2025 Christmas Podcast Day: Fishbone - It's a Wonderful Life EP

Today is November 1st, which means Halloween is over, my family gets a reprieve from me constantly playing the Over the Garden Wall soundtrack and it’s time once again for that most magical of fall holidays, Christmas Podcast Day!

Christmas Podcast Day, celebrated each November 1st, is a day when members of the Christmas podcast community get together to release special episodes of their shows. Last year I likened Christmas Podcast Day to a Whitman’s Holiday Sampler and in doing so, may have made some disparaging remarks about people who enjoy orange cream chocolates.

So, I’d like to start this Christmas Podcast Day by apologizing to anyone I slighted. But more so, I want to recognize the spouses, partners and significant others of those orange cream loving individuals. I can’t imagine that is the only unhinged behavior you endure on a regular basis and I respect your resilience.

This year, to keep things more neutral I’ll describe Christmas Podcast Day as an all-you-can-eat buffet. It’s an opportunity to sample new episodes from all across the Christmas Podcast community. If you find something new that you like, you can go back for another helping or two, safe in the knowledge that no matter how much you consume, the risk of norovirus is way, way lower than the average trip through the Golden Corral. And with that, I’ll scratch another name off my list of potential sponsors.

This Christmas Podcast Day, the theme is It’s a Wonderful Life.

Several Podcasts are releasing episodes dedicated to the various television and movie parodies and adaptations.

The Advent Calendar House gang is covering the Psych episode, “The Polarizing Express”.

On Closer to Christmas, Charlie is talking about the Garfield and Friends episode, “It’s a Wonderful Wade”.

Matt at the TGI Podcast is covering the season four opening episode of That ’70s Show, simply titled “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

At Totally Rad Christmas, Gerry D is talking about the 1983 SCTV Christmas Special, “It’s a Wonderful Film”.

Adam at Merry Britsmas has chosen the season three closing episode of Basil Brush, “It’s a Wonderful Brush”.

Still more podcasts are covering other “It’s a Wonderful Life” related topics.

On Lost Christmas, Jeff is talking about The Greatest Gift, the Philip Van Doren Stern short story that is the basis for the It’s a Wonderful Life film.

On Cozy Christmas, Art is covering the 1997 TV movie Merry Christmas George Bailey, a live recreation of the Lux Radio Theatre’s 1947 production of It’s a Wonderful Life.

Speaking of which…that original Lux Radio Theatre version is the topic of Troy’s episode on Christmas Every Day.

And then there’s Can’t Wait for Christmas where host, comedian and lover of all things Christmas Tim Babb is starting Muppetvember off with a bang. His episode not only covers the 2002 adaption, It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, but Tim also has an interview with Jimmy Hawkins, the actor who played Tommy Bailey in the original 1946 film.

If any of that sounds interesting, then I highly recommend you head over to https://christmaspodcasts.com where you can find all these Christmas Podcast Day episodes, plus dozens of other awesome Christmas podcasts by equally awesome Christmas podcasters.

And with that, we’ll jump into our Christmas Podcast Day topic: Fishbone and their 1987 EP It’s a Wonderful Life.

Fishbone…is a hard band to describe. At least succinctly. That’s what I’ve learn while attempting to write this post.

It would be easy to just call them a ska band or a ska-punk band and be done with it, but that’s like calling Final Fantasy Tactics just another RGP.

It’s really just scratching the surface. Sure, there’s a good helping of ska, but there’s also enough funk drown half of Parliament. Then add a healthy dose of ’80s SoCal punk, some metal, and a sprinkling of jazz, soul, R&B, early alternative and new wave. Filtered it all through a socially conscious lens that has been unapologetic in calling out racism, fascism and inequality for over 45 years and you’re starting to flesh out what makes Fishbone so unique.

Fishbone’s history is just as interesting and eclectic as their music. The band was formed in the Los Angeles area in 1979, when the founding members were still in junior high. The original lineup consisted of the Fisher brothers, Philip and John Norwoood, on drums and bass respectively, Kendall Jones on guitar, Walter Kibby II on vocals and trumpet, Christopher Dowd on keyboard, trombone and vocals and Angelo Moore, Dr MadVibe himself on saxophone, vocals and the criminally underused theremin.

I can’t stress enough that this was a sextet of 14- and 15-year-old kids cranking out music with funky hooks, ska beats and a punk rock attitude at the dawn of the 1980s. Fishbone quickly became part of the SoCal music scene, establishing friendships with other up-and-coming acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s Addiction.

Things started to take off when they were signed to Columbia records in 1983. They released their first self-titled EP in 1985 which contained the single “Party at Ground Zero”. This was followed up by their first full length album, In Your Face the following year.

In 1987 Fishbone went on the road as the Beastie Boys’ opening act on their License to Ill tour. 1987 was also the year they released their It’s a Wonderful Life EP.

But, before we dive into the record, I want to take a few minutes to run through the almost 40 years of Fishbone that has happened after its release.

Since In Your Face in 1986, Fishbone has released another seven full length albums. I won’t go over each one, but a few of my favorites are:

1991’s The Reality of My Surroundings, which saw the band pivot further into hard rock and metal.

2000’s Fishbone and the Familyhood Nextperience Present: The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx which features a dizzying array of guest artists including Donny Osmond, HR of Bad Brains, Gwen Stefani, George Clinton, Rick James, Chad, John and Flea of the Chili Peppers and Perry Farrell.

2025’s Stockholm Syndrome, their latest album, which adds ragtime and rockabilly to the arsenal of ways the band delivers their political and social messages.

And since we’ve invoked the name of Perry Farrell, I’ll also mention that Fishbone played both the original 1991 Lollapalooza Tour and the ‘93 tour where they shared the main stage with acts like Alice in Chains, Primus, Tool and Rage Against the Machine.

This is where I first heard Fishbone. No, 11-year-old-me didn’t get to attend Lollapalooza, but 11-year-old-me was completely obsessed with Primus. The Pork Soda album had just come out, and I was sure people would one day be talking about it with the same reverence as Sergeant Pepper or Pet Sounds.

So, I somehow ended up with a copy of the ‘93 Tour promo CD, which not only contained “Mr. Krinkle”, a Primus track from said Pork Soda album, but also the song that introduced me to Fishbone, “Swim”.

Fishbone has done their fair share of summer tours, including appears on the Vans Warped Tour in 1996 and 2007, as well as the 25th anniversary tour in 2019 and this year’s 30th anniversary tour.

And if you’ve never been to Lollapalooza or the Warped Tour or a Fishbone concert, you may still have seen the band in one of their many guest appearances in films or music videos.

Fishbone’s first theatrical appearance was in the 1987 movie Back to the Beach. This was a parody of the 1960’s beach party films and featured Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, both stars of the original genre. Fishbone performed a version of “Jamaica Ska” onscreen, with Funicello providing the vocals.

The following year, they appeared as the band Ranchbone in the John Cusack and Tim Robbins film Tapeheads.

Members of the band have also made appearances in Idlewild, The Tripper and I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, while their iconic logo has graced the t-shirts of characters in even more films and television shows.

Marlon Wayans’ character, Seymour Stewart wears a Fishbone shirt in Mo’ Money, as does Tim Robbins’ character “Nuke” Laloosh in Bull Durham. Darren Burrows’ character Ed Chigliak can be seen wearing a Fishbone shirt throughout his run on Northern Exposure. On A Different World, Freddie and Lena are both depicted as Fishbone fans.

But the biggest Fishbone merch moment goes to John Cusack’s character Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything, who sports a black Fishbone t-shirt in the film.

No, it’s not the shirt he’s wearing during the iconic boombox scene. That happens to be a Clash t-shirt, but that scene does have an interesting Fishbone tie-in.

Originally, Cusack didn’t want to shoot the boombox scene, thinking it was too passive of a move for his character Lloyd. Cameron Crowe on the other hand, who wrote and directed the film, though it could be the hallmark of the movie. Spoiler alert: he was right.

Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” ended up being the song used in the film, but for a period of time, it was going to be a Fishbone track. Crowe convinced Cusack, who was a Fishbone fan to try filming the boombox scene in part by telling him they were going to use a Fishbone song.

Now, there are some conflicted accounts from interviews with Cusack and Crowe as to which exact song was going to be used, but from what I’ve been able to piece together:

The song used on set for filming was either “Party at Ground Zero” or “Turn the Other Way”, but “Question of Life” was the song used to initially score the scene. After watching the scene during editing, Cusack wanted a fourth Fishbone song, “Bonin’ in the Boneyard” to be used before it was finally switched to “In Your Eyes”.

There’s a whole separate story about how Crowe convinced Peter Gabriel to grant clearance for his song, but we’re already deep into this post and still haven’t talked about the main topic.

I’ll wrap this section by saying that Fishbone did make it into Say Anything, albeit not in the boombox scene, but with yet another song, “Skankin’ to the Beat”. There is also a cool Say Anything homage in Hot Tub Time Machine where Cusack’s character Adam holds up a Fishbone shirt.

And with that, let’s dive into It’s a Wonderful Life.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1987)

• It’s a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time)
• Slick Nick, You Devil You
• Iration
• and Just Call Me Scrooge

As I mentioned at the top, the EP came out in 1987. It was Fishbone’s 3rd physical release after their self-titled EP and first full length album. And it’s a great example of how the band, even early on, was drawing from a wide range of musical styles.

Starting with the title track, it tells the events of the film It’s a Wonderful Life from George Bailey’s perspective. Saving Harry in the lake, losing the bank deposit, wrecking his car, getting punched, Clarence granting his wish, and realizing that he does in fact have a wonderful life are all mentioned.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is the song on the EP stylistically closest to the music Fishbone was putting out at that point in their career. A big, funky bassline, lots of ska horns and Angelo on lead vocals. It’s also the only song from the EP to have a music video.

The video, produced in black and white, starts with the scene from It’s a Wonderful Life where Mary plays the “Buffalo Gals” record in her living room. The rest of the video is rapid, back and forth cuts between scenes from It’s a Wonderful Life and the band performing the song. It ends abruptly with a needle scratch and the movie clip where Mary pulls the record off the player and smashes it.

One interesting bit of trivia. The copyright for It’s a Wonderful Life was not renewed in 1974, making the film public domain until Republic Pictures reasserted copyright 1993. That is another story in and of itself, but the short version is that it allowed television stations to broadcast the film without paying royalties for almost 20 years, which they took full advantage of, and which resulted in the movie’s rise in popularity during that period.

The 20-year lapse is also the reason Fishbone was able to use all the movie clips completely free their music video, as well as that image of Mary breaking the record as the album art.

The next song on the EP and my favorite of the four tracks is “Slick Nick, You Devil You”.

The song tells the story of a Grinch-like Santa who’s not only steals Christmas, but televisions and stereos as well. Unlike Dr Suess’s Grinch, who steals candy from the stockings, Slick Nick refills them with Mad Dog.

I’m probably not doing a great job of selling it, but it really is a fantastic song. Jeff of the Lost Christmas podcast and I discussed it a bit on our Warped Tour episode earlier this year. It’s a stripped-down, soulful R&B track, driven almost entirely by an electric organ and handclaps.

And while quite different from most of the music Fishbone was releasing in the late ’80s, it gave an early glimpse of the sheer talent and variety of music the band would be producing over the next several decades.

The third song on the EP, “Iration” is more of a worship song than a Christmas tune. We get soulful, gospel lyrics over a reggae beat and some great horn work at the end. Again, if you were to play this track, I don’t think anyone short of a die-hard fan would know they were listening to either a Fishbone song or a Christmas song.

The final song on the EP, “Just Call Me Scrooge” veers yet another musical direction with a straight-up funk track. If you created a Venn diagram of Parliament, Prince, Morris Day and Christmas, you would find “Just Call Me Scrooge” right in the center. With a massive bass line, bouncing keyboards, tight drumming and blasts horns, you could easily mistake this for a ’00s track produced by a studio wizard, not an ’80s track recorded by live musicians.

I just have to point out again the talent of this band. When this EP was recorded, they would have all been around 22, 23 years old. I came across a discussion on Fishbone some time ago where a commentor described seeing them perform looked like a bunch of guys dancing around on stage and having a great time while a CD played in the background. That’s how effortless they made it look.

It’s a Wonderful Life was released on both Vinyl and Cassette in 1987, with a second vinyl pressing the following year. You can tell which version you have by looking at the record label. It will either have a ‘87 copyright for the original or an ‘88 for the repress.

If you’re interested in owning your own copy of the EP, it’s not too terribly difficult to find. I was able to pick up an incredibly clean copy of the original pressing from a collector who bought it new in ‘87 and had only played it once each year since then. A copy in similarly good shape will likely set you back $20-30 us dollars, plus shipping. Or, if cassettes are your thing, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding one for under $20, shipped.

The EP was never released on CD in the US, but it did receive a Japanese-only release in 1992. These can also be found for a relatively reasonable price as long as you’re not hung up on finding one with the obi strip intact.

Other than those limited releases, the only other way to get these tracks, on physical media anyway, is through compilation albums. The 1996 compilation album, Fishbone 101 contains all four tracks, as does 2003’s The Essential Fishbone.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” also appears on the 1994 Christmas compilation CD A Different Kind of Christmas. “Slick Nick, You Devil You” appears on a few compilation CDs including 1995’s Rock and Roll Christmas, 2015’s The Classic Christmas ’80s Album and the 1991 Columbia Records Promo “Tis the Sampler which gets extra Christmas points for its name.

And with that we’ll end our Christmas Podcast Day post and our look at Fishbone and their 1987 EP It’s a Wonderful Life.

Again, I encourage everyone to head over to christmaspodcasts.com and check out all the other amazing Christmas Podcast Day episodes.

Cheers and Merry Christmas!