Notice that the above is the original Wham! version of "Last Christmas," not the sad sack Jimmy Eat World cover. IMHO, this is either the best damn holiday recording ever or tied with Marlene Dietrich's rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy."
Go head, watch the video. Relish in the snowy winter wonderland that for some reason is always associated with Christmas even though most of us don't ever see Jack Frost. Also note the very '80s ski resort setting and the puffy Aspen-friendly wardrobes. I hate skiing, destest bulky things and don't even care for Christmas that much. 'Twould be a nice celebration were it not for crowds of people trying to spend way too much on people they barely like the rest of the year and those icky, overblown light displays that dot L.A. houses. All things considered, I still love this song.

Then we have Band Aid with "Do They Know It's Christmas?" I want to hate this song because it's so fucking insipid. Of course starving Ethiopian kids know it's Christmas. Ethiopia adopted Christianity way before Europe did. And it doesn't snow in Bethlehem either. In fact, I just checked the weather and it's approximately the same in the West Bank as it is here in Los Angeles.

I can't hate "Do They Know It's Christmas?" because Bob "I'm Running for Sainthood" Geldof co-wrote it with Midge Ure of Ultravox. Plus, Ure produced it with Trevor Horn, producer of countless freakin' awesome records and the reason why I liked TATU and the performers included people from Spandau Ballet, Heaven 17 and the like. Anyhow, here's the video.



Merry Christmas.