“Sock It to Me Santa”
Not since the 1977 David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” has there been a Christmas collaboration as delightfully wrong as Merry X-Mas Dammit From the Double Down Saloon ($10, available at Zia Records, the Double Down and on iTunes). The 2007 new-classic album includes 17 songs by the dive bar’s mostly local regular performers. There’s such Christmas standards as “Santa Blow Me” by Suite 666, “Imo Shoot Me a Reindeer” by the Clydesdale and “Santa Was a Cross Dressing Nazi” by the Vermin. Traditionalists will enjoy rollicking versions of the classics: “Santa Baby” by the Dirty Panties and “Carol of the Bells/God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” by Thee Swank Bastards. But my favorite is the hilarious “Christmas in Las Vegas” by Richard Cheese.