Subject Biographies (confirmed to date)
“El Vez is far from an Elvis Impersonator...he is an Elvis translator, a goodwill ambassador for Latin culture.”
~ Rolling Stone
EL VEZ Dubbed the “thinking man’s Elvis” El Vez is a post-modern punk rock king with a Latin twist, the Chicano experience filtered through the soul of Elvis Presley. As a singer & songwriter, El Vez is a true original, having created LIVE music mashups long before DJs adopted the form. His lyrics are political and
pro-Latino. Mixing word play with clever social satire he takes on the classic chestnuts and turns then on their ear. Backed by the kick ass guitars of the Spiders of Mars, and his lovely El Vettes, his Merry Mex-mass show is not to be missed.
http://www.elvez.net
DR. DEMENTO (aka Barry Hansen) is a legendary L.A. disc jockey and musicologist. He is one of the key figures in the development of the Christmas novelty song and was the first American DJ to champion the work of musical legends Spike Jones, Tiny Tim, Weird Al Yankovich, Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg, Frank Zappa as well as SCTV alumni Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, whose McKenzie Bros. hoser ode to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” became a huge North American hit in 1981. (Photo by Jeff Morris)
http://www.drdemento.com/dr-bio.html
JAMES AUSTIN is VP of A&R at Rhino Records, universally regarded as the coolest record label around, this L.A. based company supports the most interesting, eclectic and electrifying music across many genres. A self-confessed Christmas music nut, James has not only produced all of Rhino’s holiday releases Hillbilly Holiday, Bummed Out Christmas, Mambo Santa Mambo, Hipsters’ Holiday: Vocal Jazz and R&B Classics, The Best of Cool Yule and dozens more, but he painted the funky artwork for them as well.
http://www.rhino.com
ANDY CIRZAN is VP of Jam Productions Ltd, one of the largest independent concert promoters in North America. Andy is also the godfather of Christmas music collectors and possesses several thousand of the strangest, weirdest, most obscure Christmas singles around. Andy’s odd and amazing collection includes everything from the strange, surreal world of Christmas Song Poems to the holy grail of Xmas singles The Free Design’s impossible to find anti-war single, “Shepherds & Wisemen” from an obscure U.S. Navy recruitment LP. Andy’s annual handcrafted Xmas CD compilation Further Adventures in Holiday Obscura featuring titles like “Santa Claus Soundscapes” “Off in the Christmas Cosmos” & “Séance with Santa”, is a much sought after industry item.
http://www.soundopinions.org/podcast.html
(scroll to Andy’s Christmas show 12.16.06)
BOB DOROUGH Pianist, singer and composer Bob Dorough knows no generation gap. At 84 years old he’s still touring and packing houses all over the world. Dorough embodies the voice of the modern hipster, with his distinctive reed-like tone, bebop inspired melodies and clever, off-beat lyrics. Dorough holds the distinction of being the ONLY vocalist ever to appear on a Miles Davis record. And that song, “Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)” also written by Dorough, is one of the hippest, and most scathing, Christmas tunes ever recorded.
http://www.bobdorough.com/
TIM SEWELL is an obsessive Christmas music connoisseur. His collection of festive 45s alone comprises an astonishing 5,100+ (each meticulously catalogued and preserved). Tim’s passion for the music was born of a childhood trauma: Asked to prepare a Christmas music mix on the family’s reel-to-reel machine, Tim surreptitiously included Jethro Tull’s “Christmas Song”. “I got the shit beaten out of me by my father because I had the audacity to put sitar music on a Christmas tape. My father didn’t realize they were actually playing the mandolin. So that was kind of the spark that made me decide that from then on I was going to do Christmas my way.”
Hollywood television producer EDDIE G (GORODETSKY) reportedly possesses the largest privately owned Christmas music collection in the world; though he doesn’t keep track of such things. Eddie is also an Emmy award-winning writer, whose career began at Canada’s famed SCTV. A former Boston College disc jockey, he’s been a staff writer with Saturday Night Live, David Lettermen and Penn & Teller amongst a host of other network shows. He appeared in the dirty 2005 documentary ”The Aristocrats” and is presently a writer and co-executive producer on the long running hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” starring Charlie Sheen. Eddie is also the producer of Theme Time Radio Hour with host Bob Dylan, on XM satellite Radio Network.
Though he despises the Christmas season with a passion akin to the size of his astonishing collection, Eddie’s annual Christmas compilation of bootlegs, b-sides and other rock and roll Xmas ephemera is so good that a mysterious backer financed an official factory release on his own Strikin’ It Rich record label back in 1990, entitled “Christmas Party with Eddie G”. If you ever find a copy, buy it right away, put it on, and dance your Christmas dreams (or nightmares) away!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0331212/
JON SOLOMON is a DJ at WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey. He has been on the air since 1988 and is perhaps best known for his annual 24-hour Christmas Music Marathon radio show, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Philebrity.com called Solomon "the closest thing the Philly indie rock scene has to a John Peel."
Solomon's record label, My Pal God Records, has put out recordings by Silkworm, The Embarrassment, The French Kicks, Ex Models, Del Rey, Paul Newman, and TW Walsh. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
http://www.keepingscoreathome.com/
