6. "I Still Believe in Santa Claus" Joey McIntyre
Yes, that Joey McIntyre. The one from New Kids on the Block. Now we enter surreal territory, as this is where I'm going to lose half my readers, but hear me out! Speaking of playing childhood records nonstop, my sister, as most of her friends did at the time, played this New Kids Christmas album, "Merry, Merry Christmas" over and over, and this was my favourite song off it, if for no other reason than my nostalgic memories of it and the fact that the song itself is about nostalgia. McIntyre was wishing he was still a kid again while I was still a kid myself listening to it. I told you this would be a surreal entry. "Funky, Funky Xmas" was the more popular song on the album (and yes, after 25 years, it's still a terrible title), but "I Still Believe in Santa Claus" was just hokey enoughbut not too much to be maudlinto pull my young heartstrings. On it, McIntyre, the youngest member of the group, sings, "I still believe in Santa Claus/Maybe that's just because/I'm still a child at heart." Never mind the fact that little Joey was barely past puberty when he recorded the song, so he was technically still a child, but over the years, the song still resonates for me, especially considering the fact I'm definitely not a child anymore, yet there's that excited 10 year old in me that awakens every Christmas.
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
