Lopez Blogs

I'm not normally a massive fan of Hallowe'en - especially after my mom calls to say I am just like "that Sue Heck from the tv programme The Middle" WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?! Charmant. However, Hallowe'en is the final gasp of life for the cork that plugs my obsession with Christmas. November 1st is always a good barometer of when I can start being festive far too early. Still, I'm having an ace gang spooky weekend - Scared Shrekless, some Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors, Saw 3D and of course The X-Factor Hallowe'en theme week (despite my absolute and irrational rage about some of the song choices! Relight My Fire?! OH COME ON!) Then, unbeknownst to them (until they read this, evil cackle), I shall foist my annual viewing of The Nightmare Before Christmas upon them. Mwah haha ha ha! It is bloody good though isn't it? And to get you in the festive mood, here are some more Christmas previews after a flash of This Is Hallowe'en...

• Bananarama ~ Baby It's Christmas: I don't normally like writing about songs that you can't generally hear yet. It makes me feel snobby and elitish - which is exactly how Hugh Grant felt about being serviced by Martine "where the fuck is my fucking coat" McCutcheon in the greatest Christmas film of all time - Love, Actually. But this track is so good that I must sing it from the rooftops. Or at least give you a little preview of what it is like. 1) It fits very well with the Viva Bananarama sound but also wouldn't sound out of place on Girls Aloud Christmastry... 2) It's very synth driven with a pulsing disco beat, ooos-ahhs, and sleigh bells 3) The vocals are very wistful with a hint of melancholy... 4) The lyrics are equally heartbreaking - sample "Remember how we kissed that time/the mistletoe and too much wine/At Christmas time - baby it's Christmas". Sniffle... As soon as this is widely available to listen to, I'll direct you! OH! And there is an extended mix. Teardrops on the disco floor festive fantastic!
• A Very Glee Christmas: The Rocky Horror Glee special was actually quite decent. Mostly. It has got me singing Touch A Touch A Touch Me all the live long week. Now Glee is set to challenge Ally McBeal as the purveyor of greatest Christmas episodes ever by having it's own Christmas special. With accompanying album! Imagine! The marketing possibilities! The sales! Now, that's the true meaning of Christmas :)
• St Etienne ~ A Glimpse of Stocking: Now here's some Christmas news that has had me bashing out I Was Born On Christmas Day all week, much to everyone's annoyance. The mighty and hallowed St Etienne are doing a festive album. Of all new songs (ie written by them). It's going to be glorious. All the details are here, and if anyone wants to buy me the personalised version please feel free to do so because I'm broke from Kylie & Take That tickets/Robbie merchandise...
• (For previous Christmas previews see here and here)

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ Eric Saade, It's Gonna Rain (RE/Vid)
20 ~ Ola, Riot (NE)
19 ~ Darin, Microphone (NE)
18 ~ Charlotte Church, Back To Scratch
17 ~ James Blunt, Stay The Night
16 ~ Gravitonas, Religious
15 ~ Le Kid, We Should Go Home Together
14 ~ A1, In Love & I Hate It
13 ~ Joe McElderry, Ambitions
12 ~ McFluz, Shine A Light
11 ~ Grobbie, Shame
10 ~ Westlife, Safe
09 ~ JLS, Love You More
08 ~ Brandon Flowers, Only The Young
07 ~ Jessie J, Price Tag
06 ~ P!nk, Raise Your Glass
05 ~ Deborah Gibson, I Love You
04 ~ Robbie Williams, Heart & I
03 ~ Shayne Ward, Gotta Be Somebody
02 ~ Take That, The Flood
01 ~ Andrea Lewis ft Simon Curtis, Talk To Me (3 weeks)