Spend the holidays with Santa Colbert

Christmas comes early with fake news pundit and his pals

INTERVIEW. The phone rings. Adam Schlesinger picks up: It’s a producer for Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.” “Excuse me, I have a little crisis I have to deal with,” he says. Schlesinger is best known as co-front man for power pop outfit Fountains of Wayne. Oh, and two Tony nominations for the Broadway adaptation of John Water’s movie, “Cry-Baby.” Schlesinger reunited with his “Cry-Baby” collaborator, “Daily Show” executive  producer David Javerbaum, for the star-studded “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All,” which, besides host Stephen Colbert,  features Jon Stewart,  Elvis Costello, Feist, John Legend, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. Hence, the phone call. Ten minutes later  Schlesinger announces, “It wasn’t a grand crisis after all.”

Q When did you start working on these songs?

A David wrote most of the lyrics last year. I didn’t start on the music until this summer, and then we went into full production mode in July and August.

Q How did you get in the mood? Wear a Santa hat and whistle “Jingle Bells”?

A I didn’t wear a Santa Claus hat, but we drank lots of eggnog while we were working. I found the more rum we put in, the more in the mood we got.

Q When composing, did you think of classic Christmas songs?

A To some degree, but part of the fun of this project is that each song is a completely different genre. It’s super diverse; no two songs sound alike. John Legend sings an Al Green inspired ode to nutmeg; Toby Keith’s song is a country anthem about the separation of church and state at Christmas time. Colbert and Jon Stewart do a duet: “Can I Interest You in Hanukkah?”