The PopCulteer
December 20, 2024
It’s Christmastime, and I have not yet posted photos of this year’s PopCult Christmas Tree (which is largely the work of my beautiful wife, Mel Larch). Allow me to correct that today, and not only with photos, but with a very short video AND, a brand-new Christmas episode of Mel’s classic Disco showcase, MIRRORBALL.
And as you’ll see, it all ties into itself nicely.
First, let’s show you the photos of the tree. For the past several years, we have done a pop culture tree, with a polyglot of ornaments representing everything from Batman to SpongeBob to the City of Chicago to GI Joe and tons more. To be honest, we have enough ornaments (but not enough room) for five or six trees.
But this year we wanted to do something different. We don’t want to fall into tree ennui. We decided to do a theme.
And since Mel loves Disco and mirrorballs (and even has a Disco music shown on The AIR called MIRRORBALL–see below) AND since mirrorballs are having a moment and you can find them everywhere this year for real cheap…it was a bit of a no-brainer.
We have a Disco Christmas Tree, complete with Santa holding a mirrorball and Keith Haring hanging out in the middle of it all.
Photos alone won’t do it justice, so after the pics, there’s a video. After that, we’ll tell you about this afternoon’s new episode of MIRRORBALL.

Using the flash to take photos does not show off how some of the mirrorballs are illuminated in different colors, but this is here for reference. The video shows them in their full glory.

Not using the flash presents a whole different set of issues, particularly when your hands are shaky

Another flash shot, this one from a weird angle that makes it look like there’s a huge blank spot that isn’t really there.

It wouldn’t be a cool Disco Christmas Tree without Keith Haring in its midst.

Disco Santa is doing pretty well his own damn self.

Finding this tree topper really made it a no-brainer to go all-out Disco with the tree.

One last look at the tree

We have other Christmas stuff too, you know. Here’s Mel’s holiday plush

…and here’s everything from Santa to Braxie to SpongeBob and the Defenders of Bulletman, all together in the holiday spirit.

Our last photo is the end table that I decorated, complete with DC Christmas figures, holiday Frankenstein and Creature, the Blue Garloo, the poor Christmas Tree Chicken from Spirit Christmas and of course, the Metaluna Mutant. Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like The Metaluna Mutant… and a Weinermobile.
With the photos out of the way, here’s the video…
Friday on The AIR. This afternoon we serve up a special new episode of MIRRORBALL and a classic episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat! The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.
MIRRORBALL
Friday at 2 PM on The AIR, Mel Larch gets you dancing into the Christmas spirit with a new, holiday-themed, episode of MIRRORBALL.
You’ll hear Disco takes on holiday classics from Snowflake, Jack Ashford, Montreal Feat. Raymond Berthiaume, The Universal Robot Band, Raindolls and The Village People.
It’s an hour of music to get you shaking your booty around the Christmas Tree, and holly jolly might not be the only vibe it stirs up.
You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays Sunday night at 11 PM and throughout the following week Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM plus there’s a mini-marathon that includes the latest episode Saturday nights at 9 PM
Sydney’s Big Electric Cat Splits The Enz
Also on The AIR at 3 PM (EDT), Sydney Fileen delivers a special encore mixtape edition of her show that pays tribute to New Zealand’s greatest musical export, Split Enz.
Sydney focuses on the New Wave career of the band, which was formed in the early 1970s, originally as a progressive rock/art rock band. In 1977 after three semi-successful albums but no major hit, there were several line-up changes. That year Phil Judd departed the band and was replaced by Tim Finn’s brother, Neil, who was only sixteen years old at the tme.
With a newly-energized line-up and the addition of Neil’s vocals and songwriting, the band headed into a new direction and became a worldwide New Wave phenomenon. Sydney brings you a msitape of the music Split Enz made from 1978 to 1984, before continuing line-up changes led to the band morphing into Crowded House. For the bulk of this show’s songs, Split Enz consisted of Time and Neil, the Finn Brothers, plus Eddie Raynor, Nigel Griggs and Noel Crombie & Phil Hester. It’s the best of Split Enz from 1978’s Frenzy album to 1984’s Conflicting Emotions.
Check out this killer playlist…
Split Enz
“I See Red”
“Mind Over Matter”
“I Got You”
“Shark Attack”
“What’s The Matter With You”
“Missing Person”
“Poor Boy”
“How Can I Resist Her”
“Things”
“Hard Act To Follow”
“One Step Ahead”
“Walking Through The Ruins”
“History Never Repeats”
“I Don’t Want To Dance”
“Clumsy”
“Iris”
“Six Months In A Leaky Boat”
“Dirty Creatures”
“Hello Sandy Allen”
“Never Ceases To Amaze Me”
“Small World”
“Lost For Words”
“Make Sense of It”
“Bullet Brain and Cactus Head”
“I Wake Up Every Night”
“Message To My Girl”
“No Mischief”
“Conflicting Emotions”
“Breakin’ My Back”
“One Mouth Is Fed”
“The Lost Cat”
“Ninnie Knees Up”
“Double Happy”
Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon, Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR.
That’s what’s on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer.
Check PopCult for all our regular features, with fresh content every day, even during the holiday season.
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