30 Dec Matador Playlist 12/26/24

Tis’ the season, Gentle Reader(s), for a festive holly jolly Matador playlist! What could possibly say ‘Merry Christmas, one and all!’ quite like ‘Breaking Glass’ by David Bowie and AC/DC’s ‘Hells Bells’? Kind of sums up the whole holiday vibe right there, does it not? Well, maybe not at your house, but at Ye Olde Matador Bar & Lounge—HELL yeah!

Actually, I figure I kind of lucked out this year. Last week was set aside for third-Thursday Goth Night and this Thursday was Boxing Day, so I didn’t really feel compelled to dip into my four-hour-deep Matador Xmas playlist. Yes, it actually does exist. I cannot say whether there was much Goth Xmas music played on the 19th or not, but I’m given to understand that Bauhaus’s version of ‘Away in a Manger’ is to die for and Alien Sex Fiend’s take on ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ is a stone cold holiday classic.

In recent Yule seasons I had been reluctant to make much use of my Xmas playlist as Brother Phil (now the Poobah-in-Charge at Matador East, aka, the Grande Royale, Oklahoma City), who I worked with for a few pre-Pandemic years, was rather violently opposed to holiday-themed music, be it James Brown’s ‘Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto’ or the Accelerators’ ‘Christmas is a Pain in the Arse.’ A lovely fellow, all around, Brother Phil, but a bit of a Scrooge when it came to seasonal specialty toons. Try though I might, I couldn’t sneak the Vandal’s ‘A Gun for Christmas,’ Lemmy’s version of ‘Run Rudolph, Run’ or Sonic Youth’s ‘Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope’ past Brother Phil without him blowing a fuse. Some sort of unresolved adolescent Nativity Scene trauma, perhaps?

Be that as it may, the 26th was quite an enjoyable night, all told. Much to my relief, I was not called upon to address any existential crises regarding the clientele’s inability to articulate their personal concepts of ‘dance music.’ That sort of thing is definitely above my pay grade. This time around the only conceptual dilemma involved one fellow who requested Techno. Techno being quite a diverse genre, I asked for further clarification. After momentary consideration, he clarified that he meant Reggaeton. Ah. Of course. Kraftwerk/Daddy Yankee—pretty much indistinguishable. Separated at birth, eh wot?

A young lady in the company of the Techno/Reggaeton fan then produced a thumb drive and asked if she could plug it into the system. That was an easy one. The answer to that question is ‘No.’ Just, No. No—not now. No—not ever. ‘If I may explain,’ I said, ‘I’m the DJ. If you plug your little thumb drive into the system then YOU would be the DJ, and that’s just not how this works.’ The young lady seemed to grok the gist of my position on the matter and returned her attentions to an in-depth barstool snog with her companion.

This confounds me a bit. I don’t go out much, but if my interests of an evening are ranging towards having an alcoholic beverage or two, listening to music of my own choosing, and having a bit of a snog, is that not why The Good Lord invented ‘Home’? ‘Home’ seems like the best scenario for all of that, but hey—that’s just me. What do I know?

So here you have it: the closest thing you’re going to get to a Holiday playlist for 2024. When next I join you it will be a New Year—2025, if my calculations and prognostications are correct—and the boggling abyss of the Great Unknown yawns before us once again. Onward through the fog, Gentle Reader(s).

P.S. – At one point in the evening a chap sitting at the bar handed me a little flier just as he got up to leave. It depicts a distraught looking Henry Kissinger against a backdrop of flames and I initially took it to be a political statement. Then I noticed the QR code and the web address for christmasbuttplugs.com. It’s kind of sad the way the holidays gave gotten so commercialized, don’t you think?

Below is the YouTube link Click it! You KNOW you want to!

Ye Olde Matador YouTube Playliste 12/26/24

Grammar of Life – Charles Bukowski
Breaking Glass – David Bowie
Hells Bells – AC/DC
Spirit – Bauhaus
Smash It Up – the Damned
Fell On Black Days – Soundgarden
I Against I – Bad Brains
Remote Control – the Clash
Fried Chicken and Gasoline – Southern Culture on the Skids
German Days – Iggy Pop
Slip It In – Black Flag
Misty Mountain Hop – Led Zeppelin
In My Eyes – Minor Threat
Fatty Boom Boom – Die Antwoord
Rat Fink – the Misfits
Nature’s Way – Spirit
Duality – Slipknot (request)
Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
Rock of Ages – Def Leppard
Surfin’ Bird – the Trashmen
Too Much Pork for Just One Fork – Southern Culture on the Skids
Big River – Johnny Cash
Up The Junction – Squeeze
Yu-Gung – Einstürzende Neubauten
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
Wicked Garden – Stone Temple Pilots
Jolene (33rpm version) – Dolly Parton
Freedom! ’90 – George Michael
Media Blitz – Germs
Worm Tamer – Grinderman
Little GTO – the Hemingers
Sister Midnight – Iggy Pop
In The City – the Jam
Let Yourself Go – James Brown
There Was A Time – James Brown
I Feel All Right – James Brown
Cold Sweat – James Brown
Down On the Street – the Stooges
Mirame Remix – Blessd, Anuel AA & Ovy (request)
Can’t Just Be Friends – Bad Sports
Zombie Dance – the Cramps
Breathless – Jerry Lee Lewis
Listen to My Heart – the Ramones
Once In A Lifetime- Talking Heads
Que Pasaria – Rauw Alejandro & Bad Bunny
Let My Baby Ride – R.L. Burnside
Where It’s At – Beck
Bohemian Like You – Dandy Warhols
Streets of Bakersfield – Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens
Don’t You Want Me – the Human League
Head On – the Jesus & Mary Chain
Mystery Achievement – the Pretenders
Here Comes Your Man – the Pixies
Papa Was A Rolling Stone – the Temptations
Salad Days – Minor Threat
Give Him A Great Big Kiss – the Shangri-Las
Waterloo Sunset – the Kinks
Future Starts Slow – the Kills
Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Under Pressure – David Bowie & Queen
Paranoid – Black Sabbath (request)
Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order (request)
London Calling – the Clash
In the Meantime – Spacehog
Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode
The Joker – Fatboy Slim
Orgasm Addict – Buzzcocks
Dance to the Music – Sly & the Family Stone
Better Living Through Chemistry – Queens of the Stone Age
Y’all Get Back Now – Big Freedia
Beat On the Brat – the Ramones
Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat
Seven Nation Army – the White Stripes
How Soon Is Now – the Smiths
I Want You Back – the Jackson 5
Stone – Alice in Chains (request)
World Without Tears – Lucinda Williams
Bouna Sera – Louis Prima
Happy Trails – Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
Taxi – Bryan Ferry