NEW video – Mojo Nixon “Christmas Christmas”

This is a particularly busy week. The holidays are always hectic around the E.P. headquarters, and this year is no exception. One thing I decided to do this week was release an exclusive clip of Mojo Nixon from the E.P. archives. This will be the first of two LOUIE-inspired video clips I’ll be sharing for the holidays.

Today, I’m sharing a never-been-seen video of Mojo Nixon performing a LOUIE LOUIE-inspired holiday greeting entitled “Christmas Christmas.” In this newly-edited video, Mojo is visited by the spirits of Evel Knievel and Richard Berry, who were both still alive and well when I originally shot this footage back in 1990.

I shot a great interview with Mojo backstage at the Edge in Palo Alto, California when I recorded this performance. At the time of this video, Mojo was having a hard time releasing this song, as he was having some issues with the publisher of LOUIE LOUIE. A few years later, everything was resolved, and the official recording of this song came out on a Rhino Records compilation “Punk Rock Christmas.”

I’ve always loved the music of Mojo Nixon. This guy put out some really funny, entertaining music that reeked of Elvis Presley, Howlin’ Wolf, James Brown, Tom Lehrer, and some many other great artists. You can check out a lot of his music on YouTube. I’ve got a friend of mine who’s stuck with a dead-end retail job that absolutely loves Mojo’s video of “Burn Down the Malls” which features old pals The Beat Farmers, including the late Country Dick Montana. I really love some of the old MTV PSA spots Mojo did, such as the “Revolutionary” and “Foo Foo Haircut” which I’ve been told were directed by Ted Demme and/or Mark Pellington. Of course, one can’t forget such songs as “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My 2 Headed Love Child” or the legendary “Elvis Is Everywhere.”

Mojo doesn’t perform that often these days, unfortunately. He retired from the music biz a few years, then came back recently with a few fundraisers to support Kinky Friedman‘s unsuccessful campaign to become governor of Texas. Mojo’s got a satellite radio show that keeps him busy these days, but hopefully he’ll get back into the groove of performing again.