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Sonics, Wailers, and GalaxiesReleased on tiny Etiquette Records in 1965, Merry Christmas From The Sonics, The Wailers, The Galaxies is a legendary three-garage-band compendium from the Pacific Northwest that doesn't quite live up to its vaunted reputation. Don't get me wrong - with no less than two songs in my Top 100, Merry Christmas is very, very good. But, it's not the Christmas-themed Nuggets one might expect, and some claim.

The ferocious Sonics - one of the most crazed, revered garage bands ever - carry the day with two relentlessly hard-rocking, monumentally egocentric tracks. First and foremost, the Sonics' "Don't Believe In Christmas" (loosely based on Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business") viciously dismisses the holiday simply because singer Gerry Roslie can't get sexually satisfied. And while the band's "Santa Claus" (roughly patterned after the Premiers' "Farmer John") is somewhat less frenzied, its bald confession of material greed is equally impressive. Rosalie gleefully confesses, "I want a brand new car, a twangy guitar, a cute little honey, and lots of money," to which Santa Claus essentially replies, "Nuts!"

Up Seattle way, the Sonics were the new kids on the block. The Wailers, on the other hand, were an established band best known for the instrumental hit "Tall Cool One" (1959). Their "Christmas Spirit??" - while no match for the vitriolic Sonics tracks - is a scream. The song is so relentlessly negative in its assessment of the holiday season and so positively spot-on in its appropriation of the language and style of Bob Dylan that it must be considered a parody - which doesn't mean it isn't right. The band's "She's Coming Home," on the other hand, is a relatively upbeat song looking forward to the carnal pleasures of Christmas vacation.

Sonics, Wailers, and GalaxiesSounding like a less polished, more soulful version of the Association, the relatively easygoing Galaxies come in a distant third to their more cacophonous peers. The band's "Christmas Eve," however, is lovely, providing a welcome yuletide soporific after the anti-Christmas rants of the Wailers and Galaxies. It kicks off with a percolating bass line shamelessly appropriated from James Jamerson's famous opening to the Temptations' "My Girl," released earlier the same year. No matter, the Galaxies maintain, because good ol' Santa Claus "wouldn't want anyone to be left out" - exactly the opposite of what the Sonics and Wailers declaim more forcefully elsewhere on the album.

Interestingly, the original LP pressings of Merry Christmas From The Sonics, The Wailers, The Galaxies had an eleventh track, "It's Christmas" by the Sonics. The track sounded more than a little like the Drifters' 1963 hit, "On Broadway," and bore a resemblance to the Kinks' 1965 single, "Tired Of Waiting Of You." Reportedly, the owners of the publishing rights to the former song refused to grant clearance, leading to Merry Christmas being pulled from the market - which would certainly account for the scarcity of original LP copies. Regardless, "It's Christmas" would be omitted from all subsequent reissues.

Consumer Notes

By all appearances, and against all odds, Etiquette Records is still in business. They reissued Merry Christmas on vinyl in 1984 and on compact disc in 1991 - albeit briefly. I own a CD, but it was deleted long ago. Copies pop up on Amazon and elsewhere on occasion, and when they do, they command a steep price. The original LP, meanwhile, is worth even more on the collectors market - usually hundreds of dollars. Happily, the label made the album available for download and streaming in 2013, and that will have to suffice for most collectors.

In that light, it's also worth noting that the two best tracks from Merry Christmas, "Don't Believe In Christmas" and "Christmas Spirit??" - which were originally released on a split 7-inch single - are both included on Rhino's delightful downer, Bummed Out Christmas (1989). Also, all three remaining Sonics tracks from Merry Christmas were appended to Norton's CD reissue of their amazing 1965 debut LP, Here Are The Sonics!!! [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • Christmas Eve (Galaxies)
  • Christmas Spirit?? (Wailers) Top 100 Song
  • Don't Believe In Christmas (Sonics) Top 100 Song
  • Santa Claus (Sonics)
  • She's Coming Home (Wailers)

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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