Hip Christmas

Welcome To Hip Christmas! I think you'll enjoy my dysfunctionally vast web archive dedicated to holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs. If you do, please support me by shopping at Amazon, Apple Music, and Sheet Music Plus! Regardless, the best of the season to you - no matter what month it is! [about me]

What Was New In 2024? Last year's new Christmas albums included lots of vinyl reissues, big names like Jennifer Hudson and Little Big Town, indie darlings like Dean & Britta and Phantom Planet, a full-length Tower Of Power album, a new collection from the Carpenters, and yet another Bear Family compilation. I've completed my annual obsessive, quixotic attempt to keep up with it all, including my Top 10 Albums and Top 25 Singles. [gimme gimme]

The Christmas Jukebox. My online Christmas music player is bulging with over 900 hip tunes - and counting! You can listen to the music I write about - the coolest, weirdest, and loudest holiday songs ever, all while enjoying my inimitable prose - or not! [press play]

My Face, Your Book. There's a lot of holiday hilarity going on over at Facebook, in case you can't get enough on my website - or vice versa. Check out the Hip Christmas page, and follow me for maximum holiday fun all year long. No Russian trolls, please. I also post cool cover art on Instagram and Pinterest. [follow me]

A Special Product. In many ways, Sony's Reindeer Rock is a cheap piece of crap. But, nearly all of its measly 10 tracks are insanely rare, most never reissued before or since, mastered from pristine sources. Thrill to rare rock classics by a blonde bombshell, a forgotten girl group, a juvenile Elvis, and, unlikely as it seems, Little Jimmy Boyd. [read more]

Mr. Excitement Is Boring. Almost forgotten these days, Jackie Wilson played a pivotal role in the development of Motown and soul music, not to mention his staggering talent as a singer and entertainer. Sadly, while his 1963 album Merry Christmas showcases his spectacular voice, it obscures his deep soul and sexy showmanship. [read more]

The Mother of All Compilations. Two Christmas LP's from 1976 were the very beginning of my vast Christmas collection and, nearly 50 years later, they remain its cornerstones. One of them is just a bunch of hit singles. The other, Rhythm & Blues Christmas, is the magna carta of hip Christmas music. [read more]

The Usual Rubbish. Not too surprisingly, the Beatles never recorded any formal Christmas music. But, they had a ball every year recording a Christmas message for their fan club. Collecting those little things is not an easy, inexpensive - or even legal - task, but it's worth the effort. Merry Krimble! [read more]

Check This Shit Out! In the early 90's, über indie Sympathy For The Record Industry released a fascinating series called Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus, much of it out-of-tune caterwauling dripping in sarcasm. Strangely enough, the highlights tend to be songs played well, or enthusiastically, or both - not shrugged off with post-modern ennui. [read more]

Devoted Sisters. I've been a fan of quirky, East Coast folksters the Roches since I was an impressionable college student. Nerds of a feather, you might say. Their lone Christmas album is less quirky than I'd prefer - mostly a cappella and/or traditional - but it stands out thanks to the three sisters' amazing empathy for each other's voices. [read more]

Christmas Is Coming. In the 90's, Oglio Records issued two fine, if bewildering, compilations, The Coolest Christmas and The Edge Of Christmas. Nearly all the tracks are keepers, a few are all-time classics, and several are pretty rare including singles by George Thorogood, the Cocteau Twins, and Canadian power poppers the Payolas. [read more]

Christmas Time's A-Coming. When I first dove into hip Christmas music, Emmylou Harris' 1979 album Light Of The Stable was newly minted. Decades later, it has aged very well, indeed. Much like the rest of Emmylou's forward-thinking country music, the album is joyful, mournful, traditional, and visionary - without contradiction. [read more]

Soul Santa. Over the years, Brook Benton recorded several classic Christmas singles, including one of the few "black pride" holiday tunes. But, he never recorded a Christmas album during his prime. When he finally did, it was an original but disappointing effort - and the story just gets worse from there. [read more]

Rain, Sleet, Snow. Very few major rock artists cut Christmas records in the late '60s and those that did so made music that reflected the turbulent times. Paul Revere & The Raiders' A Christmas Present (1967) is one such album, and it's easily the strangest and funniest record the band ever cut. [read more]

Santa's Done Got Hip. Rhino Records' Hipsters' Holiday: Vocal Jazz And R&B Classics (1989) provides a vivid snapshot of American jive in the full flower of health, from hard bop to swing, from jump blues to doo wop. These songs are unusual, often uproarious, occasionally scabrous celebration of Christmas. [read more]

The Band With All The Toys. The Beach Boys' 1964 Christmas album boils down to just five original songs running less than 20 minutes. And yet, it's permanently ensconced in my Top 20 Albums. Briefly stated, those are five great songs, and all of them stand up to the best that Brian Wilson ever wrote. [read more]

Not-So-Smooth Grooves. Rhino Records' Smooth Grooves: A Sensual Christmas is a contradiction. First, lots of the songs aren't smooth at all - they're uptempo R&B jams. Second, it fails to live up to the standards set by Rhino's series of historic Christmas compilations - even though all 12 tracks are essential holiday listening. [read more]

Um, Hooray? I never miss a chance to say how disappointed I was when I finally heard Christmas With The Everly Brothers (1962). I love the Everly Brothers, but the album is dull and reverential - and gets trampled to death by the Boys Town Choir. It was finally reissued on CD by Rhino in 2005 and then sporadically ever since. [read more]

Whispers of Christmas. With hits like "And The Beat Goes On" and "Rock Steady , the Whispers helped define R&B in the 70's and 80's. But, their Christmas music was equally emblematic, if a tad too smooth for my tastes. Their 1979 album Happy Holidays To You was the high water mark, but there was a lot more to the story. [read more]

A Christmas Gift For You. Every year, I offer free MP3's from my voluminous collection - all unavailable easily or legitimately in the music marketplace. In 2024, I revisited the legendary, exceedingly rare Flagpole Christmas albums, filling in some gaping holes and sprucing up the sound quality. [listen or download]

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