Rare Photos of Freddie Mercury Riding on the Shoulders of Santa Claus at The Forum in Inglewood on Dec. 22, 1977

This is the final night of the News of the World Tour. To celebrate it there are some holiday festivities on stage. First, during the acoustic set, Freddie Mercury and Brian May perform a one-off version of “White Christmas”. Later, for the first encore of “We Will Rock You”, the band’s bodyguard, Paul Korzilius (“Big Paul”, as the band and crew called him), comes on stage dressed as Santa Claus. Instead of the expected toys in Santa’s sack, Freddie emerges from it in his silver lurex suit where he then sings the song on Santa’s shoulders. Prior to this, Brian May plays a bit of “Deck The Halls” in his solo spot, which is greatly enjoyed by the audience.

Earlier in the evening, Mercury refers to the medley as a “cornucopia of delight. Something nice and pretentious, just for all the critics.”

The performance is nothing short of ferocious from Mercury and the band, certainly one of the finest of their career. While the band were always on their game during this period, on this night they tap into their energy reserves and give a little extra in nearly every song. Mercury’s delivery of “Somebody To Love”, “It’s Late”, “Liar”, “My Melancholy Blues”, and “White Man” are amongst his best ever, and the band, now with 25 shows on the tour under their belt, are tight and focused.

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Photos of 40 Scariest Santas of All Time

You DON’T want these Santa Claus’ coming to town!

Nowadays, everyone knows well the Christmas Santa in his red suit with a kind smile and his sack full of gifts. However, more than 50 years, the old bearded paunchy did not have the same nice look that we see today. For the proof, we let you discover these Santa Claus with absolutely creepy looks and clothes.

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Zappa Claus: “Merry Christmas and Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow!”

Santa Claus is mentioned in Frank Zappa’s song “Uncle Bernie’s Farm” from Absolutely Free (1967), which briefly quotes White Christmas in the beginning. On the cover of We’re Only in It for the Money (1968) a Christmas Tree can be seen.

Zappa originally wanted to title his book Them Or Us (1984) Christmas in New Jersey. Zappa dressed up in a Santa costume for a 1980s photo shoot. During a 1985 photo shoot to promote Thing-Fish, Annie Ample was also photographed in a Santa suit. The song “Briefcase Boogie” from the same album quotes Jingle Bells.

25 Awkward Vintage Christmas Album Covers From European Countries

Christmas album art has its own unique tradition. There are the decorated trees, the fuzzy sweaters and the evocative winter scenes — and then there are the rest. But looking at these Christmas music album masterpieces only one question pops into mind: “What the hell were they thinking?!”

From polka to hip-hop, folk to disco, here is a collection of some of the worst Christmas album cover art ever from European countries.

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Christmas in The Netherlands: 30 Vintage Photos of Sinterklaas and Piet Traveling on Saint Nicholas’ Eve in the 1940s and 1950s

Sinterklaas, also known as Saint Nicholas, is dear to the hearts of Dutch children. He can be recognized by his eye-catching red cape with red miter and his long white beard. The saintly man arrives each year in mid-November on a steam boat filled with gifts and together with his helpers, all referred to as Zwarte Piet, who dressed in Moorish attire and in blackface.

For most children in The Netherlands, the most important day during December is December 5, when Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) brings them their presents! St. Nicholas’ Day is on December 6, but in The Netherlands, the major celebrations are held on December 5, St. Nicholas’ Eve. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklaas.

It all starts on the second Saturday of November (the first Saturday after November 11) when Sinterklaas travels to a city or town in The Netherlands. Dutch tradition says that St. Nicholas lives in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbor to arrive in The Netherlands, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him.

Sinterklass travels with his servants called Zwarte Piet (‘Black Pete’). When Sinterklaas and the Piets come ashore from the steam boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas, dressed in his red robes, leads a procession through the town, riding a white horse. Every town in The Netherlands has a few Sinterklaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinterklaas and the Piets who help give the presents out.

Children are told that the Piets keep a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a big book. Good children will get presents from Sinterklaas, but bad children will be put in a sack and the Piets take them to Spain for a year to teach them how to behave!

On the evening that Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands, children leave a shoe out by the fireplace or sometimes a windowsill and sing Sinterklaas songs. They hope that Sinterklaas will come during the night with some presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas’s horse, they will be left some sweets or small presents. They’re told that, during the night, Sinterklaas rides on the roofs on his horse and that a Piet will then climb down the chimney (or through a window) and put the presents and/or candy in their shoes.

In many families the children are told that Sinterklaas and a Piet make a weekly visit, so the children leave their shoe by the fireplace or window i.e. every Saturday until the main Sinterklaas party on December 5.

Many people now don’t like the use of Zwarte Piet, this is because the helpers who dress up as Zwarte Pieten are normally white people who wear black makeup as this is seen as racist. So now you will often see more Sooty Piet'/'Roetpiet (‘Sooty’ or ‘Chimney Peter’) where people just have soot and dirt smudges on their face rather than being completely made up with black makeup.

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Vintage Photos of Mr. T and Nancy Reagan Teamed Up to Light Up the White House Christmas Decorations in 1983

On December 12, 1983, Mr. T, star of The A-Team shed his tough guy image and donned a Santa Claus costume to assist First Lady Nancy Reagan in unveiling the Christmas decorations at the White House.

In a 2008 interview with The Independent, Mr. T admitted his invitation to the White House was one of the biggest surprises of his life:

“Nancy Reagan was campaigning to get kids to say no to drugs, and they heard about me going round schools telling kids to stay away from drugs. It was a real honor for a black kid from the ghetto who grew up on welfare.”

To his further surprise, the first lady even sat on the A-team star’s lap and gave him a kiss on the forehead, perhaps a thank you for the Mr. T doll he presented her with as a gift.

Four years later, Mrs. Reagan got some help from another popular television celebrity at the 1987 White House Christmas Party. The friendly, cat loving extraterrestrial ALF.

Twenty Years on Santa’s Knee: Pictures of a Young California Girl Posing on Santa’s Lap Each Year From Age Two

LIFE magazine (December 15, 1972) featured pictures of a girl named Stephanie Yeno sitting on Santa’s lap from age two through twenty; when Santa started to make his move, she “knew it was time to stop.”

For most kids, having a birthday fall near Christmas is considered a bad break. But Stephanie Yeno of Van Nuys, California, an only child whose birthday is Dec. 23, and her mother, Mrs. Roxic Yeno, managed to turn the coincidence to special use.

Each year Stephanie’s birthday picture was taken with one or another department store Santa, providing a year-by-year picture record. In 1972, at age 21, Stephanie would sit on Santa’s knee for the last time. She got married in November, and presumably the next time she goes through the line, it will be with her own child.

Age 2

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6

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Merry Creepy Santas Christmas! 40 Disturbing Vintage Santa Claus Photos That Will Wreck Your Christmas!

You’d better watch out, ’cause these Santas will make you cry!

Nearly everyone has known someone to be scared of Santa Claus or has been that kid wetting their pants on the jolly man’s lap.

Santa knows when we’ve been sleeping. He knows if we’ve been bad or good. He can be kind of scary! Here’s a collection of 40 vintage photographs that capture the sometimes strange, sometimes scary, always fun interaction people have with Santa Claus.

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Here Comes Santa Claus!

Santa Claus or simply “Santa” – also known as Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas has been photographed in many cities around the world (especially in New York with the Volunteers of America). Here’s our selection from the Magnum Photos archive.

Finland. Town of Rovaniemi. Santa Claus in Finland. 1988. (© Guy Le Querrec/Magnum Photos)

Johannesburg. A black Father Christmas. 1983. (© Chris Steele-Perkins/Magnum Photos)

Tokyo. Colonel Sanders (Kentucky fried chicken) dressed as Santa Claus. (© Richard Kalvar/Magnum Photos)

Bethlehem. Israeli patrol soldier passing New Year and Christmas decorations. 1987. (© Chris Steele-Perkins/Magnum Photos)

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