The Adventurers Club

A Dollyrots Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Download The Dollyrots Messed Up Xmas for free.

The Dollyrots - Messed Up Christmas

 

'til next Holiday season

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Paul McCartney - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae

Our last Christmas Record of the Week for the season.

Paul McCartney's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae.

Yeah, I know, Rudolph is the B-side, but really, is there a worse Beatles' single than Wonderful Christmastime? I know it's been deemed a "classic", and they play it a gazillion times during the holidays, but it really is a pretty weak song.

If I have to listen to it, I actually prefer one of the covers. The one by Hilary Duff is a good example of how to punch it up and make it interesting.

Before anyone writes in, I love the Beatles and I'm a bigger McCartney fan than you are. No one is saying that Hilary, or anyone else, is better than Paul, but I am saying his recording of Wonderful Christmastime is a rushed mess. It's just not a good recording. If you like it, good for you. I don't care for it.

Anyway, here we are with the sleeve and vinyl for Wonderful Christmastime.

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime - Picture Sleeve

 

Paul McCartney - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae - Picture Sleeve

 

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime - Vinyl

 

Paul McCartney - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae - Vinyl

 

Paul McCartney plays Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae

 

 Hilary Duff sings Wonderful Christmastime

 

Paul sings Wonderful Christmastime

 

'til Paul writes a great Christmas song

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Bryan Adams - Christmas Time

Another Record of the Week Christmas Edition

This time it's a holiday single from Bryan Adams in Holly Jolly Green Vinyl. Nice touch with the red label. If you're going to release a Christmas single, make it festive!

Bryan Adams - Christmas Time - Picture Sleeve

Bryan Adams - Christmas Time - Picture Sleeve Back

Bryan Adams - Christmas Time - Green Vinyl Single

Bryan Adams - Reggae Christmas - Green Vinyl Single

 'til Santa brings us a new record player

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Kinks - Father Christmas

A British Invasion Holiday Record of the Week.

This time we have the Kinks with the rock classic, Father Christmas. I know a number of people that consider this one of their favorite Christmas songs, and from a rock perspective, it probably rates pretty high on the list.

Nothing special about this copy from my collection, there's no picture sleeve, and it's pressed on Arista's re-issue label, Flashback.

The B-side is another FM radio classic, that also never really made much of a chart impact, the disco tinged, I Wish I could Fly Like Superman.

Kinks - Father Christmas - generic Arista Sleeve

 

Kinks - Father Christmas - Single - A-Side

 

Kinks - I Wish I Could Fly Like Superman - B-Side

 

The Kinks sing Father Christmas

 

'til Ray and Dave patch things up

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Carpenters - Merry Christmas Darling

Another in our batch of Holiday Records of the Week.

I know it's not cool to like the Carpenters and I don't care. For my money there is no better voice in music than Karen Carpenter. 

I only wish that she had lived so that that voice could have continued. Sadly, Karen's life was cut short, and there is a limited body of work left behind.

She did record quite a bit of Christmas music, and Merry Christmas Darling is one of the Carpenters' signature songs. It remains a holiday favorite of mine.

The sleeve and record pictured are from the reissue version. The sleeve is different from the original, which was a photo of Richard and Karen, and the actual record utilizes the A&M Forget-Me-Nots label.

Carpenters - Merry Christmas Darling - Picture Sleeve

 

Carpenters - Merry Christmas Darling - Picture Sleeve Back

 

Carpenters - Merry Christmas Darling - 45 - A - Side

 

Carpenters - Christmas Song - Single - B - Side

 

Merry Christmas Darling from the Carpenters Christmas Special

 

'til Richard releases more music from the Carpenters vault

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Kelly Osbourne - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Another Christmas Record of the Week.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is the perfect Christmas song. The original, sung by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St Louis, is a timeless classic and my favorite Christmas song of all time.

But, I also collect quirky Christmas records and this version by Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzy, fits that description perfectly. The best part of this single is the great art on the front of the sleeve.

This is a split single and the flip is Forensics singing Everytime.

Here's the video of Kelly covering Judy's song.

Kelly Osbourne - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Picture Sleeve

 

Kelly Osbourne - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Picture Sleeve

 

 
Kelly Osbourne - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Vinyl

 

 
Forensics - Everytime

 

Kelly Osbourne sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

 

'til Ozzy sings Silent Night

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Rusty Cutlass - A Pirate Christmas

Pirate Band, Rusty Cutlass, sings a pair of Christmas carols at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World.

A Rusty Cutlass Christmas

 

'til Pirate Christmas Carols replace all Christmas music by Mariah Carey

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Dwight Yoakam - Santa Claus is Back in town

Another Christmas Record of the Week.

Nothing special about this one, though I like the cowboys integrated into the art on the back of the sleeve. Biggest dissapointment with this piece of vinyl is the label. Seems like they should have gone with something a little more in the spirit of Christmas. That label is just plain boring.

Dwight Yoakam - Santa Claus is Back in Town - Picture Sleeve

 

Dwight Yoakam - Santa Claus is Back in Town - Picture Sleeve back

 

Dwight Yoakam - Santa Claus is Back in Town - A- Side

 

Dwight Yoakam - Christmas Eve with the Babylonian Cowboys

 

'til the next Cowboy Christmas record

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Daryl Hall and John Oates - Jingle Bell Rock

Another Record of the Week mid-week bonus featuring an MTV staple, Daryl Hall and John Oates singing Jingle Bell Rock. This is our early Christmas edition, because no one is going to be surfing the internet on the 25th.

This single was never officially released, instead it was a giveaway to people that bought the Hall and Oates hits record, Rock and Soul Part I.

Despite the fact that it was never an official single it has become a holiday staple and was played a ton during the heyday of MTV.

The single is unique in that the instrumental portion on both sides is identical, but one side has a lead vocal from Daryl and the other side a lead vocal from John.

The lo-res picture on the sleeve appears to be nothing more than a screen cap from the music video.

Here's the video. Note to the people commenting on the video. It was an intentionally campy take on cheesy fifties and sixties holiday specials.

 

The guys in the picture on the sleeve with Daryl and John were the Hall and Oates Band during their hugely successful eighties period. 

L to R:

G.E. Smith - Lead Guitar

Charlie Dechant - Saxophone

Mickey Curry - Drums 

T-Bone Wolk - Bass (RIP)

Tommy Mottola (Santa) - Hall and Oates manager

Daryl Hall and John Oates - Jingle Bell Rock - Picture Sleeve

Daryl Hall and John Oates - Jingle Bell Rock - Picture Sleeve Back

Daryl Hall and John Oates - Jingle Bell Rock - Red Vinyl Single - Daryl Side

Daryl Hall and John Oates - Jingle Bell Rock  - Red Vinyl Single - John Side

'til the jingle bells stop jingling

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Aqualads - The Christmas EP

Another Holiday Season Record of the Week, The Aqualads X-Mas.

This time it's a local surf band, The Aqualads. This is actually the first record released by The Aqualads and is long out of print. I encourage you to check out the Aqualads Music on iTunes, they are an outstanding band, but so far this has not been made available digitally. 

Here's a recent article on the Aqualads from Shuffle Magazine talking about their latest release, Treasures.

Though there isn't a picture sleeve for this record, it has a beautiful label and is pressed on a nice transparent holiday green vinyl.

Here's Whammy Wonderland  and We Wish You a Merry Christmas in all their vinyl glory. Sorry for the clicks and pops, this is a tough to find record. Note, the recording is owned by The Aqualads. We are posting it because it's darn hard to find and we love this band. Go to the link above to sample and buy more Aqualads music.

02 Whammy Wonderland

 

01 We Wish You a Merry Christmas

The Aqualads Christmas EP Sleeve - Signed by the Original Members

The Aqualads Christmas EP Sleeve Back

The Aqualads Christmas EP - Record Side-A

The Aqualads Christmas EP - Record Side-B

The Aqualads intro

 

'til The Aqualads Xmas EP is available on iTunes

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom