 by 👽 Sex Fiend
www.youtube.com/watch?v=67eP...

Bonus (not under-spun but 😮): Away in a Manger, by Cattle Carol, a true “farm aid” BabyJ Bday anthem!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5fo...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #vinyl #xmas
Day 12 placard from the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025. A chaotic scene of English punk revelry and a priest getting a snowball in the face at a row house—buggers flung, beer guzzled, legs and 🎁 wrapped presents sticking out of metal garbage bins, with a poster for Stuff the Turkey by Alien Sex Fiend nailed to the fence. Three punks hold up a banner reading: bonus, away in a manger by Carol Cattle. This is the last day of the second quarter theme. Can you guess it? English rock band Alien Sex Fiend formed in London in 1982. The current lineup of the band consists of Nik Fiend and Mrs Fiend. Five of the group's albums and 12 of their singles reached top 20 positions in the UK indie charts in the period up to 1987. And giving new meaning to “farm aid,” Carol Cattle, an auto-tuned tune for BabyJ on his natal Bday, that makes an almost recognizable version of barnyard sounds in a carol that might have an inspirational relationship to all 4 themes of the Underplayed Xmas Song Advent Calendar 2025. Unwrap the mystery of the mini-game in this music challenge this Xmas! 🎧 🎵 🎄 The beautiful jade green vinyl for Alien Sex Fiend’s album that includes today’s choice track, Stuff the Turkey!
December 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day11

Applescruff scuttlebutt goes #Beatles Paul keeps his best Xmas recordings for family but here’s…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZsa...

& a most maligned song revived:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY3M...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #reggae #paulmccartney #macca
Even Beatle Paul, the ultimate insider, must feel like a bit of an outsider at Christmas (albeit that’s not this weeks’ theme). To say “Wonderful Christmastime” divides families at Xmas, wouldn’t be an understatement, or an overstatement, but a just-right statement. I once saw a bookseller involuntarily shout a short, distraught, “no!” as the dounce-dounce bounce of WC’s synth intro reverberated from the pre-programmed store holiday radio ceiling speakers; he dropped a stack of books with such a clatter, a manager came to see what was the matter. It was Paul. The Beatles became my favorite band in grade school, and despite introducing this advent calendar with a dig at Paul, I got to stan the most successful singer songwriter ever.   More on topic, here’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae from the Paul McCartney The 7” Singles, (159 tracks with 80 singles). Wonderful Christmastime has 100s of millions of plays, and this Macca track on has 80,000 plays on Spotify, but it’s completely inoffensive and great background music for a holiday party, that allows Paul to have fun and play around with Reggae music, as he did when producing Linda’s “Sugartime” with lifelong friend Lee Scratch Perry; the McCartneys’ generous producing fee set up the Upsetter for his black arc studio years, and may have burned it down as an anti-racist statement inspired by his loyalty to Paul. That alone warms my heart, as I too am not a big fan of the production of his bigger Xmas song (albeit I included a bonus, version, that while not my favorite style, fits this simple lyric and shows what’s sort of catchy and beautiful about the song). Also heartwarming, the music video of Paul and Linda together, despite Paul’s nose being as red as Rudolph the Reggae Reindeer’s (that track just sounds like musical cocaine [allegedly])—and I need warming; it’s a snowy, cold winter. So today I’ll pretend I’m in Jamaica albeit it feels here more like a Dickensian winter.
December 11, 2025 at 12:14 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 9.
“Hey, chingedy ching, hee-haw, hee-haw.” Dominick 🇮🇹🎄🫏

2 weird tracks, the o.g. Novelty NJ DJ Lou Monte…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRMj...
…& a “special” cover…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQs1...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #nowplaying #Football #Italian #animals
Day 9 of the Underplayed Xmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025, WWII vet turned novelty NJ DJ Lou Monte’s “Dominick the Donkey,” the Tristate area staple from the mean Lyndhurst stables—and a cover by the Philly Specials, a recording group formed by 3 Philly Eagles (NFL): Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, and Jordan Mailata whose 2nd charity Xmas album with their Peanuts avatar singing in front of a red curtain in a spotlight wearing winter wear. The calendar imagine shows a brown and grey donkey with poinsettia-wreath-crowns laying their heads over a barnyard fence covered in ivy. There’s also a label for the Peaceful Valley Donkey rescue, an animal charity. A Lyndhurst-raised Italian-American, Lou Monte served in WWII, then returned to his home state to work as a novelty song comedy DJ, a niche in entertainment Dr Demento fills (grandfathered in, the last shop in a dying industry), and originated by the Big Bopper (who died the day the music did with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens). Monte, like Sly Stone would after him, filled this same niche and in 1960 released the regional standard “Dominick the Donkey.” He regularly joked about his roots, earning epithets like “The Godfather of Italian Humor” and “The King of Italian-American Music,” as he also played Italian songs. Monte even had a local tv program and was also well-known as a comedy MC in NYC clubs. His act failed to travel nationally—keep in mind in America at this time Italians were sometimes more welcome in black jazz combos than white country clubs. While the song never left NJ, or Italian American homes with physical copies, A Xmas compilation in 95 reintroduced the song. In 2011, the song had another resurgence when Chris Moyles, A UK DJ, played it heavily and his audience helped land the song a surprise #3 spot on the charts (ironic enjoyment from the UK hipster streak). Jason Kelce loves the song and covered it with War of Drugs drummer and producer Charlie Hall, leaning into weird psychedelia. It’s their best.
December 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 8.

Christmas is Going to the Dogs by Eels. youtu.be/vJu2dLvLCeE

Bonus:
Oh My 🎄 by Dr Dog 🐕
youtu.be/euIlJ4fMIok?...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #Eels #DrDog #grinch #nowplaying #dogsky #dogs
Day 8 for the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025. The Eels’ “Christmas is Going to the Dogs” and Bonus track: “Oh my Christmas Tree” by Dr Dog. E from Eels is on the face of the Grinch in front of a Seussian Christmas scene, with a Golden retriever named Maisy climbing on his back. We also have Max, the Grinch’s Dog, Iggy Pop who wants to be your dog, Angel Max (Australian Sheep Dog) howling at a dangling slice of pizza, Elvis (border collie) and Rex in front of a sleigh full of presents, and Cthulu (chihuahua) sitting on a present on top the open sack. Shiva with angle wings, a chiweenie dog, flies overhead. A Dr Dog poster is on the wall. Grinch-E is saying the name of his song. These are all the dogs in my life, two no longer with us. The Eels contributed this song to the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas. E, their leader, aka Mark Oliver Everett. Still, I feel it’s underplayed when I’m out and about at Christmas. E has suffered a lot of loss in his immediate family and had a cousin who died in 9/11. His father was physicist Hugh Everett III, originator of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics; so he’s responsible for all the -verses in sci-fi, multi-verse, Spider-verse, etc—and Hugh worked on a secret project for the defense department. He and E’s sister both died of suicide. Dr. Dog is an American rock band based in Philadelphia. Its lineup consists of Toby Leaman (bass), Scott McMicken (lead guitar), Frank McElroy (rhythm guitar), Zach Miller (keyboard), Eric Slick (drums), and Michael Libramento (percussion, lap steel, acoustic guitar, bass). Lead vocal duties are shared between Leaman and McMicken, and all members contribute harmonies. They were new to me but already have 5 million monthly Spotify listeners. They have an entire Christmas album, should you want more.
December 8, 2025 at 7:15 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 7. A new theme for the 2nd quarter will emerge.

Christmas at the Zoo by 🔥👄
youtu.be/Y3mRC-foSZs?...

Bonus: Reindeer in the Night by 🚀🐸
youtu.be/45l_XL0O3U0?...

#music #musicsky #musicchallenge #adventcalendar #tuccac #flaminglips #missiletoads #zoo #reindeer
Day 7: the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025. Christmas at the Zoo by the Flaming Lips, Bonus: Reindeer in the Night by the Missile Toads. Three Giraffes, two zebras at a Christmas light watering hole, an elephant, a parrot, and a reindeer all glow in the night inside the entrance gate of Gotham Zoo, famously a hangout for Penguin during the Christmas motif heavy Tim Burton masterpiece Batman Returns. This depiction of Gotham Zoo. The Flaming Lips gained fame in the alternative era, back in 1993 when “She Don’t Use Jelly” playing heavily on MTV could lift a band to the next-level. I’ve seen the Flaming Lips a few times and they put on a psychedelic rock theater show second to one, the Pink Floyd (& assc solo acts). Yet the Lips have a unique identity, iconography and a more alternative-art rock sensibility. As a fellow “guitar picker from Oklahoma City with a pair of blue jeans on,” (def poet Eddie Cochran), I can tell you there’s something surreal about Oklahoma—which may explain why great psychedelic bands come from there, the Lips and also the Starlight Mints. Bonus: Reindeer in the Night by the Missile Toads, a self-described “jolly old” punk band that has 21 different Xmas songs like “Sock Full of Coal,” “If the Elves Were United,” and “Santa is a Nazis” available—get ready for a hit of nostalgia kush—on Bandcamp. Live Christmas Party renditions on YouTube also give a good measure of the band. The MTs write of their Xmas output: “every arrangement has the nip of a wintry night, the glitter of the tree, the warmth of the fireside with [its] gay red stockings dangling from the mantelpiece in anticipation of Santa’s visit.” 17 Nov 2013. They haven’t unseated the Vandals as the greatest Christmas punk outfit, but they’re sleighing in their shadow.
December 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 5.

Holly, Carol, Candy and Joy.
by JD McPherson.

In 2018, a 41yo JD released Socks—the best-written originals Xmas album of this Century.

JD will tour the Socks set extensively this month (tickets still available)!

#music #musicsky #nowplaying #vinyl #JDMcpherson #TUCCAC #adventcalendar
Day 5 of the Underplayed Xmas Song Advent Calendar 2025. Artist: JD McPherson, song “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy” from the album Socks. A child in bed dreams of a woman with a holly leaf dress, a candy cane woman, a bell woman, and a present personified as a woman, holding hands in a chain. A female director’s speech bubble, spoken through a bullhorn, points out that the lineup of cartoon women doesn’t match the title’s name ordering. Today’s Advent Calendar square works off the single’s album cover. This is the 1st male artist on my underplayed Advent Calendar; yet it probably won’t throw you too much if you already guessed the theme for the 1st-quarter, 4 themes of 6 days each. Tomorrow will be the last day for this theme with the 1st Lady of American Song. Another JD song from Socks will appear later on in Dec., my favorite. Holly… fit the obvious theme (keeping it easy for the first 6 like a Monday crossword). The number of unique concepts for Xmas songs with poetic-principled lyrics that track perfectly over JD’s rockabilly revival style songs, evokes rock and roll’s 1st mainstream era while also feeling contemporary. Like the greatest standards, JD’s songs seem timeless, like they should have always been in our lives. Rockabilly often jettisoned the storytelling side of country, yet JD tells a unique Xmas story with each track. After hearing so many failed attempts at writing Xmas songs, for maybe even the last 40 years—the 40s crooners always resurrecting each Xmas into the mainstream culture—you have to think many songwriters heard this new batch of songs and had to smack themselves—you mean these ideas were just there for the taking!? I already knew JD & Socks but the great Terri Gross who studies songwriting feat. a rare live sesh on Fresh Air—and she’s Jewish (albeit many Jewish Xmas songwriters wrote standards so maybe it’s unsurprising). https://www.npr.org/2018/12/11/675628082/a-roots-and-rockabilly-holiday-concert-with-jd-mcpherson-and-his-band A JD McPherson tour poster for 2025. Check his website https://www.jdmcpherson.com/tour for tickets! He’s covering the map, hitting up as many cities as Santa! Tickets remain available, a Christmas miracle for you and a great cultural injustice for JD. This is not a paid promotion. This is fan promotion. A beautiful Christmas colored splatter vinyl, red and green streaks on white. A kid in a leather jacket sulks, armed cross, on the floor, in the foreground of a Christmas tree, legs splayed on the floor, surrounded by socks with an unwrapped present box.
December 5, 2025 at 12:58 PM
trwesterman.bsky.social
Day 4.

Rockin’ Tree, a 1-record-wonder by Marguerite Trina on Bella records. Rockin’ Trina currently resides at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery where she now enjoys keeping still. Cool, breathy, proto-surf vibe.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s5q...

#music #musicsky #nowplaying #adventcalendar #tuccac
Day 4 Advent Calendar Square for “Rockin Tree” (1959) by one-recording-wonder Marguerite Trina (Mangano) on the Underplayed Christmas Carol Advent Calendar 2025. The image shows a cut out style dance party of young adults dancing in front of Christmas tree made of guitars; in the foreground left sets a portable record player and scattered vinyl .45s, and on the right Dwayne The Rocking Johnson rocks his rocking horse around the Christmas tree like lil’ Miss Brenda Lee. Not only being underplayed, but obscure, found mostly on rockabilly Christmas compilations, this track I decided to include because it has a retro charm and production of its era many revivalists try to replicate, yet this remains unpolished, raw, in a phrase, rock n roll. It’s got many of the hallmarks of 50s rock and rolls, but also the California cut record gives an example of proto-surf music, like an evolutionary step from wildcat rockabilly to Jan and Dean then The Beach Boys. Marguerite Trina, the credited California singer, dropped her surname “Mangano” from her recording name. Marguerite lived from Sep 5, 1940-Feb 3, 2013. “I’m dead; hope you like my song!” Sadly, not even an obituary remains online. Perhaps MT worked in another capacity for the Bella label, and they wanted to rush out a single for Christmas. Either way, I find it’s a good change of pace, from an era where baritone/tenor sax helped usher in Rock and Roll, before percussionist lineups kicked out the honking, yackety woodwinds. Bringing back a forgotten retro track always helps a stale playlist! 2 days left. Can you guess the theme for the first 6 tracks yet?
December 4, 2025 at 12:59 PM