Episode 208: Bring me a Ghost this Valentine’s Day


Valentine’s Day is upon us once again, and this year we’re tackling some holiday songs about love and romance that also turned out to be kind of spooky? By request, we listen to “Dear Santa (Bring me a Man this Christmas)” by The Weather Girls, which is weird but mostly charming. We pair it with “Christmas Eve” by Justin Bieber, which somehow manages to be even weirder, and also charmless.

Thank you to Thomas for the request!

Episode 206: Grumpy Groundhog Day

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For Groundhog Day, we’re celebrating the 90s way, with a little déjà vu! We cover requests from some of our repeat-requesters, digging into “Home Once a Year” by Marshall Burns and “Christmas C’mon” by Lindsey Stirling and Becky G.

Thanks to Listener Jenny and Captain McGloo for these requests!

Episode 205: Cranky Australia Day

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This week we listen to two more Christmas songs from the southern hemisphere – “Aussie Jingle Bells” by Bucko & Champs, which is exactly what you would expect, and “Santa Never Made It Into Darwin” by Bill & Boyd, which is maybe more of a bummer than you would expect. FYI, this one is Ian’s fault.

Episode 204: Cavalclade (sic)

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It’s our first requests of 2019 (submitted in 2018)! We cover two songs destined for the “mushy middle” of the list, but each one brings us some joy along the way. “Santa Says Relax” by Joe Innes and the Cavalcade is a post-ironic indie tune that makes us wish it was Christmas, while “Christmas in New Orleans” by Rickie Lee Jones is a sad, complex song that merits a second listen.

Thanks to Jenny for the requests!

Episode 202: Merry 80s To You

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We have been informed that we do not cover enough songs from the 1980s, and for our first episode of 2019, we are taking decisive action. Unfortunately for 80s fans, that action does not involve covering songs from that decade. Instead, we’re talking about two songs that remind us of the 1980s – “Christmas was Better in the Eighties” by The Futureheads and “Merry Something to You” by Devo.

Matthew’s slideshow featuring analysis of HARK can be viewed here!

Episode 201: Slow-Jam Kwanzaa

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Hanukkah and Christmas are done and past for another year, and on this December the 26th we’re celebrating Kwanzaa! We add two new Kwanzaa songs to the list: Teddy Pendergrass’ smooth, catchy, and a little bit corny anthem “Happy Kwanzaa” and Lovely Hoffman’s – well, lovely – “A Kwanzaa Song”.

Episode 200: Out of Our Comfort Zone

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Our 200th episode is here, and RJ and Ian are once again trying to beat out the best and worst songs on the list! We begin by discussing the safe, reliable picks that we both settled on weeks ago – and then instead present the riskier choices that surprised us in the eleventh hour. Listen in to hear which unique tune by the smooth-voiced June Christy charmed us and what hellish nonsense by Ray Stevens made us very uncomfortable!

The slideshow featuring analysis of every song we’ve ever covered (before last week) can be viewed here! Many thanks to our friend Matthew Murray for creating it!

Episode 199: Honorable Mentions

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With Christmas less than two weeks away, we’re trying something novel and only listening to extremely good music in this episode. These two songs – “Mary’s Baby” by Charles Bradley and “Christmas is a Feeling In Your Heart” as performed by Love Colony featuring Six – may not be the greatest holiday songs of all time, but they are definitely honorable mentions.