so, i recently reviewed christmas with the puppini sisters, and since then, the album has become one of my household’s favorite holiday tunes to go to. today, i want to share one more song to love – a cover of wham!’s last christmas.

first off, i want to explain that i HATE wham!’s version. i find it…trite. boring. uninspiring. i know, i know – a ton of you love it. this is obvious considering it’s played on the radio ALL THE FREAKING TIME alongside mariah’s hideous all i want for christmas (is you).

i nearly skipped this song when i got the cd, thinking i’d hate this version just as much. but i didn’t and then…suddenly…i realized OMG, I AM IN PARIS AND I AM LOVING IT. yes, that’s right. this version is a slice of parisian heaven. ooh-la-la!

i love how the puppini sisters (italian marcella puppini and english stephanie o’brien and kate mullins) do that with their songs – how they transport you through time and space to different places: this song with paris, mele kalikimaka with hawaii, and all i want for christmas with new orleans and dixieland. so, so wonderful!

stephanie o’brien, the redhead of the group, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me!

have you met heather: your sound is very retro and yet unique in modern music. what led to the creation of the puppini sisters?

stephanie o’brien: The inspiration behind the group came from the discovery of a film called ‘Belleville Rendezvous’– a French animation set to a 1930s gypsy jazz Django-esque soundtrack (ed. note: belleville rendezvous is the UK title for the triplets of belleville). Three of the featured characters were based on The Andrews Sisters, following their lives from their hey day as Vaudeville performers to when they are old ladies. The fusion of the retro elements, exciting rhythms of swing and that type of jazz, set to a dance beat and married with The Andrews Sisters in style and image was the catalyst that led to the creation of The Puppini Sisters.

hymh: your christmas album is so much fun. how did you come to choose the tracks you did to cover?

stephanie: Thank you! We certainly had a lot of fun making it. Deciding which tracks we wanted to record was an easy process. We began as a group in December 2004 so some of the very first of our performances were Christmas shows, singing true classics like Santa Baby and Winter Wonderland. We wanted to capture the love we have for that time of the year and were all agreed which our favourite Christmas songs were. We went for lunch to an oyster bar in Soho early in the year and with a pen and paper and a glass of prosecco and we made our track listing there and then!

hymh: what’s next for the puppini sisters?

stephanie: Next year we will be performing with The Pasadena Roof Orchestra, which we’re really looking forward to. We are also going to be making a new album which we’ll be announcing soon and we aim to be returning to the States with a tour. We have a lot to look forward to!
Thanks and Happy Holidays from Stephanie x

thanks so much, stephanie! i am looking forward to hearing about the new album. on that note, seriously, friends. you MUST get this album!

here’s last christmas for you to swoon to:

(mp3) last christmas by the puppini sisters

buy christmas with the puppini sisters HERE.