Review Summary: Belly flop on a Pizza!?!
Ah, the Christmas season! We love it and loathe it in so many ways. We love the festive feel, the great food, the way people are friendlier and for the religious people, it’s the celebration of Jesus’ birth. But unfortunately Christmas is also filled with bad things, like tacky decorations, horrible chocolates, big credit card bills and worst of all, the Christmas album. As the season starts we are confronted with shocking B-grade celebrities having a crack at Christmassy albums trying to achieve that little extra celebrity cred, with their pitchy renditions of ‘Away in a Manager’ or the murdering of ‘Silent Night’, but once in a while proper recording artists, like Bing Crosby’s famous ‘White Christmas’ hit the spot perfectly.
How does this bring me to of all people Peter Combe you ask? Well back in 1990 Peter Combe released one of the most prominent Christmas albums Australia had received in years. But the catch is, Peter Combe is a children’s singer, and be that so, that was the intended audience of this album. For you non Australian readers, Peter Combe was the man that inspired The Wiggles to become what they are now.
Having released 23 studio albums to date, Combe certainly has the formula and ability to write catchy albums. With all the tracks featured being original, the album tells the story of the Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus, but in a friendly and nice way. Mixing in very relevant biblical elements, to right down silly lyrics, Combe accommodates for both the non believers and religious type. While lyrically nothing is hard hitting, because of course this
is a children’s album, Combe still obvious paints is views all over the album, he even manages to slip in the massive murders that Caesar Augustus implemented when he heard about the new “king” being born, but of course Combe puts a slight twist on it:
“Yes I Caesar Augustus, big shot that I am,
Do hereby decree that – all of my subjects
Should return to the place of their birth!”
While also mixing in silly songs like ‘Ping’ with no lyrical relevance what so ever:
“Four steps forward – kick left, kick right,
Turn around and turn around and then say PING!
Father Christmas lost his whiskers
Down the chimney climbing nimbly
Now his face is rather prickly
Hope those whiskers grow back quickly”
Musically, Combe has gone all out with this album, enlisting many different choirs and a full entourage of back up musicians to give the album a large and filling sound. Combe mixes his slapstick catchiness very well with the serious, yet tuned down story of Christmas. This mix works perfectly with ‘Tell Me The Story’ which has the choir girls enthused about the story of Christmas, while Combe launches into lofty verses about what he will describe in the upcoming songs. Of course, being a children’s album, there is a lot of nostalgia based on the albums rating, though every Christmas,
Peter Combe’s Christmas Album will get a spin, be it young nieces or nephews wanting to listen to the chirpy and positive Christmas themed music or be it just general background music during the festive season. It has become a timeless tradition and an album that will stay playing even after two decades after its release.
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