Friday, December 01, 2006

Christmas at a Brothel


This is quite an obscure thing from the seventies, the cover gives a good idea about the lyrics. The music is not very interesting, the singers and the musicians (some of them later got quite wellknown) sounds rather bored but they are doing their job. A speculation in bad taste (still I think it never sold very much, you find loads of these in Salvation Army stores).

In this version of the Lucia song (in my country it's considered as a Christmas song and we are celebrating the bride of lightness, Lucia, the 13th of December) is about a drugaddict selling her body for ten swedish crowns (a litle bit more than an american dollar).
"Hej tomtegubbar" (Cheers all Father Christmas) is a well known drinking song,not only sung at dances around the Christmas Three but also when you drink Snaps (vodka) at the dinner table at Christmas Eve. In this version Father Christmas is asked to pull down his trousers (and the rest you can guess). Last I give you a totallly different version of a traditional song "Nu är det jul igen" (Now it's Christmas again): "Nu e jag kåt igen!".

Additional information about the inspiration of this record:
Bordellmamma (Mama San in charge of the Brothel)was a well known theme from a couple of records with a totally different artist. He has nothing to do with this Christmas record. His name was Johnny Bode, well known in the 30ties and 40ties as a singer but also for many other things (such as fraud and other criminal activities, sympathies for the Nazi Party, a couple of peculiar Gay Records - some of them for the German market etc). Towards the end of his life he was getting more and more miserable, constantly in need of money and willing to do all sorts of odd things that would give him some cash. His pornografic records was a great success and many others tried to copy the idea, the Christmas Record is a result of such a project. (There are a few eccellent books about Johnny Bode, the latest one was written by the journalist Ingemar Norlén. Those that know Swedish might try to read here).

5 comments:

CaptainOT said...

GREAT JUMPIN' ICEBERGS!

What a find! Thank you for sharing this with us Anna-Lena!


Capt

Martin Klasch said...

Ahhh... Wouldn't it be something if it WAS a Bode record! I was so disapointed when I read your text. But don't get me wrong - Thanks anyway!!

Anna-Lena Lodenius said...

Just you wait until I publish my book of Christmas Records (whenever that might be) and I tell the full (?) story of this record.

Judit Lingon said...

Hej Anna-Lena!
Tack för musiken! :-)
kan jag rekommendera en kul sajt?
http://chewtoy.multiply.com/music/item/353

Anna-Lena Lodenius said...

Tack för tipset!

Det är märkligt hur mycket julmusik det finns, dyker alltid upp nytt.