What begins as a pretty ordinary cover, quickly turns into magic as Pham Xuan Thang manages to meld the #1 and #2 UK Christmas songs from 1984. That’s right, “Do They Know It’s Christmas” follows “Last Christmas” and then gives way to “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) followed by…well…you’ll have to find out.

I wish we knew more about Pham Xuan Thang and his future medley plans, but the internet has failed us. All we can find is this set of holiday tracks on Imeem and his only photo comes via Spiderman 3. Huh?

Pham Xuan Thang – Last Christmas Medley


I hate to admit my lack of hip hop knowledge, but I don’t know what Run DMC track has been smushed with Wham! to bring us this track. Worse, I have no idea who smushed them. But I like it.

Wham! vs. Run DMC – Last Christmas


We couldn’t find info on Olission, but we didn’t try too hard. And I guarantee he will dance your face off.

Olission – Last Christmas


A quick search of Mr. Interweb shows there are a number of men claiming to be Mr. DJ Basti, but we are going to attribute it to the only one quick enough to register the domain. Plus that guy is German.

DJ Basti – Last Christmas


And don’t you dare call it a mullet!

Pretty much all of today’s songs are thanks to Jim Fazi and John Martz. Between the contributions from the two of them and Sweeping the Nation, and Mike Wood, we are able to gift you 23 new versions today bringing out final count to 192 and final running time to 13 hours 38 minutes and 16 seconds! We’ll fill in the blanks later, but so as to not delay the final count while we spend time with our families, we present them with only minimal commenting. Enjoy!

Also please note that this is not our final post. We intend to tidy up some thoughts and artist info in the next few days, and maybe even post a straggling version or two.


Human Nature – Last Christmas

From Jim Fazi: “Human Nature had a single in November 1996 called “Wishes”. And in December of the same year the single was re-released with an added track. This track being their cover of Last Christmas. Also the Japanese release of this same single featured Last Christmas. It’s a really heavy pop sounding version.”

And he also has some more info on the a capella version we posted already: “Human Nature’s first album ‘Telling Everybody’ (1997) was re-released 2 times. And one of these times had an extra disc. A red disc. And track 4 on this red disc is the acapella of Last Christmas. Lastly Human Nature’s single ‘People Get Ready’ (December 1997) features the acapella of ‘Last Christmas.’”


Swipe! Last Christmas

Swipe! are a Welsh band and this version features Gwenno from the Pipettes.


Pullover – Last Christmas

From cd Nings and Roundabouts available at amazon.com.


Robert Halewijn – Dit Kerstfeest


Faultside – Miracle on Threadneedle Street


Thirteen Senses – Last Christmas


Soulwax – Last Christmas


Wham! – Last Christmas (Ferrazzi Mix)


Wham! – Last Christmas (Flexy Mix)


Wham! – Last Christmas (Karaoke)


Borûs Bijl & De Kerstmannûh – Last Christmas


Darren Hayes – Last Christmas (The Bucabeach Extended Mix)


DJ Allstars (Feat Naz) – Last Christmas


Free Team – Last Christmas


KE4 – Last Christmas I Gave You Acid


Marc D – Last Christmas


Spillsbury – Last Christmas


Raggattack – Last Christmas


DJ Glowy – Last Christmas


Asmodi Bizarr – Last Christmas


Alexia – Oi Kambanes Htypoun


Loscann – Last Christmas


DJ Scumback – Last Christmas

Today, we are doing a special second post! We wanted to highlight these versions in particular as they were recorded just for us!


Oh, how we love Max, aka Applied Communications. This was recorded live on Dec. 20th on a rooftop in Guadalajara, Mexico. What’s interesting is this is the first version to our knowledge that includes a bit from the lost-love’s perspective. Also, I’m not sure if Max planned this, but the dog barking in the background really adds a level of dejection that the original version seems to need. It’s brief but brilliant! You can see the video of the event here.

Of his current projects, Max says, “I have a brand new 6 song EP called “III”, I’m currently on a tour of the US and Mexico (about half of which is with my good buddy emperor x), and my website has a ton of free mp3s. Life is awesome.”

Applied Communications – Last Christmas


Matt Saunders has this to say about his band’s version:

“I was actually planning on recording a version of Wham!‘s “Last Christmas” before I came across your site. I was aware of maybe one or two covers… but I don’t think I would have ever guessed around 150. At first, I was dismayed that so many people had covered it, but then after giving it some thought, I decided to go through with it and be a part of something special. This song really is a little gem… This track is also located at the myspace of my band, Bear Flag Revolt. It used to be a full band that played indie pop/rock tunes, but we’re going through some turnover right now. I’m currently trying to sort of re-imagine the band’s sound. We’ve been on a little hiatus this past month, but I wanted to give myself a project and ‘Last Christmas’ is what came out. Hope you guys enjoy!”

Ok, so maybe this one wasn’t just for us, but it’s a new version all the same, and we appreciate the honor of premiering it. Thanks, Matt!

Bear Flag Revolt – Last Christmas


UPDATE: We have one more entry into the exclusives category that we were unable to post earlier due to… well… Christmas stuff. But we can safely say this is one of the most intriguing versions to become a part of your next holiday mix. The Return of the Ice Cube Trays have taken it upon themselves to not record lyrics, instead sampling movie lines to create the vocals. Genius! It’s amazing because it adds a level of separation between songwriter and object of affection. Does that make it more sincere in its inability to directly communicate?

Return of the Ice Cube Trays – Last Christmas

For the past few years, the Parenthetical Girls have released Holiday EPs, the first of which had a pretty awesome version of “Last Christmas.” (This year’s EP has a track called “Last Christmas part 2,” but they say it’s related to the original only by name, so we’re not going to post it.) At the Parenthetical Girls site, you can find a few more Christmas gems and songs from their other releases as well. I’m not sure how to best describe how engaging their music is, so I’ll let Pitchfork help me out: “Xiu Xiu fans hungry for the new nervousness would do well to seek out the work of … Zac Pennington’s Parenthetical Girls, for a strong dose of panic-pop.” Panic pop? Ok, sounds good to me.

Well, we had the great pleasure to see the Parenthetical Girls when they came through town a month or so ago. Lead singer Zac Pennington took a minute and talked to us about his version and his love for holiday music in general, and then somehow we convinced him to give us a hand with today’s reviews. He got a good day, too; all today’s tracks are Magical Snowflake Award winners!