Harkpodcast

This week, Ian and RJ are covering two real songs by fake brothers - The Geeta Brothers. What started as a comedy video by Punjabi-Canadian comedians JusReign and Babbulicious and turned into two* real albums of Punjabi Christmas music and a touring live Christmas spectacular for the whole family. "Frost the Snowman" and "Grinch" both turn out to be polished tunes with layers of jokes -- including some that we are totally not the audience for, which really, is for the best! *We recorded the episode thinking there was only one album. We're sorry. There's a jingle horse track we missed. We're so sorry.

We're tying up some loose ends on our request list, putting the unused pairs for last week's pick together - and it's always better when we're together, right? Jack Johnson's rendition of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and The Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" may not seem like they have much in common at first glance, but they both make feeling bad sound pretty good. Thanks again to Alan and Matt for the requests!

This week, by popular demand, we return to the nigh-inexhaustible subject of music about sex and Santa Claus. Fortunately, "Back Door Santa" by Clarence Carter is far from the worst song in this sub-genre we've covered, and we pair it with another tune that sounds better in execution than in concept, the sultry but sweet "Hanukkah Lovin'" by Michelle Citrin. Thanks to Matt, Alan, and anonymous for the requests!

This week we get back into some Hanukkah songs! Grab your partner, do-si-do, and tune in to hear our thoughts on "Happy Joyous Hanukkah" by the Indigo Girls and "Hanukkah Dance" by Woody Guthrie!

In honor of three big calendar-changing holidays this week - Rosh Hashanah, the Islamic New Year, and the Autumnal Equinox - we're listening to two New Year songs! The lively tune of "Gonna Make It Through This Year" by Great Lake Swimmers disguises some darker lyrics, while the complexities of "New Year's Prayer" by Jeff Buckley are full of light.

HARK: hey HARK: this ep has 2 songs abt texting HARK: we listened to "Text Me Merry Christmas" by Straight No Chaser featuring Kristen Bell and "Merry Xmas (Says Your Text Message)" by Dragonette HARK: lol HARK: pls forgive me Thank you to John for the request!

This week we're covering a request to talk about the two musical highlights of the British Christmas rom-com that you may love to hate, hate to love, or in our case, calmly accept how much more you love it than it deserves. From Love Actually, we discuss "All I Want for Christmas is You" as performed by Olivia Olson and "Christmas is All Around" as performed by fictional character Billy Mack. Thank you to Tom and John for the requests!

We received a few requests for a song from "A Christmas Carol" (1951) and made the rare ruling that it is not Holiday Enough (or a complete enough performance) for us to rank. But in the spirit (get it) of those requests, we listen to two Dickens-related songs, "A Christmas Carol" by Tom Lehrer and "Ebeneezer" by The Wizards of Winter! Thanks to Douglas for requesting "A Christmas Carol" and to captain-mcgloo and anonymous for requesting "Barbara Allen"!

This week we tackle two songs about animal friends - but for once, none of them are pulling a sleigh. By request, we listen to the cheerful Nativity song "El Burrito De Belén" performed by La Rondallita and pair it with the surprisingly somber "The Friendly Beasts" as performed by Art Garfunkel and Amy Grant. Thank you to officialcomemierda for the request!

This week in the Yukon is Discovery Day, which celebrates(?) the Klondike Gold Rush - so we listen to two Christmas songs that have that gold fever! "Silver & Gold" by Burl Ives is a delightful classic, but a little unclear in its values -- while Kelly Clarkson's Santa-Baby-meets-surf-pop tune "4 Carats" knows exactly what it is about.

Inspired by an anonymous request, we listen to two songs featuring the UK edition of Santa Claus: Father Christmas. While paired for their shared nomenclature, these tracks I("I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake and "Father Christmas" by The Kinks) ended up sharing a bit more.

This week we get to some more requests from the Southern Hemisphere! Our listeners from Australia have tasked us with listening to two songs about Santa's less popular animal companions, "Six White Boomers" by notable terrible person Rolf Harris and "Fabian" by Tripod. Thank you to Moopot and our anonymous listener (who may or may not be a monotreme) for the requests!

It's hot here in the Northern Hemisphere, so we decide to cool off with music devoted to winter rather than any one holiday. Specifically, we listen to two takes on "Winter Wonderland", which we have gone 130 episodes without encountering! Both versions of this familiar song manage to catch us by surprise - the first recorded performance by Richard Himber and his Ritz-Carlton Hotel Orchestra, and a more recent rendition by Earth Wind & Fire.

This week, we're celebrating a very special birthday for a very special podcast boy. Ian is turning three decades old this week! And so is A Very Special Christmas, the 1987 holiday charity album that along with debuting "Christmas in Hollis", featured the two songs that Ian inexplicably chose for this week's episode. We listen to "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by John Cougar Mellencamp and "Santa Baby" by Madonna because... well, it's birthday boy's choice.

This week, a listener request asks us to consider updated versions of two much-beloved Christmas tunes with well-documented problems - "Fairytale of New York" as performed by KT Tunstall and "Baby It's Cold Outside" as performed by Postmodern Jukebox. Thank you to Liam for the request!

This week we cover a listener request that lets us treat ourselves to some delightful jazz and captivating blues - and reveals, perhaps, how little we know about jazz and blues. Thank you to Paul for requesting "Christmas Night in Harlem" by Louis Armstrong and "Santa" by Lightnin' Hopkins!

Ian and RJ are back, and they are melting! This week we struggle through two novelty songs in which children make outlandish, and perhaps disturbing, demands - "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" by Gayla Peevey and "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" by Spike Jones and His City Slickers.

This week, our list grows to 250 songs, and we partake in our tradition of surprising each other with songs aimed at the top and the bottom of the list. Ian's pick for the top causes tears of joy to flow and hearts to swell with love, while RJ's pick for the bottom is all about hatred.

We did it, y'all. We made it half-way through 2017. Next Christmas is only 200 days away! To celebrate, we're looking back at the best and worst holiday albums of 2016. The charming "I'm Your Santa" by Chance the Rapper and Jeremih is our pick for best, and the incomprehensible "Drivin' the Pig (Manejando el Cerdo)" by the incomparable Jimmy Buffett is, well, you know.

We're celebrating National Doughnut Day with two songs celebrating doughnuts - specifically, sufganiyot, jelly doughnuts eaten at Hanukkah time! "Sufganiot" by A.K.A. Pella is a love song to this fried food while "A Land Called Sufganiyot" by Mama Doni Band is more of a sci-fi/horror journey.