Holiday with Madonna, Christmas-Style

Holiday! Celebrate with Madonna on the eve before Christmas Eve, special holiday mix complete with sleigh bells!

Charo Looks for Santa Claus on My 2013 Christmas Countdown

In her inimitable style and diction, Charo sings "Mamacita, Donde esta Santa Claus?" disco-style as arranged and produced by Salsoul Orchestra. For me, it cannot be Christmas until I play this tune. Hope she sees him and his sleigh this year. Ole!

My Christmas Countdown 2013 with Lene Lovich

Here's a live performance of Lene Lovich singing "New Toy" at Studio 54 in NYC, 1981. It is dedicated especially to all those who couldn't resist Black Friday. "You? What do you want? You must want!" Ironically, it was used by Target in the '90s in their Christmas campaign. Written by Thomas Dolby.

Kristine W's Hard Candy Christmas

Another Christmas dance track for your spiked egg-nog holiday parties, with the always-divine Kristine W singing "Hard Candy Christmas", remixed by Resolution (as in New Year's), as my Christmas Countdown 2012 continues.

A Bananarama Christmas!

It's the weekend and Christmas is drawing near, so it's time to twirl to this hiNRG Christmas song from the fabulous Bananarama on my Christmas Countdown 2012. Baby, it's Christmas! (Hang a banana on your tree for me.)

Cher on My Christmas Countdown 2012

A wonderful song about peace, love & understanding, originally written and performed by Amber, then covered by Cher on her Living Proof album. Here's the Eddie Baez club version, my favorite remix, for your weekend (and to get you in the holiday spirit), on this year's Christmas Countdown.

Christmas with Lene Lovich on my 2012 Countdown

We all want a new toy for Christmas. This great song by Lene Lovich, from 1981, brings back memories of Danceteria, and was once used in a Target tv spot in the '90s on American television:



Ironic, since the song is a sardonic view of materialism. Still, we do want those toys under our tree, no? I'll settle for the Hoover.



Bonus: Lene sees Mommy Kissing Santa Claus on this rare, limited release:

Madonna Sings ABBA: the Remix

My Christmas Countdown 2012 continues with Madonna singing "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room," a cover of the song originally done by ABBA. Below is the Idaho Fireplace Club Edit.

Donna, Cher & Celine on my Christmas Countdown 2012

Kicking off Monday on a high note with this fan mix of Donna Summer, Cher & Celine Dion. Tweeted Cher of Donna, after her passing last May, "She was exquisite!... One of the GREAT voices of our time." Have a rosie Christmas, everyone, with three of the iconic voices of our lifetimes! We miss you, Donna.

Do the Conga on My Christmas Countdown 2012 with Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi leads the conga line around the tree with this Christmas party song! Bonga bonga bonga, do the Christmas conga!

The Pet Shop Boys Go Shopping at Christmas

A little techno comes your way this holiday season with the Pet Shop Boys singing of what Christmas can often be all about.

Christmas Countdown 2012 with Patti Page

Merry Christmas! Enjoy this new remix of "Christmas Bells," sung by Patti Page and remixed by the always brilliant Matt Pop, by way of kicking off my Christmas Countdown 2012.

Dolly Parton - "Peace Train" (Holy Roller Remix)

More Dolly for your Christmas holly. But get up & swing them booties to her cover of the Cat Stevens classic. Remix by Julian Marsh.

Around the Plastic Tree with the Pet Shop Boys

If anyone wants to wrap up Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys (above right) and gift him to me this Christmas, I'd like that very much. I'm mad about the (Pet Shop) Boy. Boy, did I say "boy"? Ok, a very mature boy. Neil is so bright, so clever, kind of hot, tall, with a cute British accent (quite proper) and he's got all that money! (But that's another issue and another Pet Shop Boys song.) I do not care that he's lost most of his hair. He can have some of mine.

Not only great performers, live and in the studio, but brilliant producers, songwriters and remixers. Below, they weigh in on Christmas; even Bing Crosby figures into their ironic world view on this one, along with "families fighting around the plastic tree." So have a happy holiday season, disco-style, with the openly gay British gentlemen of pop music, the Pet Shop Boys. (They have perfect enunciation!)

(And, no, really, I'm so into Neil Tennant, so if you can Fed Ex him overnight...! I mean, it's Christmas after all.)

Dear Santa (Bring Me A Man This Christmas)

The Weather Girls were originally known as Two Tons of Fun. Under that name, they began as Sylvester's back-up girls, then went solo with disco hits of their own: "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven" (1980); "Just Us" (1980 and also made #29 on the US R&B chart); and the Hi-NRG song "I Got the Feeling" in 1981.

The Weather Girls was composed of Martha Wash (whose solo career continues till this day) and the late, great Izora Whitehead.

A holiday follow-up to the phenomenal, "It's Raining Men," "Dear Santa" was also written by Paul Jabara ("Last Dance" by Donna Summer) and Paul Shaffer (who makes a cameo vocal as Santa in this song).

The video for this number was made in 1983 and, obviously, on a shoestring budget. Hence, the hilarious dancers with big, feathered '80s hair. Martha and Izora may have been hard to fit, but their costumes herein look off-the-rack from some bargain store; rather threadbare-looking pantsuits with scarves. Ick!

You may suffer through a brief ad before the video, but it'll be worth it. Also, it's a busy-looking Youtube page, so I recommend enlarging the video window on your screens.

Season's greetings! And roll out the bear-skin rugs by your fireplaces cuz Santa may have a man in his sack for you, too!

Disco Do-Re-Mi

Here's the hard to find Dj Weasl Lederhosen dance remix of Julie Andrews singing "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music. (Beaverhausen & Lederhosen, perfect together!) It's actually on my Merry Happy Christmas promo, as giddy as a breath of that Alpine air Julie breathes in, obviously tripping as she believes the hills are alive. Anyhow, as I observed on my blog piece about this year's Carole King Christmas album, The Sound of Music has become associated with Christmas due to television scheduling, primarily. And now you can dance to it! So, shake your booty to Julie Andrews as Sister Maria and sing out, Louise, sing out (oops, wrong musical!) to "Do Re Mi!"

The Waitresses, "Christmas Wrapping"

The Waitresses were an experimental new wave band from Akron, Ohio. Their best remembered hit may very well be "I Know What Boys Like," which did not chart at the time, oddly, as it was widely played at clubs, on radio and jukeboxes in 1982. The band was fronted by singer Patty Donahue who, tragically, died of lung cancer at the age of 40.

"Christmas Wrapping" has become a phenomenally successful holiday cult hit over the years. It went to #45 in the United Kingdom in '82. And here it is for you to enjoy, hopefully, as our Christmas countdown continues. (Only 21 more shopping days!)

Disco Christmas - Universal Robot Band

It's Friday night, time to party. And Christmas is in the air! So, close the blinds and get your disco lights going, it's time to boogie down to the 1977 "Disco Christmas" by the Universal Robot Band.

I love this song for four reasons: (1) great beat, melody and production values; (2) the hilarious dialogue between Santa and Rudolph; (3) the choir including the excellent female singers and (4) it's just plain groovy!

Love One Another this Christmas

Christmas is about love, peace and happiness. So it's only right to include this song by club diva Amber.

Though I don't personally know Amber at all, she is among my Facebook Friends, and I have found her to be very politically aware, funny, intelligent and sensitive. Besides that, she has great pipes, is a fabulous songwriter (she wrote "Bless You, Child" for Bette Midler, for example) and has taken control of her own career; bravo!

Amber started her career with the Berman Bros.-produced "This Is Your Night," a huge club hit in the mid-'90s. Other club smashes include "Sexual (La-di-la)," "Above the Clouds" and "Melt with the Sun."

"Love One Another" was covered by Cher, on her Living Proof album. I love the Cher version but, even more, I love Amber's original. Here is my favorite remix of that song and an exciting VJ video to accompany it.

So, enjoy and add this to your Christmas Party list. Support our independent and LGBT community supportive artists by legally downloading their music.

Madonna Holiday (Christmas Bells Mix)

Here's a white-label remix complete with synthesized jingle bells that successfully turns Madonna's 1983 hit into a holiday favorite for 2012. (Certainly a favorite of mine!) It's included on my Merry Happy dance-music Christmas cd-r promo. So break out the egg nog, shake yer booty & start your holiday party early, my friends! December has arrived! Celebrate!!