JOHNNY DOWD
1.favourite xmas song
Jingle Bells (Johnny Dowd version)
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Johnny Dowd band (July 2002)
3.worst xmas present
Cowboy boots
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Home
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Bah humbug

DEANNA VARAGONA

1.favourite xmas song
(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays Composer: Robert Allen There ya go.. traditional USA song ,.. kinda Irving Berlin style, as I know it. ..first one I could think of.. my mother is a piano teacher and has 7 christmas recitals every year.. I've known ALOT of christmas songs..but it's all fading from my memory now..

2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Tap Dancing solo with my pals "The Wabash Jug Band" at the WLUW benefit show two years ago.

3.worst xmas present
Talking with my (late) great aunt Tanina, when I noticed that she thought I was my sister Gloria.

4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Working

5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Whatever holiday or not you celebrate, here's hoping you can reflect on this past year with joy. Great blessing to you always.

Andrew Spencer Goldman (of John Guilt)
1.favourite chanukah song
"Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC comes first to mind.
2.favourite chanukah performance memory if have one
Nope, never played on Christmas
3.worst chanukah present
Technically I'm Jewish, so I never got any Christmas presents. I can't complain about any of the Chanukah presents that I've ever received
4.place you were at chanukah and you didn't want to be
See #3. I'm Jewish. That almost always ends me up at either a Chinese restaurant or a movie. Neither are bad places to be, as places go.
5. a special chanukah message for flyinshoes readers.
Peace, peace, peace.

MARK BRINE
1.favourite xmas song
I don't have one. I celebrate Christmas.
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Performing at the Johns Hopkins University Children's Ctr. We would do it for the kids every year for free, until they told us (insisted) it must be a HOLIDAY show. No references to Christ. ALL The kids loved it beforehand, but regrettably we had to drop it. Because We celebrate Christmas
3.worst xmas present
Never had one. As they say, "It's the thought"
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
On the streets of Nashville, homeless.. 1977. Snowbound!
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Don't let the PC crowd wear you down! This is AMERICA.. People died for your right to say what you believe! Honor their memory and their sacrifice, by calling it like it is.. CHRISTmas! If other folks don't believe in that, that's THEIR right.. Respect it! But also RESPECT YOURSELF! And the ONE the holiday honors! Amen!!

IAN KEAREY
1.favourite xmas song
The Kinks at Drury Lane, London, in 1974: brilliant.
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
You do not, that's NOT, give a Chelsea scarf to a QPR supporter.
3.worst xmas present
Cowboy boots
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Easy - selling dubious watches at H Samuel in Brighton with a 40-minute unstoppable tape loop of cheery Christmas pop songs playing for 10+ hours each day. Should I ever meet Paul McCartney, Greg Lake, Slade etc, they will die horribly for this. (I except Jona Lewie, as 'Stop the Cavalry' is at least a decent song.)
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Never trust a Situationist.

 

RANDY ADAMS
DIGITAL ARTIST
http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/studio/radams/


1.favourite xmas song
simon and garfunkels version of silent night
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
my drunk bother > always performs well at xmas
3.worst xmas present
socks and/or underwear
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
any obligatory > family dinner ... my fav xmas was spent in turkey, a muslim country ... > they show respect without the consumer feeding frenzy
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
remember, > st nicolas was buried centuries ago ... instead of shopping, get together > and dance naked around a bonfire

 

TIM STRAFFORD TAYLOR
(ROCKET MAN)
1.favourite xmas song
merry Christmas (I don't wanna fight tonight) Ramones (surprise!)
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
not mine, but for some reason will always remember Wizzard on TOTP in the 70's doing "I Wish It Could be Xmas Every Day"
3.worst xmas present
gift vouchers or money - so little thought
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
lying on the floor in Sheffield with a bad back
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
I don't want to fight tonight

 

THE QUIET LONER
(AKA MATTY HILL)

1.favourite xmas song
Slade - Merry Xmas everyone. It's a hoary old cliche but it's still brilliant.
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Singing White Christmas in a santa hat on a table in a pub in Nottingham in an Elvis-stylee
3.worst xmas present
The only way is up by Yazz on CD. My mum thought it was Annie Lennox and had remembered that I quite liked the Eurthymics when I was 12.
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
In a hungover state of mind
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Remember it's all about how many presents you get.

 

PAT TYNAN
1.favourite xmas song
"Grandma" I worked on it , lonelist music executive on the planet.
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Perry Como in any special during the sixties
3.worst xmas present
Mobo childs scooter two sizes too small with double back wheels
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Los Angeles
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Question our leaders especially in the future and in all things to do with supporting Americans

 

GERALD DOWD
bitch to manishevitz and super drummer
1.favourite xmas song
"Christmas in Hollis" by Run-DMC.
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
My mom drunkenly salsa dancing.
3.worst xmas present
Bright orange Old Navy pullover
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Anywhere at Christmas is a good thing.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Santa's real, alright. Real fake.

 

DAN ISRAEL
1.favourite chanukah song
They all pretty much stink. Chanukah really is a minor holiday in Judaism, so the songs just don't hold water next to Christmas songs. I like Greensleeves, Oh Come all Ye Faithful, and a bunch of others. But Chanukah songs? "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel"? Yechhh!
2.favourite chanukah performance memory if have one
I played John Lennon's "Happy Christmas" a few years back at a local Christmas show here in Minnesota. That was great. I love that song, and people really seemed to connect to it in the audience. Oh yeah, and I played Adam Sandler's "Chanukah Song" during Chanukah last year at a show...that was well-received, because even though it's a terrible song, it IS kind of funny
3.worst chanukah present
Hmmm. I think I'd lump that all under the category of "bad sweaters". I hate sweaters
4.place you were at chanukah and you didn't want to be
To be completely honest, I have a hard time at my job at this time of year, every year. I'm the only Jewish person here, and it's Minnesota, an old-fashioned place, so people really go "all out" on the Christmas celebrations. It gets a tad lonely. But I make do.
5. a special chanukah message for flyinshoes readers.
Yes. Let's all love each other. For real. Stop smirking. It's the only way. Amen

 

MATT KEATING

1.favourite xmas song
Happy Xmas (War is Over)--Lennon/Ono
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Bruce Springsteen live at The Stanley Theatre Pittsburgh, PA 12/78
3.worst xmas present
Drugs
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
California
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
TRUTH IS ONE, PATHS ARE MANY

 

ALASDAIR ROBERTS
1.favourite xmas song
English- 'Christmas is now drawing near at hand'. German- 'Stille Nacht'
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
My grandfather playing 'The Streets of Laredo' on his mouth organ.
3.worst xmas present
Every present is special and blessed.
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Under the mistletoe bough.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
This isn't America.

 

JOE FOURNIER

1.favourite xmas song
Elvis, of course! - singing "Santa Claus is Back In Town" y'know, "...got no sleigh with reindeer, no sack on my back, you gonna see me comin' in a BIG WHITE CADILLAC,.." How cool is that?
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Worked in a music store for a few years. All us musical wannabes got pissed up on booze the customers brought in one x-mas eve 'cause we had to work 'till closing time. We grabbed a bunch of instruments we couldn't play, put a tape in a portastudio and proceeded to make the worst Christmas album ever. I think I was the lead udu player, whatever that is...
3.worst xmas present
christmas card from ex-wife in Jamaica with the line, "wished you weren't here ...and you're not!" on the inside.
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
place you were at xmas and you didn’t want to be - stuck in ice on a ferry between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for 24 hours. There was nothing to do but drink away the time, which of course we did. Actually, it was kinda fun in the end. The Newfoundlanders ended up trying to out-dance each other while some of us musicians improvised jigs and reels. The ferry service put together an impromptu x-mas feast and the booze was free. Everyone got sloppy emotional and I'm sure a few bastards were conceived as well
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
I'm the last guy to dish out words of wisdom, so I'll just say, um... Merry Christmas everyone. Try and stay outta jail!

 

 

IAN NIXON
francophile and Oxford Uk bass boy
1.favourite xmas song
Wizzard - I wish it could be Christmas every day
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Uncle Tom on the bagpipes
3.worst xmas present
Deodorant - not that I'm touchy or anything...
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
The Joiners Arms, Camberwell
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
'When the snowman brings the snow Well he just might like to know He put a great big smile upon somebody's face'

RICHARD RAMAGE
Mr. Relationship but you may call him sire
1.favourite xmas song
The Relationships - "Christmas Song".
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
The Relationships - 70s cover versions at the Zodiac, Oxford, Xmas 2002. Theme - Men With Silly Voices (Bowie, Harley, Ferry, Bolan), wishing yew a Merray Christmersss.
3.worst xmas present
The news that my ex-girlfriend had joined my old band. Mmmm, sensitively handled all round...
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
The set of the Val Doonican Christmas Special - I'd forgotten my cue to start the Festive Turkey Dance with the Young Generation, and my reindeer-patterned jumper was on the wrong way round... Oh no, phew, it was just a bad dream...
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Freshen Up!

r.d.roth
1.favourite xmas song
The Christmas Song - Nat "King" Cole
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Playing cymbal, LOUD, in elementary school band for "Jingle Bell Rock"
3.worst xmas present
Given or received? I once gave my girlfriend a stuffed Penguin. Don't ask...
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
same girlfriends house - I was in college at the time. she made me sing "The Christmas Song" (chestnuts roasting on an open fire...) a cappela for her parents, sister, and friends of the family. Owie.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Peace, love, and brown liquor from Kentucky

JO FREYA
fraser sisters
1.favourite xmas song
"Hark Hark what news" tard carol that I sing every year in Christmas shows
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Mine ( Freya, Fraser, Boyes, Coope Boyes and Simpson) in the various churches aaround Notts/ Lincs and Derbyshire. It's always magical. Have never seen any body elses!!! Sorry
3.worst xmas present
Crocheted poncho in definately not matching colours.
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
That's never happened
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
I'll be in the Maldives under a palm tree and I'll think of you all (not)

 

TERRY CLARKE
1.favourite xmas song
'Blue Christmas' by Elvis Presley, followed closely by the Mary Margaret O'Hara version
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Always my Christmas gig at the Rising Sun Arts Centre in Reading. My homeboys and girls.
3.worst xmas present
I'm always grateful for any gift but I was never fond of Brut aftershave.
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Don't think I've ever been anywhere I didn't want to be at Christmas. In Dec 1992 I did my first Italian tour ... at one point I caught a flight from Bologna to Palermo, Sicily. Nearly everyone on the plane was on a connecting flight from the U.S. That's a favourite Christmas memory .... the excitement of everyone going home. The arrivals hall in Palermo was full of people waiting for family members. Paper flowers ... tinsel ... one day I'll write a song about it.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Always avoid those with self seeking rhythm. Always dance with the others. Peace for all.

 

 

MARQ
1.favourite xmas song
"On Christmas Morning" (Chris Whiteley & Raffi)
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Saving this one for my autobiography, sure to be a bestseller : )
3.worst xmas present
Saving for autobiog : )
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Saving for autobiog : )
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
All flyers please buckle your seatbelts: Beginning countdown . . . ten, nine, eight, seven . . . & PEACE ON EARTH AND THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE . . .

 

ROB ELLEN
1.favourite xmas song
Difficult as I don't much like the genre, and they've started playing them in November these days, the only one I ever bought was Feed The World, but put me down for Kirsty and the Pouges, its the only one that bears up under such heavy rotation
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
my dad who was as skinny as a rake trying to be Santa, its for the kids after all.
3.worst xmas present
hard to choose just one, its the rush to buy nonsense at that time of year that confounds me
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
I seem to remember hitching across the Dava moor one christmas day, got a lift though.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Be careful Its a dangerous time, more people fall out with each other on the run up to Christmas than at any other time, there is far to much commercial pressure out there, don't get caught up in the neurosis, peace and good will to all men all year round.

 

PETER ASTOR
1.favourite xmas song
i'll cry at christmas, denim....christmas rain, the weather prophets
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
doing the denim song at peel acres a couple of years ago...my attempts to board bus home after last years rough trade party
3.worst xmas present
some very slow clockwork boat when i was about 11...i wanted a construction kit of a german tank or a slade record!
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
one christmas at home with parent many years ago when the shit once again hit the fan ...with no visible means of escape
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
i didn't do it, but actually, now you ask, i think i did

 

LARISSA DALLE
1.favourite xmas song
Rocking Around the Christmas Tree by the Partridge Family
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
I try not to book shows during the holidays because I don't want to miss out on meeting Santa
3.worst xmas present
When I was about 5 years old, I realy wanted the Easy Bake Oven, or that doll that wets herself. But I got a Nerf Football from an aunt. I mean, come on, I was a girl!!!!
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
One year I was at an uncles's house and he told me Santa wasn't going to be coming that year because Santa got a speeding ticket and was in jail. I was so scared.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Go see the movie "Elf" it's wonderful.

 

SHEREE HAMMONDS
"The Princess Of Young Country"
1.favourite xmas song
White Christmas
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
When I first started touring & performing professionally, one of the venues on the tour stop, was an all-nighter at a Western Round-Up. Here was this huge festival, held in the dead of winter and on the weekend of the first hard freeze. The only thing available for warmth other than our vehicles & vans, were bonfires scattered throughout the event. This was a true, western round up..held in the true spirit of the day of cowboys & indians, meaning, no running water & heat & just covered wagons, bonfires & porta toilets available for our convenience..oh, of course not counting the van I toured in those days. What I remember the most, is though not my favorite Christmas performance, it sticks out in my mind as the most memorable. I have never been so cold & frozen in my life!!! What was funny is, when it was time for me to do my hour & a half performance..I came up with a great idea! Instead of singing on the stage, I set up in front of one of the bonfires. And throughout my performance, my backside faced that fire, while my teeth chattered and my bones shivered through album cuts & Christmas standards! I will add...to all you entertainers out there a piece of advice..make sure if you are ever booked at an event in the dead of winter, make sure there is a bus or a warm hotel room nearby, otherwise, don't book it!! Merry Christmas!!
3.worst xmas present
Oh, this ones very easy to answer!! Don't ya just hate it, when you get presents, that are the very things you dislike? Well I tell ya..that happened to me one Christmas when I was a teenager. One thing I have always disliked are sweat pants & jogging shirts. I think they have got to be the messiest thing someone can wear. Well on this Christmas, would you believe it! Every single gift I had recieved from my family, was one of those ugly outfits! And here I had recieved 8 of them! I made up for it though...I went out & spent $150 on myself at my favorite store, to help make up for the shock of those sweat clothes!
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
This ones pretty sad, but very true...I once spent the week of Christmas..Eve & day included, in a hospital. My father had had a stroke & we spent Christmas there crying & praying that God would spare his life. He pulled through it, but that was the saddest place to be during Christmas
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Keep creating great music & play it loud so all can hear..and just remember make sure there are heaters & upto date amenities, when you play a venue in the dead of winter..otherwise, be prepared to freeze yourself a new rump!!
NASHVILLE & HEAVEN BOUND LOVE ALWAYS SHEREE

ANGUS STEVENSON
Relationships Guitarist
1.favourite xmas song
2,000 Miles - The Pretenders Christmas Song - The Relationships
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Doing poor-quality cover of '2,000 Miles' at a Relationships Christmas gig a few years back Seeing the Pretenders at the Marquee in ?1979/80 just before xmas, and Chrissie Hynde telling us all to go and visit our parents for Christmas, because she was sure they'd appreciate it
3.worst xmas present
a particular jumper does come to mind
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
the West Coast of Scotland is a wild and windy place around then
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Go home and see your parents for Christmas, I'm sure they'd appreciate it

 

DOUG HOEKSTRA
1.favourite xmas song
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - the Darlene Love performance
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Every Christmas, opening presents with the relatives
3.worst xmas present
The giant singing Hank Williams Jr. doll I got last year (sorry Dave)
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Everywhere is where I want to be (not exactly, but for Xmas it works...)
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Have a good holiday, the best christmas memories are yet to come...

TRAILERSTAR
1.favourite xmas song
Marc Bolan Xmas message on the B-side of Solid Gold Easy Action 45
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Grandad singing at local club with transvestite comic
3.worst xmas present
Colouring book when 14 from a slightly dotty relative..bless..
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Zaragoza, Spain..the last time....don't ask
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
send lawyers, guns and money....

 

LLOYD COOMBES
music lover first class
1.favourite xmas song
Suspicious Minds - Elvis '69
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
The Ramones/Generation X or The Kinks both shows at the Rainbow around '77/78
3.worst xmas present
A cassette of the best of Paul Young, no not Sad Cafe even!
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
In front of the TV watching a soap, when I would rather be at the Continental Club Austin Texas watching Dale Watson and the Lonestars
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Enjoy it it could be your last.

 

JEFF TURNEY
freedom to groove
1.favourite xmas song
Dr. Dre - Keep Their Heads Ringin' (come on, it has some bells in it...)
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
My 6 hour rum and egg nog solo last year, man what a solo...
3.worst xmas present
A singing fish. (It wouldn't have been so bad if he could have learned a few more tunes but one man can only listen to "Mack The Knife" so many times)
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
At work, in Whistler, BC. Not that Whistler isn't beautiful but it's no fun when you are alone without friends and family.
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
May your cups overflow with the sweet elixir of the season (rum and egg nog!), and may your ears be greeted by as few Christmas songs as possible! Merry Christmas everyone!

 

CHRIS HULL
wizard tree singer
1.favourite xmas song
Merry Chritmas Everybody by Slade
2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one
Can't think of a christmas performance
3.worst xmas present
Socks with Y-front pants on them
4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be
Forest Fields Nottingham
5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.
Merry xmas one and all with peace and love

 

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1.favourite xmas song

2.favourite xmas performance memory if have one

3.worst xmas present

4.place you were at xmas and you didn't want to be

5. a special xmas message for flyinshoes readers.