Five Villains I'd Like To See Face The Batman

After seeing Barry Keoghan become the fifth or so person (depending on whether you count the 1960s films) to portray the Joker on the big screen, I was kind of disappointed. I think the character needs a rest. Who knows when he will actually show up again though. Anyway, it got me thinking about Batman's rogues gallery, and DC's rogues gallery in general, and at who might be a potential alternative choice to more of the Clown Prince of Crime. Also, some comic book recommendations!

KILLER CROC

Art by Jim Lee

Created By: Gerry Conway (writer) and Gene Colan (artist) with his first full appearance in Detective Comics # 524 (1983).

Character Bio: Waylon Jones was originally a side-show wrestler who suffers from a condition that eventually gave him a crocodile-like appearance. This drove him insane and he adopted the name "Killer Croc" and turned to a life of crime. He has gradually gotten more savage over time

My Opinion: I'm actually pretty surprised that he hasn't shown up in a Batman movie before now even as a secondary villain. Maybe some other villain is using him. I'm thinking of something similar to Batman: Hush. You could use Jim Lee's roided up version from that storyline or maybe Penguin has the trench-coat version as a bouncer or muscle. Or with Poison Ivy (more on her later) as there's the nature connection. The character has potential whatever way you use him. I liked Suicide Squad (yeah I was one of the people) but didn't really that version of Croc. They got some parts right though.

Recommended Reading: Batman #608 - 619 (Batman: Hush), Batman: Reptilian #1 - 6

THE MAD HATTER

Created By: Bill Finger (writer) and Lew Sayre Schwartz (artist) with his first appearance being in Batman # 49 (1948).

Character Bio: Inspired by the Alice In Wonderland character, Jervis Tetch is a scientist who invents and uses mind control devices to influence and manipulate the minds of his victims.

My Opinion: I know some people may consider this is a strange choice and I must admit it is entirely inspired by one mini-series Secret Six: Six Degrees of Devastation, written by Gail Simone, with Bradley Walker, Karl Kerschl and Jimmy Palmiotti on art. Gail works magic on minor villains so when she gets one of the better known ones it is very often a sight to behold. In the story, she goes into why he is the way he is and in doing so makes him even creepier and shows that he is possibly the MOST underrated Bat Villain. 

Recommended Reading: Secret Six (vol.2)  #1 - 6 (Six Degrees of Devastation), Secret Six (vol. 3) # 1 - 7.

POISON IVY

Art by Jim Lee

Created by: Robert Kanigher (writer) and Sheldon Moldoff (artist) with her first appearance being in Batman #181 (1966).

Character Bio: Dr. Pamela Isleyis a botanist and biochemist who possesses a poisonous touch, enhanced physical abilities, and a supernatural control over plant life. She uses for the purposes of ecoterrorism. 

My Opinion: Cheating with this one but Batman has a pretty low number of female villains to choose from. Catwoman has been done a lot with four (?) different actresses on the big screen. Talia Al Ghul has appeared recently enough. The obvious choice, to me, is Pamela Isley. Her last appearance was 25 years ago in 1997's Batman & Robin. Ugh. Even before even researching this, I thought of that appearance and that I kind of wanted to see a new version of Ivy. Her status an ecoterrorist is timely with Climate Change being a hot topic. Plus there's her romantic relationship with Harley Quinn in the comics and animated appearances.

Recommended Reading: Batman #608 - 619 (Batman: Hush), Gotham Sirens, any book that has Harley and Ivy in the title lol.

PROFESSOR PYG

Art by Mitch Gerard

Created by: Grant Morrison (writer) and Andy Kubert (artist) with his first appearance being in Batman #666 (2007).

Character bio: Pyg is Lazlo Valentin, a scientist who suffered a schizophrenic breakdown that led him to become a supervillain that wears a pig mask.

My Opinion: I wanted to look at some "newer" villains and, actually, this guy would be a very good replacement for the Joker. He even has a gang of underlings called the Circus of Crime. He's also a favourite of mine. Morrison intended Pyg to seem disconnected from reality, seeing him as the "weirdest, most insane" characters in Batman's rogue gallery.

Recommended Reading: Batman and Robin # 1 -3, Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes!, Batman (vol. 3) # 62.

CHESHIRE

Art by J.G. Jones

Created By: Marv Wolfman (writer) and George Pérez (artist) with her first appearance being in New Teen Titans Annual #2 (1983).

Character Bio: Jade Nguyen is a French-Vietnamese mercenary, expert fighter and is known for her knowledge of poisons. 

My Opinion: I decided to go for a villain outside of Batman's rogues gallery for my final choice. At first, I thought of using Lex Luthor but he is as over-exposed as the Joker in my opinion. So, once again, Secret Six influences my choice as I first became aware of the Cheshire character in Villains United as part of that team. (Gail Simone had previously used her in Birds of Prey but I read that after). She's an expert at deception and she has a name that makes you think of a cat (so brings to mind Catwoman). Also, she could probably take Batman in a fight or at least give him a good one. It's a bonus that she, being a woman, fills a gap I pointed out in Batman's villain list. It'd also be nice to see an Asian villain on screen.

Recommended Reading: New Teen Titans Annual #2, Birds of Prey #63 - 67, Villains United #1 - 6

Five DC Black Label Books I'd Like To See

 I've been a big fan of a number of the DC Black Label books. They remind me of Marvel MAX. Creators can take beloved characters and do different things with them as they are not (at least I don't think) set in the DC proper. This means they don't break one of the rules, which I think creators should largely follow, with rare exceptions, in that they should put the toys back the way they found them. Someone can remind me who to attribute the quote, I'm paraphrasing, to. Anyway, one of things I enjoy doing is "fantasy booking" so I've decided to come up with 5 Black Label books I'd like to see.

SECRET SIX / JOKER'S SIX / RIDDLER'S SIX

Declan Shalvey (a) Gail Simone (w)

Yeah I know Gail has done a long run on Secret Six but I LOVE that series SO much. Also, I kind of want to see what she would do if she could pick a new Six from any villain on the DC books. She did wonders with Bane so I'd like to see her work on say Riddler's Six or Joker's Six and what crazy reason they have for creating a team. Also, if you read Gail's creator-owned books like Leaving Megalopolis (with Jim Calafiore) and Clean Room (with John-Davis Hunt), you know she can go to a darker place.

I picked Declan Shalvey as I love his work. I know he is busy with creator-owned work like Time Before Time and Old Dog but I'd hope he could fit in a short series or one-shot. Also, he can draw some creepy stuff. I think of some of the things in his Moon Knight run and a particularly creepy villain from his Venom run.

THE HAUNTED TANK

PJ Holden (a) Jimmy Palmiotti (w)

PJ Holden may hate me for wanting him to do another war book but nobody can deny that he is very good at them. I'd hope that the "haunted" aspect would allow him to go in a bit of a different direction or maybe the angle would intrigue him.

Jimmy Palmiotti has moved into doing a lot of Kickstarters as it allows him (and his co-creators) the freedom to go in a more adult direction as he believes that there is an audience for that (the success of his campaigns seems to bear that out and I've backed a lot of them). The title of his book Sex & Violence sort of says it all. The Haunted Tank seems like the quirky kind of book that Jimmy could do some fun stuff with. If I was the editor, I would just say "Have at it!"

HELLBLAZER / CONSTANTINE

Donna A. Black (a) Maura McHugh (w)

Donna A. Black has a style that screams emotion and darkness and horror to me. There's a psychology to it that feels like would suit the world of John Constantine. I can only imagine that physical horrors she could create for him to face or how she could show the things the haunt his mind.

Maura McHugh is known for her horror writing and she has done some great stuff with Judge Anderson. I feel there is some crossover with these characters in what they face in their lives. Also, with two Irish creatives involved, could we see John face the Sidhe or some Irish horror? It would be fun to see something authentically Irish go after him. The titles "Irish Eyes" just popped into my head.

HAWKMAN / HAWKWORLD / HAWKUNIVERSE

Cian Tormey (a) Michael Carroll (w)

Michael Carroll's writing experience on Judge Dredd and more recently on Proteus Vex means that he suitably qualified to take this book in a several directions: the cop / detective style of Hawkworld series I love or a grand space opera. Indeed, his superhero book series, the New Heroes / Quantum Prophecy series, shows he how well he does superhero stories too. All these works also show he can go in a darker direction too. I'd be interested to see what Hawkman he would want to do.

Cian Tormey has really made his name for himself and he recently signed an exclusive with DC Comics. Everyone can see his superhero skills quite plainly on Superman but he has also done some darker stories with the likes of Doctor Doom in The Darkhold. I'd be curious to see what he would do with Hawkman and what he and Mike would come up with together.

THE DEMON / BLOOD OF THE DEMON

John McCrea (a) Garth Ennis (w)

I know we've seen this before but, in my experience, if you let Garth Ennis be Garth Ennis (e.g. Punisher MAX and Batman: Reptilian), you get some really dark, interesting and entertaining books. Pushing the Demon into darker areas seems like a way to make that happen. Being Garth Ennis, I'd imagine he might pull in some quirky, obscure characters from the darker side of the DC Universe.

John McCrea did some great work on The Demon but I think it would be cool to see what he would do with the gloves off. His many collaborations with Ennis show that his art really meshes with Garth Ennis' dark sense of human and I can only imagine the kind of characters they could cook up. Or who else might show up from their previous collaborations. 

Big Finish Favourites: Historical Figures

 I have been wanting to do some pieces about Big Finish audios as such a big fan of their work. This one was inspired by my listening to a recent audio Harry Houdini's War and looking at some of my favourite audios featuring historical figures. I had fun looking back through my downloads to find some appropriate audio stories. I remembered the Mary Shelley stories but had forgotten about 100 which features my favourite audio companion. Anyway, here are my three picks:

100

Publisher's Summary:

Times, dates, numbers, anniversaries... They are all essential ingredients of the Doctor's seemingly infinite travels. Here, he emerges from the TARDIS to embark upon four separate adventures, all of them fundamentally connected by the concept of '100'. He meets Mozart, visits ancient Rome, goes to a funeral and spies on himself.

Sometimes, a Time Lord's life can be quite hectic.

Four one-part stories:

1. 100 BC by Jacqueline Rayner

The Doctor and Evelyn arrive in Rome, 101 BC, approximately, October. They meet a young lady of 19, Aurelia. She mentions her husband - Julius Caesar. Evelyn is excited, but her excitement soon turns to confusion. Surely you can't heal a wound in time with just a bit of sticking plaster?

2. My Own Private Wolfgang by Robert Shearman

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Born in 1756, a veritable wunderkind - playing music for the crowned heads of Europe as an infant, composing by the time he was five years old. But it's tempting to wonder whether his amazing longevity has overshadowed his creative genius - would Mozart's music be better respected, maybe, if he'd died as a young man? Would he be a legend of music, rather than of scientific curiosity, if he'd never lived to compose the film score for the remake of The Italian Job?

3. Bedtime Story by Joseph Lidster

Once upon a time...

Jacob Williams is going to tell the tale of Sleeping Beauty but he realises he has told that one too many times so, instead, tells of how he once met this man called the Doctor...

It's a tale of love and death and a family with a terrifying secret...

4. The 100 Days of the Doctor By Paul Cornell

Someone has assassinated the Doctor.

And he only has 100 days to find out who did it.

My Review:

This anthology (as mentioned) is full of stories based on number 100 to celebrate the 100th story in the Doctor Who Main Range. All feature the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and my favourite audio companion, Dr. Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables), For the purpose of this theme, we should look at the first two stories. The first one, 100 BC, is a fun story with Evelyn and the Doctor going to meet Julius Caesar. Kind of. It shows how Evelyn is willing to stand up to and overrule The Doctor and, in my opinion, establishes their relationship enough that you don't need prior knowledge (but I would recommend listening to all her stories). The one I really enjoy is My Own Private Wolfgang. It is just a fun, silly concept. How a long lived Mozart has ruined his legacy by doing things like film scores. I also like the title. 

The Silver Turk

Publisher's Summary:

Roll up! Roll up! To the great Viennese Exposition, where showman Stahlbaum will show you his most wonderful creation, the Silver Turk — a mechanical marvel that will not only play for you the fortepiano, the spinet and the flute, it will play you at the gaming table too!

But when the Doctor brings his new travelling companion Mary Shelley to nineteenth-century Vienna, he soon identifies the incredible Turk as one of his deadliest enemies — a part-machine Cyberman.

And that's not even the worst of the horrors at large in the city...

My Review:

Of all the Doctors who could have could have Mary Shelley (Julie Cox) as a companion, I think the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) is the best suited. Especially early in his adventures. She joined him in the audio Mary's Story (not necessary to listen to to enjoy this one) and goes on some adventures (we get to hear three of them). The Silver Turk is the first one and I enjoyed it as it has elements that are similar to Frankenstein and it stars one of Doctor Who's best villains a Cyberman. All of the adventures have an appropriate tone for a story starring Mary Shelley and are worth listening to. I don't think you need any prior Eighth Doctor experience to enjoy them either.

Harry Houdini's War

Publisher's Summary:

The world is at war, and Harry Houdini wants to fight for his adoptive country. He might get the chance, when an old friend crashes his New York show.

The Doctor is on the trail of a Central Powers spy ring, which has somehow acquired unearthly technology. But he is also keeping a dangerous secret…

Finding himself on the run behind enemy lines, the world’s greatest escape artist has to work out who he can trust – and fast.

My Review:

I wanted to listen this one ever since I first saw the title. Houdini (John Schwab) is such an interesting person and, as established fans would know, has been referenced a number of times by the Doctor on the TV show. This is a Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) so is easy to pick up from the TV show. The Doctor needs Houdini's help with a Central Powers spy ring but, as is common with the Doctor, he's keeping something to himself. I think John Schwab does a great job. You instantly feel that Houdini has a rapport with the Doctor (they've met before). Some fun references for fans.

Not The Music One, Looking At X-Factor

I had thought about tackling the X-men books for my latest volume analysis. However, even sticking with the main team books, looks like a pretty big task. What even constitutes a main X-men book? Does Uncanny Avengers count? Anyway, I was reminded recently how much I like books that are off in their own little corner. So I decided to do an analysis on one of those: X-Factor. It started off as a main book with the original X-men reuniting after the return of Jean Grey. Once it got to the government team (starting with Peter David, in my opinion, the best X-Factor writer), it started mostly doing its own thing.

• X-Factor, vol. 1, #1-149, Annual 1 - 9 (February 1986 - September 1998). #1 - 70 is the original X-men (Angel (later Archangel), Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl), #71 onwards is the government team (starts with Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Quicksilver, Strong Guy, Valerie Cooper and Wolfsbane). The book took a four month break in 1995 (between issues #111 and #112) for the Age Of Apocalypse crossover book "Factor X". Issue #-1 was published between issues #135 and #136

• Mutant X #1-32, Annual 1999 - 2001 (October 1998 - June 2001). Continues Havok's story from X-Factor as he gets thrown into an alternate reality where he joins the Six: Fallen (a version of Angel), Brute (a version of Beast), Marvel Woman (Madelyne Pryor), Bloodstorm (a version of Storm), and Ice-Man.

• X-Factor, vol. 2, #1-4 (June 2002 - October 2002). Mini-series. 

• X-Factor, vol. 3 #1-50, 200 - 262 (January 2006 - November 2013). Coming after the events of House Of M. X-Factor Investigates agency led by Jamie Maddox. Peter David puts a noir spin on the series. Starts with Multiple Man, Strong Guy, M, Wolfsbane, Rictor, Siryn and Layla Miller.

• All-New X-Factor, #1-20 (March 2014 - March 2015). All-New Marvel NOW! Peter David again. Art by Carmine Di Giandomenico. A corporate-sponsored team. Polaris, Quicksilver, Gambit, Danger, Cypher and Warlock. 

• X-Factor, vol. 4, #1-10 (July 2020 - June 2021). Part of Dawn of X. Leah Williams writes it. They investigate all mutant deaths. The initial cast comprised Daken, Eye-Boy, Northstar, Polaris, Prestige, and Prodigy.

• X-men Legends, #5-6 (July 2021 - August 2021). Peter David and Todd Nuack revisit X-Factor for a story that takes place between X-Factor, vol. 1 #75 and #76. 

As a general rule, Peter David's stuff is what to look at. Both his original run and the newer stuff. The newer noir stuff did great things with some new cast members. In addition to older members Guido, Wolfsbane and Multiple Man (as team leader), the series did great things with Siryn, M and Rictor. Along with the intriguing new character Layla Miller.

The exception to the Peter David rule is Howard Mackie's Mutant X which is a fun alternative timeline romp.  Havok gets blasted into a reality where he leads a team called The Six. The team is made up of Marvel Woman (Madeline Prior), a vampire Storm called Bloodstorm, a nastier Angel called the Fallen, an Ice-man still affected by Loki's curse and a more deformed Beast called Brute.

Personal Picks Episode Nineteen - Selection Box

So the last playlist is basically a bunch of different songs that I like that I will probably not be able to find a subject to fit into. As it is the festive season and your house may still have some, I'm calling it "Selection Box". For the topic I'm going to go for my 2021 picks in a few different areas.

Theme: 2021 Selections

TV: I'm going to have to go with It's A Sin. It took me several months to work up to watching it. I knew it was going to be a tear jerker and it was. Great acting and an important reminder about a terrible time in history that needs to be remembered. Also:

• Doctor Who: The Flux

• Special Season 2

• Doom Patrol Season 3

• Squid Game

Movies: From pure emotional reaction, I'm gonna have to go with Spider-man: No Way Home. No spoilers. It just hit my geek buttons.

• The Suicide Squad

• Shame // Less

• No Straight Lines

• The French Dispatch

Comics: The one series that really impacted my brain was Crossover. I'll say this: comic book fans will get so much out of it.

• Someone Robbed My Private Parts 
• Strange Adventures
• Marauders
• Doctor Who

The Songs

We start off with an Indy group from Dublin that you probably haven't heard of (they are no longer together but check out their stuff on Spotify and the music video for this song on YouTube). I picked a Dusty Springfield tune from the era where she was working with the Pet Shop Boys. I believe it was used for a TV show. The Amy Winehouse song feels like the cover of an older song. That's why I like it. I picked my favourite Arcade Fire song. One of my favourite Gorillaz songs is next. My favourite one is not on Spotify. In fact, the entire album is missing. They made it while they were on tour. An 80s band I somehow missed in the 80s is Alphaville. (Superfan and superfriend of mine, Michael Carroll, introduced me to their music) I picked my favourite of theirs. My Dylan favourite changes a lot but Abandoned Love is usually up there. In typical Dylan fashion, this gem was left off Desire so never appeared on a proper album. It appears on the excellent Side Tracks collection. A sad one next. One of Stephen Gately's last contributions to Boyzone (the video is quite emotional). The lyrics are quite poignant. I'm a big fan of soundtracks and the Scott Pilgrim movie so had to pick a song from that. I'm gonna cheat and add another Dylan song. One of his great longer songs. It is influenced by the movie The Gunfighter. Appropriately enough, the star Gregory Peck presented Dylan with an award years later and referenced the song.

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Sad Song - Junah

2. In Private - Dusty Springfield

3. Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse

4. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire

5. To Binge - Gorillaz, Little Dragon

6. Sounds Like A Melody - Alphaville

7. Abandoned Love - Bob Dylan

8. Gave It All Away - Boyzone

9. It's Getting Boring By The Sea - Blood Red Shoes

10. Brownsville Girl - Bob Dylan

Bonus: My favourite Gorillaz tune

Personal Picks Episode Eighteen - Just One More Thing

Columbo with his dog. Art by Bill Sienkiewicz.

 

Another playlist so soon?! I know. I thought I'd fit one between the Chrimbo one and a new New Year's one I'm working on now. As in all honesty, I've had some of these playlists created ages ago and have just been too lazy to work up a post. Also, as I said in my previous post, I wanted there to be more to the posts.

The Theme: Questions

Some of you might have noticed that the playlist name references an oft used phrase of Lieutenant Columbo . I chose that because the playlist are songs that all have a question for a title (inspired, as I often am, by an episode of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour) and who asks a lot of questions? 

So I thought I'd give you my top 5 TV detectives as my discussion for this playlist. 

The definitive Miss Marple (Joan Hickson) meets the definitive Poirot (David Suchet)

1) Hercule Poirot (David Suchet)

There's a lot to like about Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989 - 2013) but it all centres around David Suchet's wonderful performance as the Belgian detective. The series ended up adapting all the major literary works, ending with an adaptation of Curtain, the final Poirot novel.

2) Lieutenant Frank Columbo (Peter Falk)

The unique storytelling structure (seeing the crime and the perpetrator at the beginning) is a unique selling point but Peter Falk's Columbo often irritating the offender and playing the buffoon before hitting them with a "Just One More Thing" is what entertains me. It actually reminds more of Crime and Punishment, a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. The offenders aren't racked with guilt so much as worried they'll get caught. He's outsmarted famous folk from Leonard Nimoy to Billy Connolly. 

3) Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury)

Probably the one I've watched the most. Angela Lansbury is a wonderful actress from Academy Award nominated roles in The Manchurian Candidate (she was robbed) to Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast. She will probably be most remembered for Murder, She Wrote. The crime writer turned detective comes across as an amiable older relative but is razor sharp and is a tough cookie to boot. Another one where you'll spot some stars including likes of the future Captain Janeway, Kate Mulgrew, and Leslie Nielson. Not just as the villains though.

4) Jane Marple (Joan Hickson)

From 1984 to 1992, the BBC adapted all the original Agatha Christie novels with Joan Hickson in the title role. She is seen by many, myself included, as the definitive Marple. Indeed, Agatha Christie, having seen her perform in one of her plays in 1940, wrote her a note saying "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple"

5) Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths)

I watched a lot of these detective shows with my mum. Another thing we used to watch was cooking shows. Pie In The Sky mixes these two together a bit. All DI Henry Crabbe wants to do is retire to cook in his restaurant but his superior wants to keep him around to make him look good. Richard Griffiths plays another likeable detective who tries to fit some cooking in and the food looks wonderful. 

The Songs

I used the Google machine to find question songs to help the "little grey cells" remember some favourites. The playlist features some personal favourite artists. Pet Shop Boys are joined by Dusty Springfield on a song that helped revive her career. Former Beautiful South members Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott reunite and remind you of the old days. R.E.M.'s song with a title inspired by someone beating up journalist Dan Rather. ABBA 's song appeared in the Mamma Mia movie sequel so I may have picked that up from there. An 80s classic from Culture Club is included. The remainder are ones that are mostly tunes that I discovered through my life that I enjoy. One is from a gas advert featuring a dog, a cat and a mouse. See if you recall that after listening. Speaking of mice, there's a little bit of cheese included. 

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. What Have I Done To Deserve This? - Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield 

2. What Have We Become - Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbott

3. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? - R.E.M.

4. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted - Jimmy Ruffin

5. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles

6. Where Did Our Love Go - The Supremes

7. Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) - Peter Sarstedt

8. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me - Culture Club

9. What's Up? - 4 Non Blondes

10. Why Did It Have To Be Me? - ABBA

Recommendations:

Maybe a nice detective show or House. I count House as a detective show of sorts.

Personal Picks Episode Seventeen - We Need A Little Christmas

 

It's been quite a while since I posted one of these playlists. The reason being was I wanted to put more into them by adding a theme to discuss and going into the song choices a bit more. I'm hoping to get back into the rhythm as I really enjoyed putting this together. 

The Theme: Christmas

As for the theme, it is around the 14th December when I post this and this is my family's official date for starting the festive season (it's my sister's birthday). I was just going to post the link to last year's playlist but then felt like challenging myself to find new songs and not ones that are played on the radio often (if at all).  

The Songs

The list starts off mellow and then moves into the cheesey area so the song order is deliberate. I picked Sarah McLachlan and Kacey Musgraves because I like their voices and the songs are good. Musgraves I discovered through her collaboration with Troye Sivan so gave the song a listen when I saw her name. As I mentioned, one overall idea was picking covers / different versions of songs so as to be different from the usual radio picks. I like the songs Mistletoe and Wine and Stay Another Day (Stay Another Day only qualifies as it is a Christmas Number One but there isn't anything Christmasy about it). Anyway, I just looked to see if other artists had covered them. Delighted that Kylie had covered Stay Another Day (as part of a special edition of her Kylie Christmas album). I really like the songs Hard Candy Christmas and We Need A Little Christmas. I discovered both from creating last year's playlist so similarly looked to see if they were covered by other people. Happily, they were covered by two artists I enjoy, Cyndi Lauper and Sufjan Stevens. Both artists are back from last year. Stevens' song is from a different Christmas album than I picked from last year (Silver & Gold). Yes he's done more than one. Do You Hear What I Hear? appears as it was in the first Gremlins movie, which is unquestionably a Christmas movie. Moving to the cheese portion. Buck Owens' tune from my All Across America playlist was a lot of fun so I looked to see if he had any Christmas ones. He also has an entire album (Christmas With Buck Owens). I picked the one that was the most fun. Last year, I discovered Hanson, of MMMBop fame, also had a Christmas album, Snowed In, but I couldn't fit them in so I picked my favourite tune off of it for this year. Finally, Must Be Santa. Kinda funny family thing. My mum likes Bryan Adams and my dad likes Bob Dylan so here is Bryan doing a song that Bob did. (Bryan has a Christmas EP called Christmas EP and Dylan has an album called Christmas In The Heart). How may people have Christmas albums now? There must be money in it.

The playlist  (You can check out this playlist on Spotify).

1. Wintersong - Sarah McLachlan 

2. Christmas Makes Me Cry - Kacey Musgraves

3. Mistletoe and Wine - Michael Ball, Alfie Boe

4. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Johnny Mathis

5. Stay Another Day - Kylie Minogue

6. Hard Candy Christmas - Cyndi Lauper, Alison Krauss

7. We Need A Little Christmas - Sufjan Stevens 

8. Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy (Daddy Looked A Lot Like Him) - Buck Owens

9. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Hanson

10. Must Be Santa - Bryan Adams

Recommendations:

Gremlins.