Kankurette's Alternative Christmas Playlist Quiz

Answer: The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl

Admittedly, this song is one of the more obvious choices on the playlist as it does get a lot of airplay around Christmas in the UK, but it is one of my favourite songs of all time. Like 'Thousands Are Sailing', another track on the Pogues' ,'If I Should Fall from Grace with G-d', the song is about Irish emigrants to the USA. After Kirsty MacColl's death in 2000, the Pogues have performed it live with other female singers, such as Anna Finer - daughter of Pogues' banjo player Jem Finer - Georgian singer Katie Melua, and Welsh singer and DJ Cerys Matthews. Some of the ruder lyrics have been censored on TV and radio, with one particular controversial line featuring a homophobic slur being changed to 'you're cheap and you're haggard' by MacColl on one TV performance.

(The Pet Shop Boys, incidentally, beat the Pogues to the Christmas Number One in 1987, though it was with 'Always on My Mind' and not 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?', their duet with Dusty Springfield.)

Answer: Blink-182

The song is only called 'Happy Holidays' on the clean version of the album, anyway. The full title is not one I can reproduce here. It only lasts 42 seconds. 'Take Off Your Pants and Jacket' comes in three different versions - a red one ('Take Off'), a yellow one ('Pants') and a green one ('Jacket') - each with different bonus tracks. Singles from the album include 'The Rock Show' and 'First Date'.

Answer: The Charlatans

The singer in question is Tim Burgess of the Charlatans (see the line 'like the crazy evenings on the yacht, where Tim and Sarah tied the knot', 'Sarah' being St Etienne singer Sarah Cracknell). 'I Was Born on Christmas Day' is the lead single from St Etienne's 'Xmas '93' EP, and is a reference to another band member, Bob Stanley, who actually was born on Christmas Day in 1964.

The EP also features a cover of Billy Fury's 'My Christmas Pray'. 'I Was Born on Christmas Day' also features on the reissue of 'Tiger Bay'.

Answer: An alien

'I want a little green guy about three feet high, with seventeen eyes, who knows how to fly.' 'I Want an Alien for Christmas' was a non-album single by Fountains of Wayne - best known for 'Stacy's Mom' - which was only released in the UK. It initially charted at 36 when first released in 1997, and 91 on re-release the following year. The song also featured in an episode of the British sitcom 'Teachers' in 2004.

The other options are all from 'Santa Baby' by Eartha Kitt.

Answer: Little Saint Nick

Like 'Little Deuce Coupe', 'Little Saint Nick' is what is known as a 'hotrod song', i.e. a song dedicated to classic cars modified to go faster. The Beach Boys recorded several hotrod songs, such as 'Fun Fun Fun' and 'I Get Around', and 'Little Saint Nick' reimagines Santa's sleigh as a hotrod. Several musicians have covered it, including Hanson, Sugar Ray and McFly.

Answer: Dukla Prague

'All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit' features on Half Man Half Biscuit's second album, 'Back Again in the DHSS', although it is also a bonus track on reissues of 'Back in the DHSS'. Dukla Prague were a Czech football team who later merged with FC Příbram to become 1. FK Příbram; another team, FK Dukla Dejvice, took on the name and team colours of the original Dukla Prague, and became FK Dukla Prague in 2001. (Honved Budapest, a Hungarian football team, appear in another HMHB track, 'I Was a Teenage Armchair Honved Fan'.)

'It's Clichéd to be Cynical at Christmas' appears on the band's eighth album, 'Trouble over Bridgewater'.

Answer: Tom Lehrer

'A Christmas Carol' has nothing to do with the Charles Dickens book of the same name. It's about consumerism at Christmas. The introduction states, "None of the Christmas carols that you hear on the radio or in the street even attempt to capture the true spirit of Christmas as we celebrate it in the United States; that is to say, the commercial spirit." It does, however, incorporate snatches of actual carols: 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing', 'Angels from the Realms of Glory' and 'G-d Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen'.

If you like Tom Lehrer, why not try my World quiz, 'Getting Seasonal with Tom Lehrer'?

Answer: Manic Street Preachers

The Manics' version of 'Last Christmas' appears on the compilation album 'Lipstick Traces', a compilation of B-sides, rarities and covers. The band originally performed the song on 'TFI Friday' in 1996, and also played it on the 20th anniversary tour of 'The Holy Bible' in 2014. It isn't the only pop song they've covered; they also did Rihanna's 'Umbrella' for the 'NME Awards 2008' compilation album, Frankie Valli's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' as a B-side to 'Australia', and Burt Bacharach's 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head' for the 'Help' charity album in 1994.

The songs referred to in the question are 'If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next', 'Australia' and 'A Design for Life', respectively.

Answer: The Waitresses

'Christmas Wrapping' was commissioned by the Waitresses' label, ZE Records, who wanted their artists to record a Christmas song for a compilation album, 'A Christmas Record'. Chris Butler wrote the song in a taxi in the summer of 1981, and used various unused riffs to make up the melody.

The song also appeared on the EP 'I Could Rule the World if I Could Only Get the Parts'. Other musicians who have covered the song include Kate Nash, Martha Wainwright, and British girl band the Saturdays.

Answer: Christmas with the Devil

'Christmas with the Devil' was a bonus track on the 2000 reissue of the soundtrack to the original film, 'This Is Spinal Tap'. This being Spinal Tap, it contains lines such as 'the elves are dressed in leather and the angels are in chains', and 'the sugarplums are rancid and the stockings are in flames'. The song did not appear in the film, but does appear in 'The Return of Spinal Tap'. In-universe, it was on the album 'Break Like the Wind'. The band tried to update it by adding a rap verse.
All the other options are references to other Spinal Tap songs.