some more songs for the holiday

Yesterday I posted videos of nontraditional Christmas songs.

Well, Christmas is over. But Chanukkah lives on! So here are some nontraditional Chanukkah songs. I wanted to include "Cheeseburger Deluxe by the World Famous Blue Jays. But I couldn't find it on Youtube.

Hannukah Rocks -- Gefilte Joe & the Fish

An old classic from Rhino Records. I think this was the B-Side of "Walk on the Kosher Side." Or was that the B-side. I don't recall.

Hannukah is Santa Monica -- Tom Lehrer

It's not really so much a Hannukah song as a pan-Judaic holiday song. Whatever. Oh, I also just learned that Tom Lehrer invented the Jell-O shot.

The Dreidel Song -- from "South Park"

I can't help it...I loved this.

The Channukah Song -- Adam Sandler

I've been torn about whether to include this, since Sandler is kind of uh...not for everyone. Lots of people love him. Lots of people can't frickin' stand him. I'm rare in that I'm kind of in the middle on him. He did a buttload of Channukah Songs, but I believe this is the original. Oh, yeah, he was wrong. Rod Carew is not Jewish.

The Rocky Hora Chanukah Song -- The Shomones

The fact that I'm including this should give you an idea of how slim the pickin's are.

So, since I couldn;t come up with enough appropriate songs to include, I'm going to supplement this list. Jewish holidays seem to all be a bout food. Except Yom Kippur and Tisha B'av which are about no food. So here are some songs about food.

Food -- The Takeaways

Some disposable but fun stuff from Stiff Records. I believe that's Sean Tyla doing a Dylan impression.

Food Glorious Food -- from "Oliver!"

This has a place in my heart, because the Oliver! soundtrack was a part of the soundtrack to my childhood. It -- technically, the soundtrack to the Broadway version -- was one of the half dozen or so records I listened to a lot. Then, years later, my sixth grade class put on a production of Oliver!, and I played Fagin. We also changed some of the lyrics to this song so that everything would be kosher.

Pico De Gallo -- Trout Fishing in America

Arguably the weakest on arguably the best album by TFIA. I was tempted to include "All I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee" from this album, but Pico De Gallo is more of a food song.'

Banana Chips -- Shonen Knife

Shonen Knife did a whole bunch of songs about food. And I was torn between this and "Sushi Bar" from the same album. Tough call. Happy Hour, the album from which this came, is by far their best work.

Cheese and Onions -- The Rutles

From one of the best Beatles parodies ever.

Eat Steak -- The Reverend Horton Heat

I guess The R ev isn't a vegetarian.

Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky -- The Monkees

OK, this was kind of a throwaway track that came right before "Pleasant Valley Sunday."

If Sugar Was as Sweet As You -- Joe Tex

I really know this song through the cover version by Rockpile. And I really prefer the cover, Rockpile being one of my favorite bands and all. But I cose to include this since I could still include...

A Knife and a Fork -- Rockpile

I have no clue how they ended up lip syncing this on a kids' show, but there you have it. And don't they look excited.

I Love Rocky Road -- "Weird Al" Yankovic

Food has been a frequent subject of Al's parodies. And I recall hearing that an artist asked that a parody not  be about food. No idea if that was apocryphal.

Junk Food Junkie by Larry Groce

A clever novelty song



Jambalaya -- Hank Williams

And we close out strong with a country classic.