Even Homer nods - this is a typo for 1863.

It is not traditional standard. Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog - no capitals.

I think it became very popular post-Elf (although the version from the Elf soundtrack rarely got played on the radio itself). I think it also attracts singers by being a rare Christmas duet. From c. 2010-2014 you could hear a version of it practically once every hour on all-Christmas stations. This year I have heard…

I figured that the private-party performances could be omitted as irrecoverable. But this was the first recorded version, right?

I was surprised to see that the actual original version is played out with a degree of genuine agggression: https://www.youtube.com/wat… (But it is also followed in the same movie by a reverse-gender version played for laughs.)

I was intrigued by the face that Alex made after he said that the correct response was "I Don't Like Mondays." He seemed offended that a song was inspired by a school shooting and/or disgusted that the real-life killer gave such a callous motive. Or maybe he just thought it was a dumb song title. But it was pretty…

This ancient SNL clip reminds us that she didn't really set out to be an actor, was not even considered one during her first couple of years as a show regular, and eventually became one kind of by accident:

I know that this is all determined by an algorithm and no mere mortal is to blame, but this list seems especially ridiculous. Dockery, Johnson, Brody, and Conway all have an obvious right answer that is ignored.

A swear not used in one's own country is always considered more humorous than offensive. No one in the U.S. (or Canada either as far as I know) cared very much about the title of the second Austin Powers movie, but (so I heard) some British theaters refused to write it on the marquee.

I don't find that ending serious or heartfelt at all. If it seems like a public service announcement, that is because it is in fact parodying one of the most famous PSAs of all time. The joke is only slightly less clear than it would be if it featured Smokey Bear or Woodsy Owl.

I think the Fanny Bright verse is pretty well-known, and I think many recorded versions include the "Now the ground is white" verse as well. I think you hear them more often than the second and third verses of a lot of other Christmas carols - even the religious ones often get truncated.

McCartney was not involved in Band Aid as far as I know - the 1980s-era pop stars take all the blame for that song. (The later Live Aid had more representation for the previous generation, and I believe McCartney did perform at that concert.)

Yet it seems to be played far more commonly on the radio today than it was a couple decades ago (in about a million different versions, mostly by singers of recent vintage).

I don't even care for the song, but I agree with that.

I think his lyrics are the original.

The Slade Christmas song is suddenly being played by my local radio station several times a day. I never heard of it before this year. They were not a trans-Atlantic success at the time (nor was Wizzard - I do not think I have ever heard of them at all).

Grandpa Jones had an old-man schtick that began when he was still a young man and could perhaps sound effeminate if you did not know what he was going for. Apparently Reba McEntire also did a version, so maybe that was the one you heard.

The Conrad one exists in two versions - Johnny Cash and Grandpa Jones. (I assume you heard the latter since calling a Johnny Cash vocal "some spoken word narrative" would be almost as bad as saying that Sinatra's voice had no character.)

I don't remember that, but it sounds great.

I miss the click noise after "never-ending" in Lady Madonna (which was deleted as early as the original 1).