Half of us feels like we should be apologizing for not banging out these updates a little more quickly. But the other half of us just keeps wondering why 403 versions of “Last Christmas” just isn’t enough for you and you can’t just let us take a little breather here and there, after all this is a marathon and we need to pace ourselves so why don’t you just get off our back already. Sheesh. Now, let’s get down to business:

Those Germans are at it again! German-rapping wunderkind Sentino has put together this thoroughly enjoyable hip-hop version. And while I have no idea what he’s saying, I know better than to insult a rapping German so I’ll just say this: I love it!

Sentino – Last Christmas

I couldn’t find an official site for him, but I did find his German Wikipedia page. If you can read German, I’m sure this will clearly establish his street cred in the German rap community.


Who here likes The Cardigans? Remember that “Love me, love me, say that you love me” song that came out like 15 years ago? That’s them. Well imagine the girl from The Cardigans is out at a karaoke bar one winter night and her friends egg her on to get up on stage. So she picks her old favorite from the boys in Wham! but once it starts she realizes she isn’t 100% sure how it goes. So she gives it her best, her friends cheer her on, and the bartender buys everyone another round. Good times. Now, replace the girl from The Cardigans with famous Thai songbird Lula and you’re good to go.

Lula – Last Christmas


There’s not a lot to say about this version by The Violet Burning. It’s a pretty straightforward middle-of-the-road pop version. The singer is little whispery for my tastes (I think he might be trying to seduce me), but the guitarist does some nice work starting around the 1:33 mark.

The Violet Burning – Last Christmas

The track appears on their Christmas album, Divine, which has pretty awesome cover photography and is available by donation here.


In the tradition of Where the Wild Things Are and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Sweetheart Brigade takes a familiar classic and really goes to town fleshing out the story. A lot of the details are cleared up. For instance he didn’t just give his “heart,” he gave a nice ring. And the very next day she didn’t just “give it away,” she fellated the jewelry salesman. We never get to find out who is the new “someone special” that he found this year, but they’re probably just setting us up for a sequel.

The Sweetheart Brigade – Last Christmas

One little bit of news, it looks like Taylor Swift’s “Last Christmas” is #2 behind Mariah Carey on the iTunes holiday music top songs. Way to go Taylor!

Ok, so if someone were to say to you, “Besides The Beatles, who else would you want to play ‘Last Christmas?’” You would probably answer Guns n’ Roses. But I bet your second choice would be AC/DC, right? Well today’s your lucky day! We don’t have a cover from AC/DC but they’re the next best thing the Aussie rockers, German band Riff Raff, who perform in the style of AC/DC! It’s pretty fantastic and there’s a whole album of songs done as if Brian Johnson and the boys laid waste to baby Jesus hymns. Buy it here.

Riff Raff – Last Christmas


Recently signed Augusta GA band, Say Vandelay, bring us a pop punk-ish version that starts off with hints of late ’90s keyboard rock, like Ozma, and finishes up with what I’ll call post-emo vocals, like Brand New might do. If that didn’t make any sense, then just listen to the song already, wouldja?

This comes from the annnual release “12 Bands of Christmas” produced locally in Augusta. Check it out here.

Say Vandelay – Last Christmas


Next we have two live versions for you, that couldn’t be more different. Alkbottle is a rock band from Vienna, while Caught in the Act were a Dutch boy band. Alkbottle still cause trouble all over Austria while Caught in the Act split up in 1998 after only 3 years of success. I think these two polar opposite groups really show the appeal of “Last Christmas” across musical borders.

Alkbottle – Last Christmas

Caught in the Act – Last Christmas

We’re having a lot of fun today folks. First, we had a mention in Philebrity on Thursday. Second, what an insane mix of versions we have today! We also want to admit, that we may have led you astray…when we first estimated our count for the year, we said our total count “won’t be nearly as impressive as last years.” Lucky for you, we couldn’t have been more wrong! All thanks to a mysterious benefactor who has been filling our inbox with HUNDREDS of versions. We have also arranged a special treat for you guys, which we’ll offer next week, and it’s a doozy, seriously, come back a week from today and poop your pants at its awesomeness.

but right now, time for big mix 5…

So, today is the halfway mark. We have 12 glorious days of “Last Christmas” behind us, and only 12 more to go. I know that a lot of people have been eagerly anticipating that final day, thinking they’ll wind up with a tidy 150 different versions of the song. After all, that was the plan when we set out… but then you people started sending us more. And now we have (dare we say it?) a plethera of versions, some anecdotes, and even a short story. In the past 30 hours alone, we’ve received five new versions of the song. So now there’s no telling how many you might end up with…


Take this track for example. Reader Mycroft, who runs the Spanish blog Micronesia En el Cerebelo sent us this version by UK band Bowfinger. It’s a great find, and if it weren’t for Mycroft alerting us, we’d’ve never known about it. Well maybe we would have, but he made it easier. So even if you think we may have a particular version already, it can’t hurt to let us know. Regarding the song, their site simply says, “The Wham classic with Marshall Amps.” I like that. They even have some Beach Boy-esque “oooh-ahhh-ooohs” in that latter portion that make it really fun.


Bowfinger – Last Christmas


For some reason, this following version reminds me of the theme to The Neverending Story.


Airpanel w/ Karyn White – Last Christmas (Shane 54 Remix)


Korean pop princesses As One present to us a jangley-pop-fun-times version. And for that, we say “thanks,” and, “here’s a Magical Snowflake Award.”



As One – Last Christmas