They, along with dozens of others, have become a mainstay on Radio every holiday season as well as cherished additions to album and CD collections. After the original album, Rivers went on to release 8 more, including compilations. I recently had a chance to ask Bob a few questions about his classic Christmas parodies.
Corey: It's Christmas time and your "Twisted Christmas" series of CDs and songs have become classics that get a lot of airplay this time of year. How did the idea of the original "Twisted Christmas" album come about?
Bob: I've been doing song parodies since about 1985 or so, mostly for syndicated radio networks like ABC, TM Century, and the American Comedy Network. The only way I could afford to make them real good for my own show was to network them. I really wanted to make an album. I figured that a Christmas Album, if it had any success at all, might have a shot at coming out every year. At the time there wasn't much besides the Chipmunks for Christmas Comedy. I had better singers.
Corey: By the way: Is that you dressed as Santa on the covers of your CDs?
Bob: Yes. Every time. When "I Am Santa Claus" came out, it was a family joke, because my kids were about 5 & 7 years old, and getting pretty suspicious. There's a cut on there called "The Kids" where I talk with them about the true meaning of Christmas.
Corey: You're one of these Radio guys who carved out a second career as a recording artist, too. Were you surprised at your success?
Bob: It felt good hearing that question, since I don't feel that successful. I'm surprised at hearing that question! I guess that a gold record, 5 albums on Atlantic, a few million sold is OK, but over 20 years it's a good thing I kept my day job.
Corey: Which are your favorite couple of parody Christmas songs and why?
Bob: There are so many that were so much fun to make. "Jesus’ Birthday" on More Twisted Christmas sounds so much like the Beatles its uncanny. "Carol Of The Bartenders" is a sort of PSA about not drinking and driving that is a depth cut, but meant a lot to me. I am coming up on 17 years sober.
Bob: The song that got it started "The 12 Pains Of Christmas" was one of those magical recording sessions that just happened all by itself. It was very ad-libbed, and when we put it on the air the next day... (this is where I am supposed to say "the phones exploded"). I could not believe the response. My kids are on that song too. They were 1 and 3 years old. They are 20 and 22 now.
Corey: What's your favorite part about the process of creating parody songs?
Bob: Trying to make it clever. Anyone can put a funny chorus or line or two together to make a quick parody. We work real hard to make sure it is really satire of both the performance and emotional meaning of the original. Not only is this a legal requirement for fair use, it turns out that it enriches the experience. Take "I Am Santa Claus" for instance. You know that Santa is bored with his squeaky clean image and is dying to cut loose. In this song he gets to be "Iron Man". Santa joining Black Sabbath! Iron Man, when you think about it describes the job of delivering planet wide in one night perfectly!
Corey: What have I forgotten to ask you?
Bob: Whether I will ever make another. I think I have one more in me. Perhaps next year, if everybody is good :-)
For a profile of Bob Rivers, go here. To compare prices on Bob's CDs, see the links in this article. Visit Bob Rivers' official website at www.BobRivers.com
