Name That Artist: 80's Xmas Hip-Hop Edition

December 23, 2018 9:08 PM

Back in the 80's I heard a song called "Too Cool For Yule" on one of KUSF's Christmas Specials and now I'm trying to figure out who the band was that did it.

While listening to a Christmas Special one Sunday on KUSF back in 1986 ('87? '88?), they played a song which I think was called "Too Cool For Yule". It was a rap tune featuring a toy, a little girl, and Santa (among others?) doing a little spiel and proclaiming that they were "too cool for yule". Jesus showed up and was pissed that they thought THEY were the reason for Christmas, and was basically going to take His ball and go home ("This is it"/"I'm leaving town"/"You won't have Jesus to kick around!"). Then a PR man (?!?) shows up and convinces Jesus not to "commit commercial suicide" and to "use (his) cool for yule". The song ends with the gang committing themselves to celebrating the non-commercial elements of the season, or something like that.

I actually taped the show (which also introduced me to Kinks' "Father Christmas" and Pretenders' "2000 miles, but i digress). Of course since I was taping it in the pre-internet era in a small town past the Caldecott Tunnel a nice burst of static came in during the back announce so I know the name of the song, but not the name of the band that did it. Any help in figuring this out would be most appreciated.

(Note: there was a band called Faultline that also did a song called "Too Cool For Yule". From the samples I've heard this song had similar (identical?) lyrics to the song I heard on KUSF. However, Faultline's version had "rocking" guitar in it and a different delivery style, while the KUSF song had a more minimal, guitar-free backing. So either there's a different version of the song that Discogs doesn't know about, or the KUSF song is a different song entirely (or a cover of/covered by Faultline)

posted by gtrwolf to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Too Cool for Yule, third stream, starting at 7:26 via archives.org:

3. A-Log on the Airwaves - 12/22/12 (Special Topic: Christmas Part 3 of 3) (Hour 3) "And now, we have a rare one, that was only played on Dr. Demento..."

(Linking because you've been working off samples; in the full song, there are sections where the guitar drops out.)

Comedian Greg Proops was in the comedy troop Faultline (he's the voice of Jesus on that track). He's active on Twitter and has a website. The song came out in 1986; if a rap version was made within a year or two of its release, maybe Proops would recall whether it was their alternate take or someone else's cover?
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:37 PM on December 23, 2018 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks for the link! Yeah the lyrics are near-identical, except the KUSF version had extra verses where each character (before Jesus popped in) proclaimed that they were "the reason the season is so sublime" (the characters themselves also proclaimed "I'm too cool for yule" instead of it being sung by female singers). The KUSF version also had a verse near the end where a Jew asked if he could get in on the fun (the response was a definite yes since "anything this sensational/has to be non denominational"). Also, there wasn't any guitar in the KUSF version, which had more minimal backing.

I'll check with him online and see if he remembers a rap version or alternate take (demo?) of said song.
posted by gtrwolf at 10:37 AM on December 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh! KUSF = University of San Francisco campus station, and Faultline was San Francisco-based. I wonder if what you heard was them performing a live, expanded version, with new parts for new members or something, with a necessarily sparer musical arrangement
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:21 AM on December 25, 2018

Response by poster: It was played during one of their Sunday (Christmas) specials, so it wasn't a live show. Maybe it was recorded at an earlier date live at the studio (or was an earlier version recorded as part of a demo and submitted to the station) that KUSF still had on hand?
posted by gtrwolf at 12:00 PM on December 25, 2018

Maybe it was recorded at an earlier date live at the studio

This was my thought, too. Or possibly a demo that they had recorded before the final pressed track? Definitely report back if you hear back from Proops!
posted by wemayfreeze at 7:51 PM on December 25, 2018

Response by poster: I emailed him asking about the above, I'll let you know what he says if/when he gets back to me. (Hopefully he has fond enough memories of said era to respond instead of going "Faultline?!?!? DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!).
posted by gtrwolf at 11:00 AM on December 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Alas, I never did hear back from him about this. Either the email was handled by an intern who didn't know what the fug I was talked about and deleted it, or he really doesn't have good memories of said era.
posted by gtrwolf at 6:57 PM on March 2, 2019 [1 favorite]