Ho! Ho! Ho! The first installment of last week’s holiday Cage Match is here if you missed it. There was a surprising amount of love for Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” – more than I expected, with all of the people that I know that despise it.
For this week’s Cage Match, we’re rolling out two more holiday classics for your discussion, including one from Tom Petty, who already has given the very best holiday gift with the release of The Live Anthology.
“Christmas All Over Again” might just be my favorite holiday song, right up there with the entire Christmas album from The Beach Boys. Everybody’s heard this one, and there’s so much holiday spirit running through every second of this song! There is unfortunately no video for “Christmas All Over Again,” but I did dig up the following video on Youtube.
Our next contender features one John Cougar Mellencamp, back before he lost the “Cougar” part, and also before that pesky son of his, Speck, launched his bid to get Dad to quit smoking. Will 2010 be the year that John Mellencamp quits smoking? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
You can find both of the above tunes on the first two volumes of the A Very Special Christmas series of CDs. Here’s a blog post that I wrote up about the latest edition to the series, plus four other holiday releases that are new for 2009. That first volume is a classic for sure, and as I think about it, we might go back to that one for one of next week’s tunes!
Petty or Mellencamp – which one is your favorite?
Petty. This one's not even close. The ending alone, where Petty reads off his list, is better than Mellencamp's song. And I got no issues with Mellencamp, either. Petty's song is just that freakin' good.
Lonesome Jubilee-era Mellencamp might have been the last time that he was really cool, although I did like Whenever We Wanted. He kicked ass this summer, but when you see a video like the above, it makes you go maaaaaan.
Regarding Petty, you're right, it's a classic, without a doubt. Always makes my holiday mix!
The Petty video is not available in my country due to copyright restrictions lol
I'm going with Petty as well. I, too, enjoy his list reading at the end of the song. And he seemingly makes listening to holiday music enjoyable. Gleeful, even.
Well, him, and Wham!, of course.
Exactly. This was Mellencamp at his height of his powers, and Petty blows him out the door.
And I love that they had both Lynch and Keltner on drums. Two awesome drummers trying to be Blaine. Kills me every time.
This could be one of the toughest matches yet. Empirically, Mellencamp should win here. He is at the top of his game, covering a beloved classic and even coaxed his daughter into adding an air of authenticity to the track. On the other hand, Petty's tune is an unmatched classic. As much as I love the Petty track, I have to vote Mellencamp.
Petty. Also, WMG blocked the video here too.
Petty. Also, WMG blocked the video here too.
I really like the one with JCM. He has been one of my favorites for many years. i luv to sit back with a nice glass of wine and my e cig and enjoy him for hours on end.