Mistletoe and Holly by The Hot Sardines

The Hot Sardines

    Oh, by gosh, by golly! Recorded as a single and released by The Hot Sardines in 2015, this version of Mistletoe and Holly is, by far, my favourite. The original was co-written and recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1957, but, while I can acknowledge his iMpORtAnt COntRIButIONS to music, I think he's an overrated hack (I said it and I meant it).

    Elizabeth Bougerol, singer of The Hot Sardines, has that certain looseness and slurring in her singing of jazz that reminds me of how I feel after my 3rd gin martini. The instrumentals in this version masterfully capture that notion of this being a little impromptu jazz jam session when there were too many chefs in the kitchen cooking the Christmas dinner. And most of all, it conjures to me that sensation of walking from the dark cold in your good coat and scarf, carrying a tin-foil wrapped tray of some savory smelling food into a warm and bright house already filled with the sound of small cousins playing in the basement, drawers being opened, and corks being plucked from bottles.

    It's a mystery to me why no bougie urban liberal elite company, like the New York Times, or L.L. Bean (I said it and I meant it) has yet to use this rendition for their Black Friday ads.