As a child, I thought Christmas was pretty keen. As I got older, it seemed more like a family conspiracy to keep me from hanging out with my buddies, a sentence to an eternity of lame, boring moments. But the one thing that could drag me out of my aggressive-passive adolescent torpor was the gift of music.

When I was about 12, I asked for and got Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and the first album by local faves, Prism. I was so happy. Hell, there's even a picture of me, Christmas morning, holding up the records, and grinning my fool head off. It's probably one of the few pictures my family has of the adolescent-me smiling.

As I got older, my seasonal sulk worsened. Once, I even made my girlfriend cry by scoffing at her suggestion that we get a Christmas tree and "have a nice time." But, lately, my anti-Christmas stance has once again softened. I can even manage some semblance of a holiday spirit...for a week or so, anyway. How did this happen? Well, music had a lot to do with it.

You see, I have my own Christmas traditions now. On Christmas Eve, I go to the Railway Club in Vancouver. What drew me in was No Fun's cynical performance in the No Fun at Christmas Show. But after a few years, the annual show was changed to The Hard Rock Miners' Christmas Sing-a-Long: a whole different kettle of candy canes. It's much more of a full on, heart-on-its-sleeve Christmas thing. The place is packed and everyone gets hammered and sings Christmas carols. I will admit, I like it. Some may observe that maybe I've just turned into a big ol' old lame-ass myself. To them I say, "Go eat a bag of (reindeer) shit." Nice, eh?

But, even though Christmas carols are fun 'n' all...the song "No Fun at Christmas" by No Fun (The Beatles of Surrey) remains one of my all-time favourite holiday tunes. To all those self-centred little brats (of which I was one), this tells 'em...and tells 'em good.

Listen to "No Fun At Christmas," by No Fun.

Andrew Pearson is owner and operator of Red Cat Records in Vancouver.