Even though I have lived in New York City my whole life, I am--thanks to my hatred of the entitlement and spoiled attitude of Yankees fans--a Red Sox fan. So you can understand why a Christmas song about the magical season of 2004 (a season that was heralded by the release of a new version of the Sox anthem ‘Tessie’ by the Dropkick Murphys) actually gives me the giggles.
Oddly enough, the band that recorded this little piece of time suspended in digital amber is not from Boston, but from Cincinnati. They bear the distinction of being the only band to ever be featured in the Now That’s What I Call Music series that were on an independent label at the time. From what I can glean, this song was debuted at Boston’s Kiss 100 Jingle Ball concert prior to being released as a B-side to their cover of Rick Springfield’s ‘Jessie’s Girl.’ They apparently love baseball, as they also wrote and performed the theme song for the Cincinnati Red Radio Network, and I have to assume that they wrote this song in celebration of what was then a unique event.
I think the reason why Frickin’ A couldn’t capitalize on their success with their cover of a guilty pleasure and a Christmas-themed novelty record about baseball is its blandness. When I first heard this song, I thought it was by Bowling for Soup who, the year before, had recorded a Yankees-centric version of ‘1985‘ for local radio station Z-100 (it’s as awful as it sounds). The fact is, Frickin’ A sounds an awful lot like that Texas ska punk band (who also made their bones on a cover; ‘1985‘ was originally written and performed by SR-71), and there’s nothing there that distinguishes them as unique. Frickin’ A just drifts into the aether like any of a number of alt-rock bands from the late 90‘s to the early ‘00s.
So enjoy this dated track from fourteen years ago that still warms my shriveled, anti-festive heart! I've never been able to find an official music video, so here's a fan made one....
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