This blog has gained many new readers since I first posted my Spiked Candy Canes mixes in 2005, so I thought I'd share them again for anyone who missed out the first time around. Hopefully they'll give you an idea of the abundance of lesser-known but fun, interesting, weird or sometimes beautiful Christmas songs that are out there, and maybe introduce you to some artists you haven't heard before. If you're looking for more info and links to purchase anything that's still in print, have a look through the December 2005 and the December 2006 archives.

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Before I bring you Part Deux of Swinging Mademoiselle, I'm going to briefly interrupt with my Halloween special, to ensure these tasty, eerie delights reach your goodie bags in time. We certainly can't miss Halloween! After all, Spiked Candy owes its name to those scary tales of unsuspecting trick-or-treaters receiving a dose of deadly poison in their sweet treats. Apparently these are nothing more than tales: "The number of kids confirmed to have been critically injured by spiked Halloween candy is ... zero" (The Halloween Scare). So while thankfully the grisly act of spiking candy is only a myth, fear not: Spiked Candy, the blog, is very real. Don't believe me? Blast these spook-themed tunes until your ears tingle, just to be sure. Ladies first:

Once again a huge thank you to Carl for sending this one my way! 'Mon joli vampire' is the B-side to 'Herald Tribune', posted here. This seems to be it for all the Jany L. songs ever released, so now you have the complete ultra-rare set! It's in a similar vein to her other tracks, with her rather sensuous voice offset by sweet, tinkly instrumentation. Listen to that catchy toy piano riff that owes more than a little to the Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning'.

Also in the waaay-too-cute-to-be-at-all-scary category:

There's an interesting debate going on under the video for France Gall's 'Les Sucettes' on YouTube (Archived comments here). You can read my thoughts on the matter in my comments on the page. Or in a nutshell: I find it puzzling that it's such a stretch for many to believe France Gall really didn't understand the double entendre of the song's lyrics. It seems easily forgotten that automatic innuendo-scanning is a more recently-acquired cultural habit. I'm sorry to burst the bubbles of those who clearly are enjoying their fantasy that a wholesome, innocent young singer of the era was knowingly and happily singing something naughty. Yep, file under 'people who want it all'.

Go here to download the clip. Thanks once again to Will for this.

Icrojy points out that "teenagers in France were then far less informed than nowadays. I was myself very surprised as I was told the hidden meaning of that song as I was 20 or so. I had sung it as a little boy and then as a teenager without noticing anything."

He mentions that Lio suffered a similar humiliation with her 1980 hit 'Le Banana Split':

Lio makes the comparison herself in this 1983 interview. (Video now gone, and I can't find another copy).

And to tie it all in together:

From the otherwise dreadful tribute CD, Ils Chantent Serge Gainsbourg (1998).

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1. Claudine Longet - Snow (1967)
2. Dressy Bessy - All the Right Reasons (1999)
3. Deerhoof - Xmas Tree (2001)
4. Antena - Noëlle à Hawaï (1982)
5. Peggy Lee - The Christmas Spell (1949)
6. Stina Nordenstam - Soon After Christmas (1991)
7. The Diskettes - Noel (2004)
8. The Gems - Love For Christmas (1964)
9. The Kinks - Father Christmas (1977)
10. The Knife - Christmas Reindeer (2005)
11. The Pipettes - In The Bleak Midwinter (2004)
12. The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas (1965)

A Christmas package for all my lovely readers.
Thanks to Ion for the idea for the title!

OK, I have bandwidth to burn now, so time to go nuts on the Eurovision stuff.

First up, the song mentioned in the comments on my last post:

Louis Neefs - Jennifer Jennings (Belgium 1969)

Quite a good little crooner number, this song is listed as having placed 9th, but 4th place is more accurate. Only 3 songs scored higher than this one, but there was a four-way tie for first place, and a tie between this and Monaco's entry. There are a few hidden unknown gems like this in the Eurovision back catalogue, it seems, but it takes wading through some serious crap to discover them, so thanks Bruno for suggesting this one. 

Louis Neefs bio here. He even made it onto a postage stamp.

Greek singer Vicky Leandros first competed for Luxembourg (yes, this contest confuses me too) in 1967, aged just fourteen. 'L'Amour Est Bleu' came fourth that year, and kicked off her singing career. The song was written by Pierre Cour and André Popp, the team who also wrote 1960's winning song (for France) 'Tom Pillibi', performed by Jacqueline Boyer - currently up on the wonderful Paradise Garden (thanks Mordi). Check out Space Age Pop's guide to Popp's career here. He also did the music for the film Tintin and the Golden Fleece, which is supposedly a pretty cool soundtrack (I haven't heard it) and yes, of course I have to mention he co-wrote two stunning France Gall songs, 'Deux Oiseaux' and 'Les Rubans Et La Fleur'.