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seedarklyxeroWelcome to a Holiday Edition of SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies; exploring goth/industrial cover songs in the spirit of the season!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Normally this is the time I would feature a down-tempo track for what I call "Second Sunday Slowly." I'll return to that next month because I'm preempting my format for the next two weeks with goth/industrial covers of holiday hits... so I guess this is "Second Sunday Santa'd!":
Rotersand - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (RoterSanta)
Face it. The idea of Santa Claus is downright disturbing. And maybe in the innocence of youth no one considers it while striving to earn his mythic favor for presents, but once the magic fades and that is no longer your reality, it's hard to dismiss the truly frightening implications of his power. Over generations there have been those that regard Santa's omnipotent surveillance akin to that of an Orwellian Big Brother. And perhaps no song better captures the horror of that imagined power than Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. And that's not even the only dark thing about the song.
As legend tells it, Haven Gillespie wrote the lyrics of the song while grieving over the recent death of his brother. It's possible it would never have been written at all in his state if not for the pleading of his publisher to come up with a holiday song for a then popular Jewish radio host. It's said that in his mourning, Gillespie recalled his childhood with his late brother and how their mother would convince them to behave by telling them that Santa was watching.
So after writing lyrics based on that experience (which might not have been entirely common at the time) and with music composed by his friend, John Coots, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town debuted nationally on a radio broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in 1934.
The first recording of the the song was performed by Harry Reser and his orchestra with vocals provided by Tom Stacks.
The song was a huge success, becoming a traditional standard and has been covered countless times over the years. Unfortunately for Gillespie, despite the enormous royalties he received for every new recording, he would forever associate the song with his brother's death and would attempt to avoid it for the rest of his life. It was, however, quite inescapable given the joy and cheer it gave so many season after season.
Last December, Rotersand's Krischan Wesenberg put out an industrial/electropop demo cover of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, cleverly calling it "RoterSanta"! Little else is known about it and the band claims it will never be released... and yet here it is.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Third Sunday Throwback: A gothic holiday cover from just prior to Y2K.
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I'm spinning twice this week in the Boston area. In the last week of the month I'll spin in western Mass and on New Year's Eve I'll spin in Quincy! Get details from the links available on my website! While you're there, check out the new mix I just uploaded which includes several tracks from this blog and more! ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 06 - Celldweller - Imperial March (John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra)
Nov 29 - Virgins O.R Pigeons - People Are People (Depeche Mode)
Nov 22 - Wäks - Tanz Mit Laibach (Laibach)
Nov 15 - Libitina - Gothic People(Common People) (Pulp)
Nov 08 - Dead When I Found Her - In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
Directory of All DisCOVERies
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Normally this is the time I would feature a down-tempo track for what I call "Second Sunday Slowly." I'll return to that next month because I'm preempting my format for the next two weeks with goth/industrial covers of holiday hits... so I guess this is "Second Sunday Santa'd!":
Rotersand - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (RoterSanta)
Face it. The idea of Santa Claus is downright disturbing. And maybe in the innocence of youth no one considers it while striving to earn his mythic favor for presents, but once the magic fades and that is no longer your reality, it's hard to dismiss the truly frightening implications of his power. Over generations there have been those that regard Santa's omnipotent surveillance akin to that of an Orwellian Big Brother. And perhaps no song better captures the horror of that imagined power than Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. And that's not even the only dark thing about the song.
As legend tells it, Haven Gillespie wrote the lyrics of the song while grieving over the recent death of his brother. It's possible it would never have been written at all in his state if not for the pleading of his publisher to come up with a holiday song for a then popular Jewish radio host. It's said that in his mourning, Gillespie recalled his childhood with his late brother and how their mother would convince them to behave by telling them that Santa was watching.
So after writing lyrics based on that experience (which might not have been entirely common at the time) and with music composed by his friend, John Coots, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town debuted nationally on a radio broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in 1934.
The first recording of the the song was performed by Harry Reser and his orchestra with vocals provided by Tom Stacks.
The song was a huge success, becoming a traditional standard and has been covered countless times over the years. Unfortunately for Gillespie, despite the enormous royalties he received for every new recording, he would forever associate the song with his brother's death and would attempt to avoid it for the rest of his life. It was, however, quite inescapable given the joy and cheer it gave so many season after season.
Last December, Rotersand's Krischan Wesenberg put out an industrial/electropop demo cover of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, cleverly calling it "RoterSanta"! Little else is known about it and the band claims it will never be released... and yet here it is.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Third Sunday Throwback: A gothic holiday cover from just prior to Y2K.
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I'm spinning twice this week in the Boston area. In the last week of the month I'll spin in western Mass and on New Year's Eve I'll spin in Quincy! Get details from the links available on my website! While you're there, check out the new mix I just uploaded which includes several tracks from this blog and more! ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 06 - Celldweller - Imperial March (John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra)
Nov 29 - Virgins O.R Pigeons - People Are People (Depeche Mode)
Nov 22 - Wäks - Tanz Mit Laibach (Laibach)
Nov 15 - Libitina - Gothic People(Common People) (Pulp)
Nov 08 - Dead When I Found Her - In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
Directory of All DisCOVERies