The following video is from the Monkees Christmas episode. The “gay apparel” thing is slightly offensive but hilarious (how did they get away with that in 1968? TV was still pretty censored…) I’m pretty sure I’ve posted this before, but you can never watch it too many times:
Finding a way to incorporate the holiday season into this journal wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be. Most of my favorite bands have done something Christmassy. Every year from 1963 to 1969, the Beatles issued a Christmas record for their fan club. The first couple are incredibly silly; the next few consist of a bunch of drug-induced nonsense, and by the last ones they were obviously pretty disinterested in the whole thing. Nevertheless, they are all pretty great. Back before YouTube, when I actually had to search high and low for Beatles promos, bootlegs, and lesser-known records, I managed to find all the Christmas records and put them on a CD (I was just that obsessed). Anyway, listening to them again, I must say my favorite has got to be 1964:
Flip the Record 