Happy Holidays! It's Time To "Sing Along With Joe"

How I created Marvel themed Christmas Songs and paid for it (literally)

Is it me, or does my version of Santa resemble Tom Brevoort?

At the end of 2001, I had this crazy idea to revive an old Marvel tradition and write a Christmas song for all the Marvel faithful. Long before my life in comics, I was a singer-songwriter and had fronted my own band since 1981, so why let an old skill set go to waste?

Unfortunately, the last thing Marvel had in its budget was money for some ex-rocker’s quixotic adventure. Undeterred, I decided to pay for the recording sessions myself.

Because we had to keep expenses low and I had a day job, the first song, “Santa Clause Gives Marvel Comics for Christmas,” was written the day before the recording session and then rehearsed, recorded, and mixed in one evening.

Over the next four years, we completed four more Marvel Christmas ditties under the same conditions. It was exhausting, but I’ll forever cherish those memories of walking into the studio late at night and leaving as the sun rose.

“Christmas At My Comic Shoppe,” recorded in December of 2002, was the second in the series. For whatever reason, I felt it was appropriate to start with this one.

For those of you who aren’t deeply into the world of comics, because every year’s Christmas song reflected what was going on at Marvel at the time, some of the lyrics may seem a bit inside baseball.  I apologize ahead of time if you find some of it confusing.

But before we get started, some thanks are in order.

To my musical brothers, Mike Ferrara, Tommy Dean, and Bobby Ventura. None of this would have been possible without you. Unfortunately, in 2022, Mike and Tommy left us too soon, but I know they’re smiling right now, knowing that these songs are reaching a wider audience.

Idelchatter: our first gig, October 1981. Bobby Ventura, me, and Mike Ferrara Tommy Dean plays the sacks during one of our many shows at CBGB’s

To my buddy Greg Schmidt, a true audio genius—thank you for taking this old MP3 (the multi-tracks have been lost to time) and giving it some much-needed TLC.

To the special guest at the tune's end, my humongous, heartfelt, and humble gratitude—you inspired all this and so much in my life.

And, of course, to YOU: thank you for the incredible support you’ve given me through the years. I hope you stick around; there’s so much more just around the corner.

May your holiday be joyous, and may your New Year be Amazing!

Be good to each other.

JQ