The third tape, "A Newt’s Night Out", was the most disorganized project, in both content and direction. It had been three years since the last tape was produced and by now all the previous players had migrated off to different jobs and social circles. Still, three of the core members - Rick, Pete and I decided to give it a spin. A whole new lineup of performers was recruited - in fact, about twice the number of those who made it to the final mix. And, although the project had started early enough (in October), by mid-November the only composition anywhere near completion was the "’’Twas the Night Before Christmas" trilogy. In fact, there was hardly any real progress being made by any of the other participants at all.

"Of all the storybooks of my childhood, the one that remains most vivid and memorable to me is that by C. Clement Stone - "’Twas the Night Before Christmas". While thinking about material that might be candidate for the third Christmas tape, I came across this piece and wondered why it had never been put to music? Then it hit me - This, was a chance to become part of the story that used to fascinate me so. A clean musical canvas just waiting for me to draw paint across. To me, the narrative describes not one personality of Santa Claus, but three: The first is our most common perception of Santa, also shared by the father in the poem. It is the wonder and anticipation as he watches Santa and his reindeer approach the house. - The second is the Santa who knows he is being spied in the living room while delivering presents. Finally there is the Santa, now back in his sleigh, that we’ll never know for sure. The resulting trilogy, although still a little rough around the edges, remains one of my two favorites in the entire collection of musical ornaments." - PB

Things turned around by the Thanksgiving Holidays when Diane and Rob, who had made guest appearances on "’Twas the Night Before Christmas", hung out ‘til 2:00am and tagged an impromptu "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" on the second take. Another surprise came when long time friend and guitarist Paul Grala showed up at my front door one evening - He just happened to be visiting his folks for the Holidays. He sang "Oh, Holy Night" to an extremely sloppy piano track that I had put down on a moments notice. (I later recorded the real piano accompaniment while listening to Paul’s vocal track.) "When the Angels Came, Proclaiming" came from another long time friend and songwriter - "Doctor" Frank Skutka. I had recently produced Frank’s demo of six songs (including Angels) for an audition to a Christian record label. Frank graciously offered Angels for use on the Christmas tape. Harry, the only featured artist originally planned to appear, came through with an almost completed "Jingle Bell Rock" that he had recorded in his home studio. We added the bass and drum tracks at my place and then found out that the speed control on my tape deck was accidentally lowered when I transferred Harry’s tracks to my deck. This resulted in the unique treatment of Harry’s vocal track. We decided to keep it that way. The last hurdle was in completing the "’Twas the Night Before Christmas" trilogy. The featured vocalist for the second part of the trilogy could not make it up to record his performance. I had lost my voice to the flu. So Pete came to the rescue by singing both parts, 2 & 3 (my planned vocal performance), after many takes and finally leaving around 3:00am.

The project finally completed around mid December, with barely enough time for everybody to make copies for their family and fans in time for the Christmas Holidays. And although the results were above satisfactory there was a definite sense of disappointment. It seemed that the excitement of producing a Holiday tape had all but vanished. Scheduling and accommodating featured performers was frustrating and alternative arrangements and performances were becoming more and more common in the interest of not dropping items from the play-list. All in all, it seemed that this was going to be the last tape.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
part 1 -
Peter - Narration, Featured vocals
Steve - Bass, Background vocals
Pat - "Pianos", "Vibes", "Horns", Guitars, Background vocals
part 2 -
Peter - Featured Vocals
Steve - Bass
Diane - Saxophone
Pat - "Pianos", "Horns", "Strings"
part 3 -
Peter - Featured and background vocals
Steve - Bass, Background vocals
Rob - Lead and background guitars
Pat - Background guitar

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Diane - Flutes, Vocals
Rob - Guitar, Vocals

When the Angels Came (Proclaiming)
Frank - Guitar, Vocals
Pat - Bass, "Rhodes", "Strings", "Angels"

Oh, Holy Night
Paul - Vocals
Pat - "Piano" and "Orchestration"

O Tannenbaum
Peter - Featured Vocals
Pat - "Piano"

Jingle Bell Rock
Harry - Featured Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Drums

Arrangements: Pat
Pat / Peter - "’Twas the Night Before Christmas"
Pat / Frank - "When the Angels Came (Proclaiming)"
Recording: Pat / Harry- "Jingle Bell Rock"
Production: Pat

And it was said, by the Dark Newt unto the others: "What does it mean? I do not know. It doesn’t bother me to not know the words. You think you understand, but that is doubtful."