Ho Ho Ho
Rupaul
1997: Rhino R2 72936
This got a dismissive review on www.allmusic.com which I thought was a bit harsh; certainly I couldn’t agree with Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s comment that “all of it is tired, predictable, and simply not funny.” I have laughed to the point of aching over “All I Want for Christmas” (which includes the great line “All I want for Christmas is my face snatched!”) and “Christmas Nite” in particular, and the little bits of comic exchanges between songs are great too.
Other than that, it’s just a festive Disco/Soul (and sometimes Country) album featuring a drag queen—not everyone’s cup of gin, but it’s handy when you’re in the mood for it. And the back cover of the CD case has an illustration (shown below) that I just howled over when I first saw it.
But OH how I love “Christmas Nite” and its ridiculous story twists and lounge-act pathos. Best lines: “Ladies, that night I felt like a real woman…I felt like a—a real woman ought to be feeling. Well, I felt like—a woman—I think—a woman should be feeling—if I was a woman—feeling these things for a man. But I digress and I wanna tell you this story because—it gets better….” And then there’s this lovely one near the end: “I wanna tell all-a you, uh, ‘skeezers’ out there: don’t mess with mens…don’t mess with mens, because mens are dogs. That’s why tonight I am sleeping with another woman.”
Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.