List Envy

No episode this week due to technical issues. We should be back and podcasting again in a week or so, but if you’re interested in the many and varied problems Mark’s had trying to get the laterst episode up, then have a listen.

Also if you’re curious about how Mark thinks about the show going forwards, stay tuned.

If you’re interested, Mark put this episode together mostly on his iPad. He recorded the audio on the Mac, ‘cos that’s where his posh mic sits, but did all the mixing and editing, and even uploading with show notes, on his iPad. Interesting to no-one.

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Guest

Steve Dawson

Writer (Walliams & Friend, Saturday Night Takeaway, Big School, Dawson Bros Funtime, Mitchell and Webb), Director (Groove Armada, FoD), Host of the Mind Canyon podcast.

Steve Dawson (@SDawsonBros) on Twitter

Dawson Bros.

Comedy writer and performer Steve Dawson gets nerdy — but not really that nerdy — and talks about the culture and stereotypes around the word “geek”. But also there’s lots of stuff with lasers and electronic music.

Steve talks about the book Laughter, by Robert R Provine, which deals with in-group and out-group mentality, why we laugh and who we follow when we’re laughing, which comes into focus when we ask ourselves why certain things are cool to like, and other things just aren’t.

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Steve’s picks

In order of discussion:

Star Wars

This made the top of Steve’s list because… come on. Even if you’ve not seen Star Wars — which you have — you know enough of the basic blocks to get a surface level joke about it. And yet, knowing so much as a character name is seen as being nerdy.

Synthesisers

Would you call Chainsmokers or the Prodigy nerds? For his second pick, Steve considers artists like Liam Howlett and the Eilishes (Billie and her brother) who make music in their bedrooms, and spend more time tweaking oscillators than “getting some fresh air”.

Collecting

There seems to be a delineation between what it’s acceptable to.collect — porcelain pigs, anyone? — and what is nerdy. Steve uses this moment to confess to a certain collection which, upon reflection, hasn’t necessarily stood the test of time.

Comic-Con

Steve’s fairly new to comic book and pop culture conventions, but enjoys the surprising family-appeal aspect. They’re places of inclusion, where people feel a bit more empowered to let their particular freak flags fly.

Knowing how to use technology

We all know the jokes around being the kid who can programme the DVD player — in our day it was the video recorder — but who now doesn’t have a tiny computer in their pocket, with access to all the world’s information? Having one, it seems, is not geeky… but knowing what to do when it goes wrong?

Guest

Alberto Cairo

Knight Chair at the University of Miami. New book: “How Charts Lie” (WW Norton). Previous: “The Truthful Art” (2016). Consultant and freelancer.

Alberto Cairo (@AlbertoCairo) on Twitter

The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization

Mark gets political and data-visual with data visualisation expert, Alberto Cairo.

Alberto has a journalism degree and worked as a graphic designer for many years. He now teaches the subject, and quite literally wrote the book on it. Although a lot of what’s covered in this episode is US-centric, Alberto maintains that the misuse of graphics isn’t a partisan problem linked to whether someone’s in a blue state or a red state, but essentially that the right is guilty of bullshitting.

Bullshit is a word you’ll hear a lot in this episode, and especially refreshing in a Spanish accent. But in this context, it has a very specific meaning, with its roots in a book by Harry Frankfurt.

In Alberto’s latest book, How Charts Lie, he reminds us that “a chart shows only what it shows”, and nothing else.

Advisory

In the discussion around Mark’s fourth pick — about 38 minutes in — Mark and Alberto discuss how the question of abortion is tackled within the US, in order to bias survey answers. They don’t get into the actual topic of abortion obviously, but some of the language around it is a little bald.

Alberto’s picks

In order of discussion:

Choropleth map

This type of map which uses colour to represent data was used especially heavily in the 2016 Trump election campaign, to argue the amount of popular support he had. It was recently brought back out of storage with the tagline “Impeach this”. Here’s a piece from CNN debunking this map.

Manipulation of line charts

In his book, Alberto cites an example of a climate change chart, representing temperature change from 0 to 100℉, and ignoring the impact of a change of a single degree.

Perspective effects

3D charts might look nice, but you can manipulate them very easily based on where you place the virtual camera. Even a subtle shift in perspective can make something look a lot bigger than it is, or heavily emphasise one bar in a chart over another. Alberto’s advice: if you’re showing data on a 2D service like a screen or in print, don’t be tempted by 3D charts.

Projection

Alberto references this tongue-in-cheek article from the New England Journal of Medicine, whose scatterplot graph seemed to suggest that the more chocolate a country ate (kg per year per capita), the more Noel Laureates that country had per 10 million people. The reason the chart is misleading is that it doesn’t go into why a country consumes more chocolate, and why a country has more Nobel laureates than another (since these two things aren’t necessarily actually related at all).

Sourcing of data

Alberto gives an example of a map showing homelessness in Florida, which seems unaccountably high due to that particular state’s definition of homelessness, which demonstrates how important it is to understand where a set of numbers comes from. The numbers in a chart or a graph might be entirely accurate, but it’s the context behind those numbers: how they’re gathered and how they’re interpreted, that can make a difference.

Mark’s picks

In order of discussion:

Omitting the baseline

This particular practise is useful in comparing two percentage.s If there’s a < 2% difference in something, a bar chart whose scale starts at 0 and ends in 100 isn’t going to show that difference, but you zoom in and start from, say, 85%, you can make the difference look much more dramatic.

Distorting the X axis

You might be forgiven for assuming that an X or Y axis in a chart should go up or down in regular intervals: 1, 10, 20, 30, etc. But if that doesn’t suit your case, and you want to emphasise a particular band of numbers, or that particular segment doesn’t fit your argument, turns out you can just omit that data from your axis, and all you need to do is add a little squiggle to the axis to show you’ve made an “edit”.

Using real-world objects as bars in a graph

Similar to Alberto’s point about 3D charts, Mark wanted to bring up the use of real world objects as a replacement for the bars in a bar chart. The sport-based example Mark was reaching for came from a YouTube video on reading misleading graphs.

Reversing the Y axis

Mark brings up a well-known example of a misleading chart on people killed by guns that reverses the Y axis, showing how the number changed once the state enacted its self-defence law. The chart makes it look like gun deaths dropped after the law was enacted, when they in fact did the opposite. And just to prove how influential this kind of tactic can be, Mark gets the meaning of the chart entirely upside down on mic.

Dive deeper

Mark mentioned a move by the Lib Dems in 2019 that raised a few hackles online, which was covered in the Guardian.

More of Alberto Cairo

You can follow Alberto on Twitter, check out his website, and read his blog, The Functional Art.

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Guest

Arielle Nissenblatt

Founder of the Earbuds Podcast Collective, co-creator of the Outlier Podcast Festival, a lover of license plates and roller blading.

EarBuds Podcast Collective

Arielle Nissenblatt (@arithisandthat) | Twitter

Newsletter editor, event organiser and podcast wonder Arielle Nissenblatt joins Mark to discuss an often maligned tuber.

Arielle grew up almost exclusively on potatoes, although she admits her palate has broadened slightly since then. If you ever thought this vegetable (which is not a vegetable, it’s a tuber; we’ve covered this) was boring, prepare to have your mind exploded all the way off.

You’ll also learn some interesting facts about potatoes, so strap in and get ready to carbo-load.

Arielle’s picks

In order of discussion:

Hash browns

Both Arielle and Mark might be getting these and home fries confused, but we’re essentially talking about mashed up bits of potato, fried. Arielle used to have one of these on the bus to school, which proves she won at childhood.

French fries

The French fry is, at least for Americans, perhaps potatoes’ default state. Whether long and skinny, short and nubbly, or curly, it’s all good. The least said about sweet potato fries the better, mostly because they’re not potatoes.

Samosas

The samosa is more a potato delivery mechanism, but a strong one. Mark is also a fan of the flavour of a curried potato, so it’s a strong showing.

Latkes

As if hash browns and home fries weren’t enough, this common Jewish delicacy is another welcome addition to the mashed-up-bits-of-fried-potato roster.

Mark’s picks

In order of discussion:

Roast

The humble roast potato is, believes Mark, a beautiful thing, and who can disagree? It’s hard to beat a fluffy potato filling, surrounded by salt and fat. And if that fat happens to come from a goose, so much the better.

Chips

Not, under any circumstances to be confused with French fries, chips are an important staple in British cuisine. Mark urges Arielle — and by extension, you the listener — to try and lay hands on a potato scallop, because it’s possible your life may not be the same afterwards.

Jacket potato

The jacket — or baked — potato is Mark’s third choice, partially as a delivery mechanism for other flavours, but for Arielle, a delivery mechanism for butter. Rub olive oil and salt into the skin and pop it in the oven for three days. Delicious.

Shepherd’s pie

The mashed potato that serves as the hat for a cottage or shepherd’s pie — Mark preferring the lamb-based option — can be improved by deploying a fork, and sprinkling cheese all over it. Mashed potato didn’t, in its naked form make either list as such, but it’s important that it get a mention, even if it needs a little dressing up.

More of Arielle Nissenblatt

Follow Arielle on Twitter, and check out the Earbuds Podcast Collective, a global listening movement perfect for those among us that love a list.

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Guest

Becky Graham

Co-host of the podcast Your Own Words.

Your Own Words

Mark is joined by one half of the literary podcast Your Own Words, voracious reader and Danish furniture fan, Becky Graham, to swap notes on badass women from the printed page.

A “sincere” apology

The first discussion topic caused both guest and presenter to embark on a number of attempts at Irish accents. These were not successful, and all parties apologise for the inconvenience.

This episode contains a few naughty words (mostly the same word, but said a lot).

Becky’s list

In order of discussion:

Maureen O’Hara

Becky’s first pick is a Hollywood actor who co-wrote and co-starred in The Quiet Man, and was blacklisted for not sleeping with execs in order to get parts. If you take her at her word — and why wouldn’t you? — she also approached Walt Disney with a view to making Mary Poppins with her in the lead role, a proposition which Disney turned down before apparently going off to make it with Julie Andrews. She also owned a fleet of aircraft, so there’s that.

Matilda Wormwood

There’s very little not to like about Matilda, the titular star of Roald Dahl’s children’s story, who taught herself telekinesis and devised ingenious ways to mess with her ignorant family members.

Miss Marple

Not unlike one of Mark’s picks, Marple plays up to others’ perceptions of her as being a doddery old woman, but her keen intellect and self-assuredness invariably wins the day.

Lucy Pevensie

The youngest sibling of the Chronicles of Narnia family is a favourite of Becky’s because of her bravery, kindness, and her unwillingness to be shoved aside.

Elizabeth Bennet

The protagonist of Pride and Prejudice married for love and not for status, and didn’t allow other people to make decisions for her. For Becky, she’s an example of knowing who you are and what you want, which was a rare thing to read as a women in the 19th century, much less to write.

Mark’s picks

In order of discussion:

Lisbeth Salander

Mark’s first pick is a badass with a motorbike, a photographic memory and a head full of code. He was introduced to her via The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and quickly identified with this woman who opted out of social convention but is guided by a strong sense of justice, which she meats out without remorselessly.

Granny Weatherwax

The straight woman in the Discworld double-act that is Weatherwax and Ogg, she is the kind of woman who “has no truck” with things. She also has a mean poker face.

_Artwork by SlowhandManjam _

Arya Stark

One of only a handful of female characters within the Game of Thrones universe with any degree of agency, Arya fights against the perceptions of her gender, and then fights anyone else that’ll take her on.

Clarice Starling

The lead character in The Silence of the Lambs makes Mark’s list as a solid, powerful, human character. Her story is less about surviving in a man’s world, and more about getting the job done and catching the bad guys.

Zoey Ashe

Mark’s final pick is the protagonist from David Wong’s Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, a snarky young woman with a cat called Stink Machine and no time for any of this bullshit.

Artwork by guttersblessing

More of Becky Graham

You can find Becky co-hosting the podcast Your Own Words, with Allison Dunnings, and you can follow them show on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Guest

Sara-Mae Tuson

Writer of young adult novels, producer for a boutique podcast company, copywriter and editor.

Fable Gazers Season 2: Heyer Today

Sara-Mae Tuson (@saramaetuson) | Twitter

Writer and podcaster Sara-Mae Tuson kicks off a double-bill of brilliant women in literature. This week, Mark and Sara-Mae discuss under-appreciated female authors.

Sara-Mae is a writer who’s turned her natural storytelling abilities into podcasting magic. Her previous work, The Sugar Baby Confessionals picked won bronze in the Best Sex and Relationship Podcast at the 2019 British Podcast Awards, and she’s now working on a series all about the life and work of her first pick.

Mark and Sara-Mae discuss the value of being talked up to in literature, the perception of romance in literature, and the industry’s apparent reliance on classifying work, and putting authors and their work in boxes.

Here’s Mark’s appearance on Your Own Words, in which he talked about Grinny by Nicholas Fisk, and a little about Gene Kemp.

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Sara-Mae’s picks

In order of discussion:

Georgette Heyer

Sara-Mae is a fan of the often looked-down-upon genre of regency romance, and considers Heyer to be the gold standard. This Wimbledon-born woman wrote not only romances, but thrillers, with over 50 novels to her name.

Elizabeth von Arnim

Von Arnim makes Sara-Mae’s list thanks to the elegence and insightfulness of her work. She wrote from the late 19th to the early 20th century, was a modern thinker, and at one time the breadwinner.

Mary Stewart

Sara-Mae picked this 20th century thriller and romance novelist for her vivid writing, her scene-setting, and her ability to place ordinary people into difficult situations, allowing them to do extraordinary things.

Barbara Pym

Sara-Mae’s next pick is described as “forever being forgotten, and forever revived”. Another author who derived meaning from the ordinary, Pym was once described as the most underrated writer of the century.

Cynthia Voigt

Voigt’s book The Runner was an eye-opener for Sara-Mae, as it gave her permission to worry less about conforming to society’s expectations.

Nancy Mitford

“Nancy the novelist” was a joint fifth pick for Sara-Mae, who wonders how much her writing would have been informed and affected by her life and her other (in)famous sisters.

Mark’s pick

In order of discussion:

Victoria Wood

Mark picked Wood as his first selection, as her writing work can sometimes go unappreciated. As well as an accomplished songwriter and musician, Wood was a highly successful standup, and through Acorn Antiques, Dinner Ladies and the mockumentaries in As Seen on TV, has created enduring comic characters.

Nicole Perlman

Mark’s second pick is a co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel and Detective Pikachu. As a comic book screenwriter, her name isn’t usually up in lights, hence her addition to Mark’s list.

Gene Kemp

Mark picked this children’s and young-adult writer as a name he fondly remembered from his past, even if he seemed to be unable to recall any of her actual books. Kemp wrote about everyday characters living mundane lives, but brought out the drama through their inner monologues.

Abi Morgan

The creator of the TV show The Hour, and screenwriter for The Iron Lady is Mark’s fourth pick as a writer whose work many of us have enjoyed, especially within the UK, but that we don’t necessarily always attribute to the correct source.

Tamora Pierce

Mark delves further back into his childhood for his final pick, choosing to highlight Tamora Pierce and her Wild Magic book series.

More of Sara-Mae

You can find Sara-Mae’s podcast work under the Fable Gazers banner. Her current series is Heyer Today, tracks the life and work of Georgette Heyer.

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Guest

Ben Smith

He solves the puzzles and bakes the cookies. Co-host of the EuroWhat? podcast.

Ben Smith (@BenMSmith) | Twitter

Thrill to the sounds of podcaster and movie-lover Ben Smith, sharing his top five shlockbusters with Mark Steadman. You won’t believe your ears! List Envy, in select theatres now.

Ben is the co-host of the EuroWhat? podcast with previous guest Mike McComb, and hailing from the same state as Mystery Science Theater 3000 has a keen eye for a film that’s so bad it’s good. But that’s not all the Cannon studio had to offer; some of the work is surprisingly meaningful, if buried under piles of rubble caused by explosions set off by breakdancing ninjas.

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Honourable mentions

Love Streams

Street Smart

Rockula

Masters of the Universe

Spoiler alert

Mark especially is quite liberal with the spoiler sauce in this episode, so if you plan on watching any of these films, just be warned that the element of surprise — at least in terms of plot — might be diminished.

Ben’s picks

In order of discussion:

The Apple

Also known as Star Rock for some reason, The Apple is a 1980 film telling the story of a global Eurovision competition equivalent. It’s a musical turned up to 11.

Breakin’

The film that spawned a thousand spoof sequel titles (yes, this is the one that had the sequel called Electric Boogaloo), Breakin’, from 1984, is the “save the rec center” story told through the medium of breakdancing.

Ninja III: The Domination

This time, the ninja is a woman! In 1984’s Ninja III, the main character is possessed by the spirit of a fallen ninja who must seek to regain his/her honour, sometimes on a golf course.

Invasion USA

This Chuck Norris vehicle from 1985 is essentially why we have Chuck Norris jokes. With Invasion USA, Norris was able to make the jump from karate star to full-on action star. If you only see one movie that destroys a mall in Atlanta this year, make it this one.

Mark’s picks

In order of discussion:

Lifeforce

Mark’s top pick, from 1985, also makes Ben’s list. The film has a good pedigree in both its writer and director, and is a Anglo-American collaboration based on a novel. But perhaps it was the bonkers premise that means it’s been relegated to something close to B-movie status.

House of the Long Shadows

This tongue-in-cheek horror from 1983 is a who’s who of British stars from scary movie days of yore. It’s also set in Wales, so that’s nice.

Runaway Train

This Jon Voight number from 1985 was based on an Akira Kurosawa film that never got off the ground. It’s a tense prison escape movie that turns into an action suspense story with the kind of heroic ending you just don’t see anymore.

Barfly

1987’s Barfly stars Mickey Rourke as a smart writer whose only real ambition is to make enough money from his work to buy the next round. It’s a rare departure into considered drama, for the studio.

More of Ben Smith

Ben is the co-host of the EuroWhat? podcast, and you can follow him on Twitter @benmsmith.

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Guest

Mike Mccomb

Mike has been writing about TV online since 2008, when he started the blog WTF Little House on the Prairie? The blog was a project to practice writing about television analytically prior to getting an MA in Television-Radio-Film from Syracuse University, or as he likes to call it “TV Camp.”

The EuroWhat? Podcast | A Eurovision Song Contest Podcast for Americans

Mike McComb (@Rube_Goldberg) | Twitter

TV writer Mike McComb joins Mark to discuss the bizarre and beautiful magic of this European musical tradition. Enjoy this episode, and don’t forget to have a drink on Terry in song 9.

Mike is a Eurovision aficionado, having come to it via the Sounds Like Teen Spirit documentary. He’s not let being American and thus being geofenced out of most live broadcasts steer him away, as his work on the EuroWhat? podcast will attest.

Get Extra Envy in your inbox

Sign up to the weekly newsletter so you never miss a list, and for some unmissable Eurovision recommendations you won’t get elsewhere.

Mike’s picks

In order of discussion:

Stockholm, 2016

Both Mark and Mike felt that this year’s ceremony was the epitome of everything that’s wonderful about Eurovision, especially the sense of humour.

Copenhagen, 2014

This was Mike’s second pick as it was an iconic year for the contest, seeing Austria’s Conchita Wurst absolutely nail it, and bringing us more memorable and mockable Eurovision moments.

Baku, 2012

Mike appreciated this final from a European education perspective. It gave us the singing grannies, delightfully clunky hosts, and a consistent fan favourite in Euphoria, which was another winning song for Sweden.

Malmö, 2013

This was a surprise entry for Mike, but it snuck in as it was simply a solid year. The opening reintroduced the Parade of Nations, but perhaps the year was marred by a little too much dubstep.

Mark’s picks

In order of discussion:

Düsseldorf, 2011

Mark enjoyed the high level of earnestness from this year’s final, the host’s entertainment appeal, and the songs. For Mike, there was a consistency issue throughout the night, with all the favourites finishing in the first half.

Tel Aviv, 2019

Mark picked the 2019 final for its focus on interesting staging, and because he felt they didn’t try to go overboard with the showbiz sparkle, but instead were quite humble and sweet in places. Iceland’s entry was legit terrifying, though.

Oslo, 2010

Mark thought 2010 was a nice year, and felt it marked the beginning of a transition into the knowing, semi-ironically-detached period the content is now in. It was the first contest where Mike got fully invested, so it has a special place in his heart, too.

More of Mike McComb

Mike is the co-host of the EuroWhat? podcast, and you can follow him on Twitter @rube_goldberg.

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Guest

George Chachanidze

Host of the Snappy-Tech YouTube channel.

Fundraiser by George Chachanidze : George is smartphone-less for a year!

George Chachanidze

Guest

Daz Wright

Every ounce of his being is focussed on discussing video games, cats and the popular music of the day. He live in Moseley in Birmingham.

Daz Wright (@dazwright) | Twitter

Daz Wright

The Christmas season begins with Mark talking to Daz Wright of Moselele, about the best songs to ring in the festivities.

Daz is a musician, and a founder-member of the Birmingham-based ukulele group Moselele. He’s also a big fan of Christmas, and delivered a sack full of joy to the List Envy studio, along with an honest-to-goodness Christmas cracker and actual sleigh bells.

Whamageddon

The pair discuss this real-world survival game. Like many pure things, Whamageddon has been co-opted by the corporate world, so we’ll stick with the original rules rather than those imposed by the Bauer Media corporation, who have attempted to make it their thing recently.

The object is to go as long as possible without hearing the original version of Wham!’s song Last Christmas (you won’t hear that version in this episode, so you’re safe).

It runs from Dec 1st until Christmas eve.

As soon as you recognise the song, that’s it, you’re out, and play resumes for you next year.

If you’re deliberately sabotaged, bad luck, but that’s not the spirit of the game. You’re still out, but the saboteur is a dick.

Honourable mentions

Mel Smith and Kim Wilde — Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Mike Oldfield — In Dulce Jubilo

Pretenders — 2000 Miles

Sia — Puppies are Forever

The Wombles — Wombling Merry Christmas

Bob Dylan — Must be Santa

Eels — Everything’s Gonna be Cool This Christmas

Garry Glitter — Another Rock ’n Roll Christmas

Wizzard — I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday

Daz’s picks

In order of discussion:

Slade — Merry Xmas Everybody

This is, for Daz, a perfect Christmas song, as it falls into one of the main categories: nostalgia, a description of the Christmas day or event, and a shameless emotional trigger… and perhaps it embodies all three.

The Oasis cover Mark refers to was not done for the BBC’s Live Lounge series, but for the NME in a joint venture with the War Child charity.

Elton John — Step into Christmas

A late addition to Daz’s list, Step into Christmas is nothing if not meta, opening with the line “welcome to my Christmas song”. Daz calls it shameless, but you can be the judge.

Wham! — Last Christmas

You were promised that your ears would remain a Wham!-free zone, so the demonstrative track for this segment is brought to you by courtesy of the Crazy Frog (who still has 6.5 million YouTube subscribers). Daz enjoys that Last Christmas embodies the spirit of the day (as per his third category of Christmas song success).

Mariah Carey — All I Want for Christmas is You

Despite Daz describing Mariah’s vocal opening as “warbling nonsense”, he enjoys the chunka-chunka piano that follows… and frankly, who doesn’t? This easily satisfies the “emotional trigger” item of Daz’s Christmas song checklist, and who among us doesn’t want to be wholly owned by a quasi-religious semi-fictional wizard?

The Weather Girls – Dear Santa, Bring Me a Man this Christmas (Part 1)

Following on from, and largely borrowing from the success of It’s Raining Men, Dear Santa, Bring Me a Man this Christmas (Part 1) is pretty much the same song, but festive. If you haven’t watched the video, now’s your chance.

Mark’s picks

In order of discussion:

Greg Lake — I Believe in Father Christmas

Mark enjoys this quiet and conemplative ballad, that Daz describes as one of the more musically interesting festive offerings. But sadly, the line “the Christmas we get, we deserve” was not enough to make it Christmas #1, which ended up that year being Queen.

The Waitresses — Christmas Wrapping

Mark feels there is a “Dickens quality” to this story song (to be fair, it does start with the line “Bah humbug”), about loneliness and romance, leading to a joyful and merry Christmas day.

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale of New York

Anyone who’s offended by the lyrics towards the end of this song has our axe, and there’s an argument to be had around the specific meaning of the word in that time and context, but for now, let’s focus on the fact that it’s a winter banger, and a wonderful piece of Christmas melancholia.

Johnny Mathis — When a Child is Born

It took eight songs before the pair got to one that actually described the li’l baby Jesus, but here we are. It’s.a crooner’s song, and pretty sappy, but it does fall squarely in that mid-70s bracket that seems to categorise Christmas songs.

Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews - Baby It’s Cold Outside

If you’re offended by any of the lyrics in this song, you’re a child and you don’t know what grown-up words mean (sometimes two consenting adults can do something naughty and that’s OK). Mark gravely prefers the cover over the original as he believes it packs more personality and fun.

More of Daz Wright

Join Moselele twice a month at the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, Birmingham, to play popular songs of the day. And be sure to join them on Sunday December 22nd where they’ll be singing Christmas songs in the beer garden of said pub. Mark will be there, and we hope you will too. You can also follow Daz on Twitter.

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