25 - Jon Lord, Frida, Black Ingvars, Richie Blackmore, Stratovarius

Merry Christmas and all that... Let the music begin!


Amazing! You all know Jon Lord, the guy that basically revolutionized the rock music with his keyboard back in Deep Purple times, and Frida the cute blonde from ABBA... I had no idea that these two have made som music together, so i was baffled when I stumbled over this one:

From the same concert there is also a "Christmas song" but the embedding is cut short. Here is the link if anyone want to have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThRwFK5PM4w&


The lady referant speak german, I think, and a glance at John Lord's official website tells me they have done a few other things together too.


If any of you know more about this, please don't be shy to contact me!


To keep the swedish spirit up, I searched for hours for something fun and good to place here - other than things like the blond the other day. The only band I could think of, and eventually found a spiritual for you is Black Ingvars in their "Gospel Medley". The fact is, I KNOW they have other and better ones, I simply do not find them. One of the overlooked bands, perhaps?

A strange thing, taking it back to Deep Purple, is what happened to the hardrocker of a lifetime, Richie Blackmore. Former Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist suddenly start playing medieval folk music. Oh, I am the first one to admit it sounds good, but I still, after almost 14 years of Blackmores Night, have troubles with Richie playing that kind of music.

Kind of swedish that one too, don't you think? Now, to get us in the spirit demanded on Christmas Day, let's have some Rock'N'Roll!!!


Stratovarius – Holy Light:

Finns ruled this years version of the Advent Calendar of Rock. How about next year? Who knows, see you then!

A Happy, Merry, Enjoyable and Rockin' Christmas To Each And Every One Of You!

En Förbaskat Trevlig, God och Rockande Jul Önskar Jag Er Alla!

Toivotan Teille Kaikille Viihtyisää, Hauskaa ja Rokkaavaa Joulua!

24 - Ozzy, Jessica Simpson, Tony Iommi, Lita Ford, Dio

Today, as we have the upcoming event of Christmas Eve, we kick off with something that I never would have believed if hadn't seen it myself. The legend himself, Ozzy Osbourne, doing "Winter Wonderland" with the also legendary Jessica Simpson:

I actually do agree with one of the comments; "Some would like to see Ozzy bite the head off Jessica Simpson....".


I wish there were more of Ozzys Christmas-stuff around, but I suppose he sleep through the whole darn thing. Wise man.


But I did find one excellent song, made by former Black Sabbath member Toni Iommi and the late Ronnie James Dio. "God rest ye merry gentlemen". This is Rock!:

Simply wonderful!


And while I am at it, here is one with Toni Iommi and Lita Ford, some 30 years ago when the two of them supposedly where a pair. Not a christmas song, but.... One of the best rock'n'roll performances I've ever seen:

Oh! Tomorrow we have CHRISTMAS DAY! Let us celebrate that with something SPECIAL!

23 - Apocalyptica

Yet another band from Finland. It seem to me that all really good music is from Finland these days.


Most of the bands I know have tried to do their versions o this song, and most of them have failed to get the right feeling in to it. I think these guys manage to do it; and Live!


A brief translation of what Eicca says before they star off the song: Hello, happy days before christmas best IRC-gallery members. We are Apocalyptica, and we want to show you our dark side of christmas.


Then they play us one of their versions of "Little Drummer Boy":

The guys, that in the bands beginning became famous for doing covers of Metallica – I actually think their version of "Nothing else matters" is better than the original - have also done this beautiful piece of art, "Hope":

Ah, I am so proud to be a Finn at times like these!


I also do realize that the Swedes, those oh so famous 'Abbaish' neighbours of ours, have something fun to give the world:

22 - Skid Row, Nelson, Dokken

I guess every band out there have done their version of Jingle Bells, but today I chose the Skid Row version for you:

Nice video, don't you think?


A skid row, by the way, is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. Yep, just another "who the f- cares?" fact.


And for those those of you that have an opinion, not that it matters, here is another version of the same one, by Nelson:

You guys back from puking yet? I tried to access the Nelsons homepage, but my computer froze and refused to co-operate until I ctrl-deleted my browser. Sorry guys! Oh, and don't you just love this: "This video contains content from Sony Music Entertainment. It is not available in your country.
Sorry about that."


Enough of the Jingeling Bells, I say! How about some Dokken? Yeah, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town":

21 - Tom Keifer, Thomas Kieffer

Tom Keifer from the band Cinderella did the song "Blue Christmas" in 2007. Cinderella was a band I used to listen a lot to some 20 years ago... For some strange reason I forgot all about them until I stumbled over this one. Actually it was while listening to this song I came up with the idea of this calendar in the first place.

By the way, have you tried to Google Cinderella+Christmas? Heh, cute Disney Overtake! Cinderella, Live in Oklahoma City in 1989 with "Long Cold Winter":

A bit younger in the voice there, Keifer? This time I let the guys themselves tell us about the "First Struggling Years":

And when I had a beer, or two, I accidentally misspelled Tom Keifer and came up with this French singer/songwriter – Thomas Kieffer in "Finder is keeper":

Rock! I don't know anything about this guy, can anyone help me?

20 - Queensrÿche, Billy Idol

Queensrÿche is an American progressive heavy metal band formed in 1981 in Bellevue, Washington. This version of White Christmas they made for the album "Monster Ballads" in 2007:

Too pretencious, in my mind, but.. In my opinion the best thing Queensrÿche ever done still is Silent Lucidity in 1990:

Oh my, that's 20 years ago already! On that same record, where Queensrÿche do their "White Christmas", there is a song called "Christmas Love" by Billy Idol:

Crap! I beg all Billy Idol fans out there for their forgivness, but I have to say it again: Crap!

19 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, Frank Zappa

Yes, I know. Weird Al is not to be counted as a "serious" hardrocker like most of the other musicians I present here claim to be, but people, seriously, he is good. Isn't he? If every rocker out there would concentrate more on having fun, instead of being so "dead serious" about their art there would be much more funny christmas songs around.


But this one, from 1986, is a dead serious one that most of you youngsters haven't seen before. And the ones that saw it 24 years back in time are happy to see it again. "Christmas at Ground Zero":

And the stories are only getting merrier, "The Night Santa Went Crazy":

Down in the workshop all the elves were makin' toys

For the good Gentile girls and the good Gentile boys

When the boss busted in, nearly scared 'em half to death

Had a rifle in his hands and cheap whiskey on his breath

From his beard to his boots he was covered with ammo

Like a big fat drunk disgruntled Yuletide Rambo

And he smiled as he said with a twinkle in his eye,

"Merry Christmas to all - now you're all gonna die!"

And as we all know Christmas is mostly about he who sits in heaven ans such... simply to get you all in the mood I give you Frank Zappa doing Stairway to heaven.

I know it is not a christmas-tune, but I just HAD to show it to you!

18 - Paul Di'Anno

Paul Di'Anno, born as Paul Andrews, is an English singer perhaps best known as the first vocalist to record with the iconic heavy metal band Iron Maiden, betwee 1978 and 1981.


In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albums over the years, as both a solo artist and as a member of such bands as Gogmagog, Di'Anno's Battlezone, Praying Mantis, and Killers.

And as a bonus for today I give you something that I bet most of you never listened to before; The boys from Iron Maiden Individually wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! A few times.

17 - Trans Siberian Orchestra

Time to get deep.


There is so much to say about Trans Siberian Orchestra that I can´t say a word. For those of you that never heard of the band I recommend the article on Wikipedia. It is actually very well written and informative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Orchestra


When I say TSO most of you that know the band propably would have expected me to show you the "Mad Russian Chrisrmas". And that way once again started the debate about Metallica participating in the project. But nope. You can keep that argument back home in your own basements.


Enjoy, the Trans Siberian Orchestra with "Carol Of The Bells" at the Reno Events Center in November of 2008:

And hey! When you start surfing around listening to TSO, don't forget that there still is a life outside of your computer! I know by my own sad experience that it is far too easy to get lost in time when doing explorations like this.


Yet again one video I have to give you the link to, since embedding is not possible. Trust me, this one is worth having a glance at:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHioIlbnS_A


And then, just for the fun of it, a few lights:

16 - Wednesday 13, KISS

Wednesday 13, born as Jason Poole in August 12, 1976, is a rock musician from Charlotte, North Carolina. Here we have him on "Buried by Christmas".


"All I want for Christmas is a custom fit casket with black velvet interior... Oh yeah, and a bucket of chicken".

This is a (not very good sound, but more fun) Live version from Hard Rock Café in Prague:

Wednesday 13 name KISS as one of his influences, so let us listen to some KISS. White Christmas/Love gun in Philadelphia 18.12.1987:

Nope, I don't see the connection.

15 - Alice Cooper

This is one of the most merry days ever for me, when I get to present Alice Cooper for you. Alice Cooper must be one of the most fun artists around. Ever. Born as Vincent Damon Furnier way back in 1948 he has found time to do a lot. Guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, beheaded baby dolls... You name it, he's done it.


S a n t a C l a u s is coming to town:

,

As we all know, Christmas is all about Jesus Lord Our Savior. In 1996, Alice recorded a version of 'King Herods Song' for Andrew Lloyd Webber's new version of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

Oh, ok.


Somehow I still have the feeling that you guys actually aren't getting it! So I throw in a small bonus here - A christmas poem by Alice Cooper. This one have the "embed" disabled by request, so you'll have to have a glance at it on YouTube:


http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5VDUXKigRI&


Do you feel the spirit of christmas already? NO?! Well, I'll let the good Alice have another go on you, from "Stockings of Truth":

Yeah, you simply have to love this guy!

14 - Slade, Iron Maiden, Doro Pesch, Udo

Yesterday, when talking about Wizzard and Gary Glitter and stuff like that I completely forgot to mention Slade! My Oh My, how could that happen? They are up on the charts every year too, so:


Live, well playback, at Live Double the Top in 1983:

Yes. And. Hmm. So where do I go from here? It's hard to see anything sleezier at the moment, maybe Chris Rea or.... Aaargh! How about a U-turn, let's have some Rock!


Iron Maiden, Silent Night ( with Paul DiAnnio as the singer):

Fun to see a comment on the video in youtube stating; "This is... before Bruce Dickinson". When I was young, and Bruce made the Iron Maiden-way music Diannio was not born, hardly his dad.


This is getting almost too English now. So let Doro Pesch wish you a merry christmas:

And back to the music, Doro and Udo Dirkschneider in "Dancing with an Angel":

After Udo Dirkschneider left the well known german band Accept in 1987, a large fan community followed him to his new band U.D.O. And he did gooood. Could his voice have something to do with that?

I still, with some strange kind of sadness, remember those old Accept-years...

13 - Wizzard, Gary Glitter, Type O Negative

Not long after the release of Electric Light Orchestra's first album, Roy Wood found himself at odds with co-leader Jeff Lynne who would argue frequently about the direction of the band. Wood decided he wanted to head off in a "different" musical direction and left, taking band members Bill Hunt, Hugh McDowell, and ELO's sound engineer, Trevor Smith, with him, to found Wizzard. Not so nicely done, but, hey! What can you do?


Wizzard's 1973 Christmas single "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" has become something of an annual fixture on British radio and television.


Well, at least it's a fun (in a strange way) video:

Oh, well. I am not going to say anything funny about the Brits, they might not take it the right way, but I can tell you another favourite during Christmas is Gary Glitter's "Rock 'n' Roll Christmas:

There you see? It actually always can be worse! 


So, so, boys and girls. You are not supposed to be lucky. The sidekick of today is going to be something more... Well, actually this is so good you could believe they are from Finland, Type o Negative and "Christmas Mourning":

12 - Jon Bon Jovi

Blue Christmas, originally written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson in 1948 and splendidly performed by Elvis Presley in 1957, here destroyed by Jovi in 2006:

"A Real Rock 'n' Roll Hero"? Bon Jovi doing Elvis? Jeah right, not really anything Rock about this one... But kind of fun nonetheless. And not so much of that hard rock feeling in the next one either, "Please Come Home For Christmas":

Guess Bon Jovi never been a rocker at all. At least not in his solo projects.


Bon Jovi, the band, made one in 1994 that is a bit more in the genre I am looking for here, "I Wish Every Day Could Be Like Christmas":

Naaah!

11 - AC/DC

"Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the day

I just can't wait till Christmas time

When I can grope you in the hay"

"Mistress For Christmass" from The Razorz Edge, 1990:

I guess there is no need for ANYONE to say something "factual" about AC/DC anymore? Isn't all said over and over again? AC/DC was formed in Australia back in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young and They Still Rock!

Well, for the younger ones of you, a couple of fun facts about the name:


Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their older sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation for "alternating current/direct current". The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances, and a love for their music.


The band's logo was designed in 1977 by Gerard Huerta. It first appeared on the international version of Let There Be Rock.


And to cut all the crap right there before it begins, here is something not too many of you have listened to before:

10 - The Darkness

The Darkness, an English hard rock band that formed in Lowestoft, Suffolk as late as in 2000. Originally comprising lead vocalist, guitarist and pianist Justin Hawkins, his guitarist and backing vocalist brother Dan Hawkins, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Ed Graham.


Here we have them with the classic, "Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)":

"Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" is a single released by The Darkness in the UK during December 2003, to fall in with the famous UK Christmas Number One Race. And everything just went splendidly, as the say there.


Then came along fame and glory and then there was too much of drugs, booze and rock'n'roll. Justin went to rehab, admitting he fancied cocaine and alcohol in a way to big proportion. In 2007 came this note up on their homepage:


"We're sorry that you had to find this out through the newspapers, but we were hoping until the last minute that this - Justin's exit - wasn't going to happen. We - Dan, Ed and Richie - are still in total shock and can't say at this stage what the future holds. We would like to thank all our fans, partners and family for their continuous support. You will hear from us, once we know what we want to do.. "


The "Richie" here is Richie Edwards, who replaced Frankie Poullain in 2003.


Justin have done a couple of solos, using the pseudonyms "British Whale", but this is what I still remember him from:

Wasted!

9 - Spiñal Tap

On wikipedia Spiñal Tap is classed as "a parody fictional heavy band" (uff!) Spiñal Tap is nowadays mostly known for the crazy movie/rockumentary "This is Spiñal Tap" from 1984. The bands original members first appearance, as Spiñal Tap, was on a really bad TV-show in 1979.


"Christmas With The Devil" shows, in my opinion, that they do pretty well as musicians - without the horribly freaky label "Parody fictional":

There is also a live version available, recorded from The Arsenio Hall Show in 1992, but the sound quality is not good. Actually it is crappy. It is almost not there. Fun to look at, tough!

These guys have done so much throughout the last 3 decades so the internet would get filled up if we started to repeat it all over the place. Let's just watch and enjoy, David Gilmour with Spinal Tap performing "Big Bottom":

8 - The Greedies

One of the more strange supergroups to exist during the '70s was the Greedies (aka the Greedy Bastards). Phil Lynott took an interest in the punk movement of the late '70s, and got friends with members of such bands as the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and the Boomtown Rats. With time off from Lizzy during the most parts of 1978, Lynott sought to put together an ad hoc outfit comprised partly of Lizzy members, along with members of punk bands. It's unclear if it was Lynott's original intention for the group to rotate its bandmembers, but that's exactly what happened for a total of four shows during the year.

Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Phyl Lynott (Thin Lizzy & Sex Pistols combined) played "A Merry Jingle" on this setup in 1979.

Other people that have appeared in the Greedies are: Gary Holton, Gary Moore, Jimmy Brain, Rat Scabies, Chris Spedding and Bob Geldof.

And to show you all that words don't really matter, here the same group on Kenny Everett Finale 1979:

7 - The Ramones

The Ramones were an American rock band that was formed by DeeDee, Johnny and Joey Ramone in New York in 1974. The band is for some strange reason often cited as the first "punk" rockgroup, and when Joey died in 2001 the newspapers said "Father of Punk Dead". Well, that may very well be true, but in my eyes Ramones always have ROCKED. Period.


Here with the wonderful "I Don't Want To Fight Tonight":

As Joey Ramone ones said; "In 1974 everything was tenth-generation Led Zeppelin, tenth-generation Elton John, or overproduced, or just junk. Everything was long jams, long guitar solos.... We missed music like it used to be." So they decided to do some kind of bubblegum rock with a twist. And we are all happy they did!


Another funny thing about The Ramones is the fact that all of the bandmembers changed their surename to Ramone. If THAT ain't dedication, then what is?


Sad, really, that in this band too – as in so many bands – we see brothers fighting eachother. In 1996 when they decided to split the band, for good, I felt sick. And still do.


Joey Ramone, the guy that I personally think was the spirit of The Ramones, passed away – cancer took him too - in 2001. The following interview is made for a radiostation in UK, sometimes in the mid 80's, and I think this is Joey at his best:

And finally, a short clip from the last concert The Ramones ever performed, at The Palace in Los Angeles, California on August 6, 1996 , featuring the legendary Lemmy from Motörhead.

6 - Hanoi Rocks, Finnish Independence Day

These Finnish nutheads, prior and inspirational gurus to bands like Mötley Crüe, Guns'n'Roses and many, many more, have also – naturally – done a version of "Run Rudolp Run. This is fun, and live:

Hanoi Rocks' influence can be seen in various bands, including Guns N' Roses, and their glam look has been used by many bands, including Poison, L.A. Guns and Ratt. Other bands like Manic Street Preachers, Murderdolls and the Foo Fighters have admitted being Hanoi Rocks fans. Alice in Chains also often played Hanoi Rocks' "Taxi Driver" live in their early days.


Million Miles Away have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas but is still one of the best ballads ever made:

5 - King Diamond

King Diamond's "Christmas" build on ""The Little Drummer Boy", also known as "Carol of the Drum", a popular Christmas song originally written by Katherine K. Davis in 1941.

King Diamond, was born as Kim Bendix Petersen in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the godblessed year of 1956. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate, and the eponymous King Diamond.

When guys as young as Kim here say their influences are Rock Gods like Ian Gillan, Robert Plant, Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio and Ozzy Osbourne, and do things like this there is really nothing you can do but lift your eybrow and say "Bunden i vejret eller resten i håret !". I am told that this is what they say in Denmark...

Actually, I've never been a big fan of Judas Priest and/or Rob Halford. A year ago he released his first ever Christmas album, Winter Songs, and to my surprise it was pretty good! Here is the song "Christmas for everyone":

4 - The Black Label Society and a tiny bit of OZZY

Most of you have at least some ideas of what the Black Label Society should sound like, and it is not actually like this, "The First Noel". The proceeds from sales of the single will be donated to The Zakk and Barbaranne Wylde Foundation at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, a charity that the Wyldes have long supported. Head over to the store and get your copy today:

Zakk Wylde, originally Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt, was used to be best known as a former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne until he in 1998 founded the heavy metal band Black Label Society. This is Zakk Wylde on a solo, playing White Christmas on an acoustic guitar:

Sound a bit like Richie Blackmore in his Blackmores Night, but still... I have always liked Zakk. There are so many nice things to say about him and so few bads... And to prove the fact that he actually always have been a nice guy, have a look at "I thank you child" with his daughter Hayley:

And to completely make this day a disaster for all of you rockers that now are denying what you used to look like (I used to have hair like that in the -80´s, guess most of us had), here is a short interview with Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk:

3 - Twisted Sister, Lita Ford

"Twisted Sister is an American hair metal band from New York City. Their work fuses the shock tactics of Alice Cooper, the rebellious mood of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and the extravagant image of glam rock bands such as New York Dolls notably for the makeup. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands. The band is generally categorized as glam metal for their earlier work, although the band does not consider themselves to be so."

The above is from Wikipedia, the place where we all nowadays trust we get real information and facts about almoust anything. Yeah, well. Whatever.

It is funny that a band, formed back in 1972, is accused of being a copycatter of bands that I guess they never had heard or seen of back in the early seventies... Strangely enough, in 1984 when the album "Stay Hungry" was released I was so brainwashed that I believed all of that crap too.

The album "A Twisted Christmas" was released in 2006, and is well worth listening to. I chose "Heavy Metal Christmas", but all of them are good.

Twisted Sister also did "I'll be home for christmas" with the wonderful Lita Ford, in 2008:

Kind of getting the feeling that they are getting old – as they surely are – but for some reason I still like this one. Could the reason be that I am getting old too? No fucking way! If Lita Ford, who's played with basically EVERYONE since the early stoneage still roxx like this, being 50+ I am going to live forever.

And as a small bonus, Lita show you how to test a guitar before not buying it:

2 - Manowar, Ronnie James Dio

There are a lot of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands that have released their versions of Silent Night, some better and some... Ok, whatever, here is one and YOU get to choose in which category this one belongs.


American loincloth metallers Manowar released their first ever Christmas song in 2007, a cover of the classic “Silent Night” in both english and german versions.

Well, if nothing else, I have to say it take balls to wear something like those outfits.


At the time the video was available at Manowar homepage. I am sorry to say it is not around anymore, it would have been fun to look at.


Manowar is an American band, formed way back in 1980. They are known for writing lyrics with an emphasis on the heavy metal genre itself, fantasy and mythological topics crash over eachother like a story of J.R.R. Tolkien combined with Richard Strauss.. Manowar's sound is loud and bombastic, mostly in a weird kind of funny way; in an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that."


Among other facts I like the one that in1984 the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on 2 occasions.


They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for 5 hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008.


And here is a special bonus for you. A very nice interview with Joey DiMaio from Manowar, Ronnie James Dio and Lemmy taken from swedish television, dated 1999:

As we all know Dio recently passed away. With nearly five decades of worldwide success and album sales in the tens of millions as the front man of elf, Rainbow, DIO, Black Sabbath, and, most recently, Heaven & Hell, Ronnie James Dio grabbed the mic, took the stage, and led a movement whose influence resonates to this day.


Ronnie James Dio, Butterfly Ball and the Grasshoppers Feast – Love is All - 1974, May he rest in peace:

1 - Lemmy Kilmister, Billy F. Gibbons, Dave Grohl

This song is in my opinion a MUST as the opening for this series. "Run, Rudolph, Run", sometimes referred to as "Run, Run, Rudolph", is a Christmas song popularized by the legendary rocker Chuck Berry back in 1958.


Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead), Billy Gibbons (ZZ-Top), and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) got together for the 2008 album "We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year" to make their version of the song, and this is the result:

These guys surely need no further introduction, but since I was happy to find a nice photo shoot for the Musician's Friend 2008 Christmas catalog with Billy "Santa Claus" Gibbons I give that one to you too:

And Dave Grohl reading "The Night Before Christmas":

Aah, what joy, what a wonderful sentimental feeling this rocker can give us! Nearly got tears in my eyes.

Lemmy, by the way, is born on Christmas Eve in 1945. Way To Go!


To the left is the cover of Motorhead's special limited edition Christmas 12" vinyl "Ace of Spades" single.


Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a video of this one.