The Fleshtones, Susan Cowsill, and Numero Records‘ ”Christmas Dreamers”

Last year, some time after Thanksgiving I had to change format
and use excerpts from a few interviews to get to everybody I've
talked to about Christmas music before the holiday comes. This
year, I have to start now since I already have enough interviews
to get to February if I ran one per show. 


This week, I'm talking to some of my favorite people. The
Fleshtones are the long-time garage rock gold standard, and
singer Peter Zaremba is always a great person to talk to about
that corner of the rock 'n' roll world. Since it seems like a
shrinking one, we talk about that and how their most recent
single, the Spanish-language "Mi Engañaste Bien," plays into
that. We talk about the bond between record collectors and, of
course, their 2008 Christmas album, Stocking Stuffer.


This week also features Susan Cowsill, the youngest member of the
'60s family pop band The Cowsills. Susan has never stopped
singing or making music, and has been part of New Orleans' music
community since she moved here in the 1990s with The Continental
Drifters. Cowsills memories are inevitable for her, particularly
now that she and two of her brothers have a podcast of their
own, The Cowsills Podcast. We talk about that, Branson, some
of her favorite Christmas songs, Karen Carpenter, and the
experience of recording a Christmas song for Debbie Davis and
Matt Perrine's Oh Crap! It's Christmas Vol. 2.


Recently, the Numero Group reissue label released the very
entertaining Christmas Dreamers: Yuletide Christmas (1960-1972),
and this week I talk to Adam Luksetich about the process of
pulling the collection together, and how his own relationship to
Christmas music affected his choices.


Finally, singer Alexandra Scott returns to discuss Mariah Carey's
re-entry into the Christmas music arena with her new song, "Fall
in Love at Christmas," featuring Khalid and Kirk Franklin.


This episode of Twelve Songs is sponsored by Car-Floats.com,
which makes reusable fabric stickers for your car. 


We're still giving away our 2021 listeners-only Christmas mix.
Write alex@myspiltmilk.com and request a copy. 


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