Punk Charming went to the Ice House for a holiday photo shoot. Back in the 80s, I spent a lot of time (and money) at this mall in December. My leather fringe jacket wasn't very warm (but totally bitchin'), so after the two-block walk from Just Pants, it was a great place to linger indoors. Benetton was one of the busiest stores at this time of year, with stacks and stacks of neatly folded sweaters in cubes like a pixelated rainbow. Crabtree and Evelyn occupied a vintage train car, tempting shoppers with lovely lemon biscuit tins and the alluring aromas of rose and lilac.
Here's just a partial list of festive faves from the mixtape decade:
- 1982: Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy. Although Little Drummer Boy is one of my least favorite holiday songs, the combination of David Bowie's celestial vocals and Bing Crosby's reverberating Rum-pum-pum-pums is legendary.
- 1983 - A Christmas Story (sure I've seen it at least 4,000 times and can quote all the lines verbatim, but it will be on my screen many times this season)
- 1984 - Do They Know It's Christmas by BandAid. I recorded my 12" extended vinyl to an MP3 file so I can use it as a ring tone. I'm still searching for the video where Neil (aka Nigel Planer) films behind-the-scenes footage and interviews the glittering monarchs of the music world.
- 1984 - Gremlins (mini grinches?)
- 1987 - A Garfield Christmas (Christmas lasagna, anyone?)
- 1987 - A Muppet Family Christmas (complete with Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street crews)
- 1988 - Scrooged (yule love it!)
- 1988 - Die Hard (a Christmas movie with machine guns? Yippee Ki Yay, motherfudger)
- 1989 - A Chipmunk Christmas (wonder if Alvin still wants that hula hoop?)
- 1989 - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (squirrrrrrel!)
Merry Punkmas!