Christmas CD
| Christmas CD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | December 7, 2000 (earliest airplay) January 1, 2001 (official release date) | |||
| Format | CD, digital | |||
| Recorded | November 2000 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 5:30 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Producer | Weezer | |||
| Weezer chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Winter Weezerland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| EP by | |
| Released | 2005 |
| Format | digital |
| Recorded | November 2000 |
| Genre | Alternative |
| Length | 5:30 |
| Label | DGC |
| Producer | Weezer |
The Christmas CD, later re-released as Winter Weezerland, is a two-song promotional EP of original Christmas songs released by Weezer in late 2000.
Recording
The Christmas CD was recorded in November 2000 at Rivers Cuomo's home studio, "Mocha Fusion Studios", with additional work done later at Cello Studios. "The Christmas Song" was originally recorded for inclusion on the annual KROQ Christmas compilation Kevin and Bean: The Real Slim Santa. It was edited and partially re-recorded (at Ric Ocasek's urging)[citation needed] for its inclusion on the EP. Karl Koch recalled in 2014 that the EP was recorded at the request of Geffen Records, looking to capitalize on nationwide interest in "The Christmas Song" and to promote Weezer (The Green Album).[1]
Release
The CD was sent to radio stations and record stores in December; fan reports on Karl's Corner indicate it began receiving airplay as early as December 7.[2] Approximately 1,000 copies were sent to members of the original Weezer Fan Club.[1] Some fans who bid on copies of the CD on eBay were contacted by Geffen and offered a free copy.[3] Holiday greeting cards advertising the upcoming release of Weezer (The Green Album) were included alongside some copies of the CD.[4]
The songs were uploaded as MP3s to the "W.F.O." section on weezer.net in 2000 and migrated to the "A/V" section of weezer.com in December 2003.[5][6] January 1, 2001 has been retroactively designated as the EP's "official" release date.[1]
iTunes re-release (Winter Weezerland)
In 2005, the EP was re-released on the iTunes marketplace under the title Winter Weezerland with new album art. Fan accounts indicate the release received some backlash, as the songs had previously been available for free on the Weezer website. An email purportedly sent to a fan by Karl Koch states that the re-release was done under the direction of Geffen without any input from the band. The EP was removed from iTunes by 2008.[7]
Artwork
Karl Koch wrote about the CD's artwork in 2014:[1]
The cover art of the CD has an odd story. The band had been essentially estranged from their label Geffen for so long by 2000 that they were doing most of their own artwork and promotion, (via the rapidly expanding weezer.com). So the plan was to create the artwork for the EP and send it over to Geffen, bypassing their art dept. Back in the summer of 2000, Rivers handed Karl a DV videocamera and told him to start filming. Then, the discovery was made of software that allowed one to capture stills from the video - at the time a revelation, as it seemingly solved the issue of needing a digital camera, which the band did not have and were not yet ubiquitous and easy to manage. On 11/15/00, Karl went and rented Santa suits and the band did a "photo shoot" with Karl filming them to capture stills from later. [...] When it was realized that the stills looked like crap, and that still capturing technology was awful at the time, Karl was finally authorized to buy a digital camera, the 3MP Olympus c-3000. The Santa suits were re-rented and a new shoot was done on 11/31, in the same locations, in front of Rivers' fireplace, and on Rivers' roof.
Due to beginners' ignorance of digital camera file management, and subsequent bungling at the label, this 11/31 set of original photos is almost entirely lost or poorly sized today. The black and white shot used on the disc is totally gone, and the front and back cover photos only exist as the final photoshopped versions with text. 2 shots of Pat and Mikey clowning were resized tiny for the web but the originals were not preserved. No other shots from that day are extant today.
- Note: Koch misremembers some dates in the above excerpt; the video footage and subsequent still images were taken on November 13[8] and the reshoot with the digital Olympus camera occurred on November 15.[9]
The cover art for Winter Weezerland utilizes the same photo originally featured on the back of the Christmas CD. It appears to have been photoshopped to remove the original text, and is slightly zoomed in.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Christmas Song" | 3:08 |
| 2. | "Christmas Celebration" | 2:22 |
| Total length: | 5:30 | |
Personnel
- Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
- Patrick Wilson – drums
- Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Mikey Welsh – bass guitar, backing vocals
Gallery
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Christmas CD front cover
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Christmas CD back cover
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Christmas CD disc
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Advertisement for Christmas CD, created by Karl Koch and run in CMJ New Music Monthly in late 2000.
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Holiday greeting card included with the Christmas CD
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A collage featuring Christmas CD's artwork, as well as other photos taken for potential usage.
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Winter Weezerland cover
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Karl Koch (January 1, 2014). "Today in Weezer History: 1/1/2001". Facebook. Archived from the original.
- ↑ Karl Koch. (December 8, 2000). "12/07/2000". weezer.net. Archived from the original.
- ↑ A Self Called Nowhere (December 25, 2000). Reply to "Christmas CD". alt.music.weezer message.
- ↑ "Rare WEEZER Christmas Promo CD, 2000, ORIGINAL HOLIDAY GREETING CARD INCLUDED!". eBay listing. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023.
- ↑ Weezer fanclub online (beta edition) (2000). weezer.net. Archived from the original.
- ↑ weezer mp3s - straight from the band! (2003). weezer.com. (2003). Archived from the original.
- ↑ Wikimedia Foundation (February 23, 2008). Christmas CD (older revision). Wikipedia.
- ↑ Karl Koch (November 13, 2000). "Karl's Corner - 11/13/2000". Karl's Corner.
- ↑ Karl Koch (November 15, 2000). "Karl's Corner - 11/15/2000 (a)". Karl's Corner.
Footnotes
