[This is part of The John M. Higgins Memorial Xmasganza.]
As mentioned, one of the highlights of Higgins’ memorial was playing some of his Christmas music. I definitely had a big grin on my face as, for example, the speakers blasted the cover of Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” done by El Vez (the Mexican Elvis) in the style of Public Image Ltd’s song “Public Image.” Beauty.
Higgins had a marvelously profane sense of humor, even darker than mine in some ways. His collection has more punk versions of the holiday classics; mine has more pop and soul. But we could agree on much.
I turned him onto this Porn Orchard song, which is brilliant. I posted this last year, along with the story of its creation:
The song is an imaginary duet between Tom Waits and Peter Murphy (lead singer of Bauhaus), done as a parody of the infamous David Bowie-Bing Crosby number “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth.” It’s actually by the Athens, GA band Porn Orchard. The band was together from 1986-92, and consisted of Curtiss Pernice (guitar), Ted Hafer (bass) and Sam Mixon (drums). I e-mailed Mixon last night and he informed me that the part of Tom Waits was played by Pernice, with Hafer doing Pete Murphy. The voices are eerily accurate and the opening tune is a wonderful parody of Waits’ “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me).”
Higgins turned me onto the brilliant and bizarre Blame It on Christmas! The only thing we would find out about it, was that the album was the work of two Ann Arbor ad executives. It suffers a little from an over reliance on synths standing in for real instruments and some of the songs are slight, but it has moments of real genius. For example, there’s this version of “Away in a Manger,” done in the ring-a-ding style of Sinatra in the late Sixties. It’s credited to the fictional Mr. Bob Francis, described as “The Poor Man’s Frank Sinatra, Jr.”
(Dig that amazing artwork; click on it for a larger view. It’s from a book called Hong Kong Comics: 30 Postcards. This particular image is from a 1956 issue of Manhua World.)
Porn Orchard – This Holiday Season — BUY
Mr. Bob Francis – That Swingin’ Manger — BUY
Tags: Porn Orchard, Mr. Bob Francis, Christmas music, MP3s