When we pass St. Nicholas’ Day, it feels as if the city should take a hint and go all winter wonderland on us. So on a day when it’s creeping into the mid-fifties and raining, the kind of weather you expect for Jack O’Lanterns and not Santa’s impending arrival, one has to improvise their own spirit of the season.

I know of no better Christmas kick-start than the incomparable Mr. Billy Squier.