JOE ELLIOTT Songs From The Vault CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 17th December 2020 Playlist/Transcript

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott hosted another edition of his monthly radio show Songs From The Vault on SiriusXM.

This month's show included songs by Slade, Sparks and Def Leppard.

This edition was first broadcast on Thursday 17th December.

Joe began this show on 19th April 2018 and it is broadcast once a month.

The full playlist is shown below and a full transcript.

The show is available on the SiriusXM website for around one week after broadcast.

Joe Elliott Songs From The Vault - 17th December 2020 Playlist

• 01 - Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas
• 02 - The Who - Christmas
• 03 - Jethro Tull - Ring Out Solstice Bells
• 04 - Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas
• 05 - Tom Waits - Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis
• 06 - Sensational Alex Harvey Band - There's No Lights On the Christmas Tree...
• 07 - Sparks - Thank God It's Not Christmas
• 08 - The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York
• 09 - Mud - Lonely This Christmas
• 10 - John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
• 11 - Def Leppard - We All Need Christmas
• 12 - Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody

Voice Over Intro

"His career is celebrated with Induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as lead singer for Def Leppard. Joe Elliott. Now he's sharing his passion for deep classic rock with stories and music from his personal collection. Welcome to Joe Elliott's Songs From The Vault on Deep Tracks."

Show Intro

"Greetings music lovers. in fact, season's greetings music lovers. Welcome once again to Songs From The Vault on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks. I'm Joe Elliott and for the next sixty minutes or so I'm gonna be taking you through a bit of a seasonal trip of great Christmas music that was big in my childhood in the UK. So all you Anglophiles listening, you may be familiar with a lot of these songs. But I'm guessing a lot of the American listeners won't know too many of these tunes. Starting off with Roy Wood's Wizzard."

Wizzard

"But the openign song of the show absolutely was a massive hit in 1973 for a band called Wizzard fronted by the fantastically talented Mr. Roy Wood. Who used to front a band called The Move. You may remember they had some fantastic hits with things like I Can Hear The Grass Grow. Blackberry Way. China Town Tonight. Fantastic stuff from the 60s and 70s. Also very briefly a member of E.L.O. with Jeff Lynne but that was his band Wizzard. The song is I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday."

The Who

"Well I have to put my hand up and fess up to the fact that that wasn't actually a big Christmas hit at all. It was just a song with the word Christmas in it from a fantastic album by the Who called Tommy."

Jethro Tull

"I'm Joe Elliott. This is Songs From The Vault on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks. And this next band are fronted by a fantastic gentleman who only three years ago invited me to do a couple of songs with him at a concert that he was putting on in Bradford Cathedral in the UK. It was part of a mini UK tour he as doing to raise funds for church roof restoration and cathedral roof restoration. Cathedral roofs and church roofs obviously leak quite a lot and he lends his time and his effort to raise money to, to put up some money in the kitty so that these churches can have leak proof roofs."

"And I said I would absolutely love to do that as long as I can sing a couple of your tunes that are real favourites of mine. Namely a song called Up The Pool and another called Life's A Long Song. And he said absolutely fine as long as you sing the second half of another song of mine called Locomotive Breath. Any clues anybody?. Yes that gentleman was Ina Anderson. the band Jethro Tull."

"And before that Jethro Tull. It actually is on an album, a Jethro Tull album but I've taken it from this collection called The Best Christmas Album In The World Ever. It is a song called Ring Out Solstice Bells."

Greg Lake

"In my humble opinion one of the classiest and most beautiful Christmas songs ever written. That is Greg Lake who as far as I'm aware made his name starting off in the business with King Crimson but he became a mega star with that huge behemoth that was Emerson, Lake And Palmer. The song is called I Believe In Father Christmas."

Tom Waits

"You are listening to SiriusXM's Deep Tracks. I'm Joe Elliott. This is the Christmas edition of Songs From The Vault. Now this next trifector of songs is a little different. In other words it's not all sweetness and lights and jingle bells. This is a slightly different take on Christmas. Starting off with that nost wonderful of artists Mr. Tom Waits."

"And before that we heard the wonderful Tom Waits from an album called Used Songs 1973-1980. The song we heard Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis. As you do."

Sensational Alex Harvey Band

"Before that we heard the Sensational Alex Harvey Band from their debut album back in 1972. The album is called Framed. The song There's No Lights On the Christmas Tree Mother They're Burning Big Louie Tonight. Which is a song about an electrocution that was about to take place in a prison. Ahh you couldn't make it up."

Voice Over

"This is the music that inspired a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame career. Joe Elliott's Songs From The Vault continues on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks."

Sparks

"Their most recent album of a couple of months ago is called A Steady Drip Drip Drip. Sounds like torture but honestly it's a very fine record indeed. That is a band called Sparks from their third album back in 1974. The album is called Kimono My House. The song we just heard Thank God It's Not Christmas. But boys it is, it is Christmas."

The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl

"I'm Joe Elliott. This is Songs From The Vault. The Christmas edition Songs From The Vault on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks. And before we get all squishy again. Here's another song that tells it how it really is. Featuring Kirsty Macoll this is The Pogues."

"And before that we heard the much missed Kirsty MacColl guesting with The Pogues on the most wonderful track called a Fairytale Of New York."

Mud

"And the winner of this year's Elvis Presley soundalike competition is...drum roll please. Mr. Les Gray of a band called Mud. Now Mud were part of a staple of bands that came out the Chinny Chapman. Of the Chinny Chap I think the company was called but the Chinn and Chapman songwriting team who wrote a lot of hits for bands like Suzi Quatro, and Sweet. Stuff like Devil Gate Drive and Can The Can for Suzi and Ballroom Blitz for Sweet for example. They wrote all the songs, most of all the hits that Mud ever had. they were big from '71 to '75 in the UK. As far as I'm aware they never even got a record deal in America. But that song that we just heard, the insanely Elvis sounding Lonely This Christmas was one of their massive hits back in I think 1974."

John Lennon

"I'm Joe Elliott. This is Songs From The Vault. The Christmas Songs From The Vault on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks. And let's be honest, you can't do a Christmas show without playing this one can you. Yep."

"And before that we heard John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as it is credited. With that most brilliant song Happy Xmas (War Is Over)."

Def Leppard

"Yes like most Christmas songs written and recorded in the middle of a hot sweltering summer. That is a song written by Rick Savage. It's Def Leppard's first and so far only attempt at a Christmas song that we put out with our The Story So Far Best Of album about 18 months ago. 2 years ago now in fact. The song is called We All Need Christmas. Well done Sav."

Show Outro

"You have been listening to the seasonal edition of Joe Elliott's Songs From The Vault right here on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks. Just enough time left for me to say to everybody listening I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I hope you have a spectacular New Year. And let's hope that 2021 is much much better than 2020. It couldn't be any worse could it. Let's hope not."

"I'm gonna leave you on a high. This my friends, from where I come from, is the Daddy. Yes, the Daddy of all Christmas songs. No it's not Bing Crosby. This is Slade with Merry Xmas Everybody. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Everybody."

"Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Have a fantastic time."

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