Big Al

Happy to help! I got lucky and got it on the first try as I saw a list of performers of the song on AMG and noticed Jars Of Clay mentioned a few times. I thought what a dumb band name so it made me suspicious. I've since gone back and heard the 1st 4 words sung and immediately stopped. Just based on that brief exposure I surmise it indeed is one of the most toxic Christmas songs out there. So I owe you thanks for the power in knowing the name of this beast (I'm a big believer in "Know your enemy." ) Now I know if I'm in a store and I hear that plunky guitar to drop whatever I'm doing and run run run! Oddly enough, despite working at a Christian bookstore, my wife hasn't heard it yet. I sang her the distinctive "twangy" guitar part. Unfortunately for her, she can't drop what she's doing to get away from this song. Unfortunately for *me*, knowing how our tastes in music differ, she'll probably end up liking it!

I think my biggest fear just became the possibility of them doing a duet with Amy Grant singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."

OH GOD YES, THAT'S IT!!!!! That's a guy singing that? Holy shit.... as if CCM wasn't shitty enough... Brother, I owe you BIG!

No idea who it might be, but when you find out, have Jennifer Engle give 'em a call... I [bleep]ing LOVE The Little Ball of Hate, as she's called around here! One of my favorites! That version knocked me colder'n a wet mackerel!

While on hold with the bank, I heard THE most excruciating version of "Christmas Time is Here." I don't know who it is, and I can't even find it in a search on Google or anything. All I know is it has a maddeningly bad single-note twangy guitar played pretty much throughout. I am imploring my fellow Bored members, and anyone with good taste, to help me identify this "artist" so I can tell her how much I appreciate her fucking awful song ruining my Christmas cheer today. God Almighty, I would rather sit though a fucking Kenny G Xmas album than to sit through that crap again! There. I feel a little better.

Actually, I'd like to see threads dedicated to the labels on the records! Like that guy who posted the picture of the Bill Evans VV record. THAT would be cool!!!

Drat! I wanna see this! Anybody got a couple grand or a lear jet I can borrow?

So you don't see any contradiction between those two statements? Alex contradicting himself? Surely, you can't be serious.

Picked up the mono box last week and rather like it. Certainly isn't gonna replace the stereo CDs, but it was definitely worth the bucks!

:rofl: :rofl: That SO made my day! Absolutely brilliant!

Surprised about Dave Douglas as I usually dig him. Gotta give him props for following his muse in whatever direction it takes him, even though I don't always enjoy some of those directions! I happened to see that Riverside History of Jazz set this past weekend! And, of course, the one DeFranco track is the one track I *didn't* guess DeFranco! And now I GOTS to get that Hamilton Ellington Suite! I would never have guessed that was Eric Dolphy!!!

Craig Ferguson's BETWEEN THE BRIDGE AND THE RIVER, 2nd attempt at reading this. It's catching on this time around.

lol thanks big al - you can come over and listen to the ellington mosiac when it arrives! DEAL!!! Next time I'm in Miami!

The scene in "Naked Gun" where Drebin forgets to turn off his mike before going to the restroom remains for me one of the funniest scenes ever made. Not in on the joke my ass. He even said so himself when he was hosting Saturday Night Live once. I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines of "People think I'm funny despite the fact that I really don't do or say anything funny. But people think I'm funny." The only person, ONLY person, who did deadpan better than Leslie Nielsen was the great Margaret Dumont, and she was the first to admit she didn't have a clue what was going on around her. Which made her reactions that much more priceless. THAT is called acting. RIP Leslie Nielsen. Thanks for the many MANY laughs. I guess we can stop calling you Shirley now.

Evan beat me again and on the number I originally wanted! WAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! (Should clarify: "again" meaning I bet against him in the NBA 2006 finals that saw the Mavs completely crater against the Miami Heat. Still haven't gotten over that one! ) Congrats Evan! Enjoy the gift certificate!

Thanks for the confirmation. With all the 1980s remixes and CD bonus tracks, keeping track of alternate versions of the CTI material can be frustrating. A-FREAKIN-MEN!!!!

Happy birthday, John!!!

Download for me, please!

I will drive to this guy's house to see this in person!!!!

Go Montreal "Big Als" !!!!

Same here except in my case it's the MOSAIC album. I can still remember the first time I heard Blakey's drums thundering out of the speakers. Life, thankfully, hasn't been the same since!

Well, FWIW, I love these new mixes, especially MORNING STAR. It sounds spaciously intimate. And CALIFORNIA CONCERT, I'm sorry to say, just reinforced my preference for CTI in the studio. I won't go into any details, cuz I know a lotta people here dig the concert; just suffice to say it bored me to no end. "Straight Life" is good, but that's about it for me.

{{{{buzzz}}}} Wrong! I like Husker Du okay, WAREHOUSE being the only one I could ever get into along with some strong individual tunes ("Hardly Getting Over It" and the one that precedes it on that album) but overall I agree with GregK above. ZEN ARCADE is wildly overrated, IMO. Sonic Youth sucks? Not in this lifetime!!!

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. I'll be holding my wife that much closer tonight.