Artist: Stan Freberg
Album: "Green Chri$tma$" 7" single/Tip Of The Freberg box set
Appears On (Mixes): The Boys And Girls Are Lifting Up Their Plates
Song Notes: Since it's fixin' to be Christmas, and because I love Stan Freberg, I figured I'd take care of two things and put up a couple of Stan Freberg Christmas Singles. (Don't worry—they're FUNNY.) This first one is one of Stan Freberg's most misunderstood singles. When this came out originally in 1958, it was rather controversial; editorials were written about how Stan Freberg had gone too far and that the record was sacrilegious. (Turned out most of these people hadn't actually HEARD the single; it's quite the opposite... unless, you know, you think the Reason For The Season _is_ selling stuff (speaking of which, my DVD makes a great Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa gift! Only $11.99, plus $0.01 for shipping and handling!). The record takes place in an ad agency where they're talking about how to tie their products in with the season to sell more stuff, and one client objects. He printed the entire script in his 1988 autobiography It Only Hurts When I Laugh, and I ended up using that as a springboard for an essay I wrote for a class in one of my communications classes in college. Still, though, this is one of my favorite Christmas singles; it's poignant, but, well, most of all, it's also really funny; Stan Freberg always knows how to temper his points with actual humor, so he never comes off as preachy. - Rev. Syung Myung Me
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