Songs & Singles: C

• C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
  • Eddie Arnold (1949)
  • Ernest Tubb (1950)
• C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (Yobs, 1980) Top 100 Song
• (C'mon-A) Surfin' Christmas Holiday (Hollyberries, 2012)
• Cajun Christmas (Monty & Marsha Brown, 1987)
• Call It Christmas Time (Supersuckers, 2004)
• Call Me For Christmas (Gary U.S. Bonds, 1967) [close]

  Gary U.S. Bonds was known for party rockers like "New Orleans" (1960), "Quarter To Three" (1961), and "Seven Day Weekend" (1962). But, on "Call Me For Christmas" Bonds sounded more like Solomon Burke - soulful and sanctified - as he pleaded for love and connection during the holidays. Legrand Records, the label that released Bonds' legendary burst of hits in the early 60's, put out "Call Me For Christmas" as a single in 1967, but it met with little success. It's a safe bet that it was recorded earlier - some sources say 1965 - given that Bonds' relationship with the label owner, Frank Guida, had fallen apart by 1966. Guida discovered Bonds, managed his career, produced his records, and helped write many of his hits, and he kept Legrand alive as a business interest long after the hits stopped coming. And, it's obvious from later compilations like Rhino's The Best Of Gary U.S. Bonds and Ace's Take Me Back To New Orleans that Guida had a fair amount of unreleased material in the vaults when Bonds moved on in search of greener pastures.

  By the time "Call Me For Christmas" flopped, Gary U.S. Bonds' career had already entered a long dry spell that found him grinding it out on the oldies circuit and squeezing out the occasional single. After a chance meeting in 1980, Bruce Springsteen and "Little Steven" Van Zandt gave him a boost, leading to two excellent comeback albums, Dedication (1981) and On The Line (1982) - both of them basically Springsteen's E Street Band with Bonds on lead vocals. Thereafter, Bonds worked steadily well into the 21st century and recorded several solid albums including, in 2012, the spirited Christmas Is On!

  Unfortunately, "Call Me For Christmas" has almost disappeared into the ether. It first reappeared on Rhino's Cool Yule Vol. 2 (1988), a late vinyl LP. But, it's only popped up on a few compact discs including EMI's Hot Rod Holiday (1996), Christmas Hits: A Rockin' Merry Christmas (2001), one of Time-Life's endless Rock 'n' Roll Era compilations, and Gonna Have A Really... Soulful Christmas (2014), a public domain release. Last time I looked, it was not available for download and streaming - legally, at least.

• Calling It Christmas (Elton John & Joss Stone, 2005)
• Can I Come Home with You (For Christmas)? (The Grapes & Friends, 2015)
• Can This Be Christmas (Falcons, 1957)
• Can't Spend Another Christmas (Without You) (Kris Rodgers, 2011)
• Cancel Christmas (Rocket From The Crypt, 1993)
• Candy Cane (Jigsaw Seen, 2008)
• Candy Cane Children (White Stripes, 1998) [close]

  Originally released on Flying Bomb Records' Surprise Package Volume 2 vinyl EP (1998) (which also included also includes songs by Rocket 455 and the Blowtops), "Candy Cane Children" is a heavy-metal-punk-rock-blues-stomp fairly typical of the White Stripes' pointedly primitive oeuvre, and it stems, perhaps, from Jack White's odd fascination with the colors red and white (and black). The White Stripes released the song themselves as a 7-inch single in 2002 backed by Meg White's dead-pan reading of "The Story Of The Magi." Neither record is easy to find, and both can command hefty sums on websites like Amazon - though less so after Jack White reissued it on his Third Man Records in 2011. And, while "Candy Cane Children" has never released on compact disc, White eventually made it available for download. In any format, however, "Candy Cane Children" has become de rigeur for hipper-than-thou radio shows and playlists every season.

• Candy Cane Christmas (Darius Rucker, 2009)
• Candy Cane Lane (Jordin Sparks, 2023)
• Candy Cane Sugary Plum (Danny & The Juniors, 1960)
• Candy Kid (Cowsills, 1968)
• Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol) (Bobby Helms, 1957) [close]

  The crazy kiddie cut "Captain Santa Claus (And His Reindeer Space Patrol)" was the original b-side of Bobby Helm's iconic 1957 Decca recording of "Jingle Bell Rock." Among other things, "Captain Santa Claus" features rocket ship sound effects that are clearly some guy swooshing noisily into a microphone. This is the sort of record that would become unthinkable after the Beatles invaded America, but it speaks volumes about our nation's relative innocence - and Helms' true nature as a mainstream entertainer, and not the rock 'n' roller his publicity shots portrayed. Anyway, "Captain Santa Claus" is priceless stuff, but it's been reissued on compact disc just a few times - and best contextualized on Bear Family's two-disc Helms retrospective, Fraulein: The Classic Years, which includes both sides of the single. Later, it was issued for download and streaming.

• Careless Santa (Mono Puff, 1996)
• Carol Of The Bells
  • August Burns Red (2008)
  • The Bird & The Bee (2007)
  • Les Troublemakers (2010)
  • Marillion (2014)
  • Pointer Sisters (2005)
• Carol Of The Meows (Guster, 2003)
• Carolina Christmas (Squirrel Nut Zippers, 1960)
• Caroling Caroling (Nat King Cole, 1960)
• Carols Those Kids Used To Sing (Statler Brothers, 1978)
• Cashing In On Christmas (Bad News, 1987)
• CB Santa (Homemade Theatre, 1976)
• CB Santa Claus (Richard Gillis, 1976)
• Celebrate! (Whooping Cranes, 1987)
• Cha-Cha All The Way (Capitol Studio Orchestra, 1958)
• Champagne Christmas (Fleshtones, 2008)
• Change At Christmas (Say It Isn't So) (Flaming Lips, 2003)
• Chanukah Guy (Goldbergs, 2009)
• Chanukah Song (Adam Sandler, 1996) [close]

  Saturday Night alumnus Sandler included "The Chanukah Song" - an original paean to famous Jews recorded live in 1995 - on his comedy album, What The Hell Happened To Me! (1996). On his 1999 album, Stan and Judy's Kid, Sandler unveiled "The Chanukah Song, Part Two" (recorded live, 1997) cataloging yet another batch of celebrity matzoh chompers. Listen closely to either song and you'll hear Sandler refer to the Festival Of Lights as "eight crazy nights." That phrase became the title of his 2002 animated film, the soundtrack of which features "The Chanukah Song, Part Three." However, despite the song's status as a perennial radio favorite, none of these versions has never been included on any holiday compilation. Perhaps it's a Jewish conspiracy... Quite a while later, Sandler released "The Chanukah Song, Part Four" (2015) as digital single. Incidentally, Sandler performed an honest-to-goodness (and very funny) Christmas song, "Santa Don't Like Bad Boys," to introduce a 1993 episode of SNL - but it's never been commercially issued anywhere.

• Cheer Up, It's Christmas (Wiley, 2011)
• Cherry Tree Carol
  • Emmylou Harris (2004)
  • Mary Hopkin (1972)
• Chickens Are In The Chimes (Sascha Burland & The Skipjack Choir, 1963)
• Child Of God (Bobby Darin, 1960)
• Child Of Winter (Christmas Song) (Beach Boys, 1974)
• Child's Christmas Saving The Whales (Game Theory, 1989)
• Children Go Where I Send Thee (Nick Lowe, 2011)
• Chimney Top Twist (Robin Sisters, 1962)
• Chinchy Old Scrooge (Phil Moore Four, 1953)
• Chinese Restaurant On Christmas (Jeremy & The Harlequins, 2019)
• Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) [close]

  If you run a website about Christmas music, it's hard to ignore the 1958 #1 hit single "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)." I should know: I've been trying for years, despite the song's enormous popularity and vaguely hipster humor. It's not so much that I dislike it. I'm just sick of it after hearing it hundreds (perhaps thousands) of times over the years...

  The fictional Chipmunks were the brainchild of David Seville (real name Ross Bagdasarian), who pioneered some studio magic that created high-pitched, squeaky voices by manipulating tape speed. Seville first scored novelty gold with the trick earlier the same year with the #1 hit "Witch Doctor," released under his own name. But, the Chipmunks soon became his full-time job, and we're still listening to Alvin, Simon, and Theodore decades later. No matter what I think, "The Chipmunk Song" remains one of the best-selling, beloved (and despised) holiday records of all time. The song was so popular, in fact, that it also got to #5 on the R&B chart alongside James Brown and Jackie Wilson. "The Chipmunk Song" was first included on their 1959 debut album, Let's All Sing With The Chipmunks, but it's best known as part of the 1962 LP, Christmas With The Chipmunks. It can also be found on Dr. Demento's The Greatest Christmas Novelty CD Of All Time (1989), EMI's Legends Of Christmas Past (1992), and lots of other compilations.

  It's worth noting, however, that the annoying "Chipmunk Song" has spawned some pretty cool covers. My favorite is by Powder, a Los Angeles-based "turbo pop" band, recorded for a local Las Vegas compilation in 2000 before appearing on A Very Special Christmas 5 in 2001.

  • Canned Heat & The Chipmunks (1968)
  • Chipmunks (1958)
  • Dollyrots (2022)
  • Kat Edmonson (2021)
  • Norah Jones (2021)
  • Powder (2000)
  • Three Suns (1959)
• Choppy Christmas Song (The Happy Losers, 2009)
• Christmafunk (James Casey, 2022)
• Christmas (Beat Happening, 1984)
• Christmas (Chuck Berry, 1970)
• Christmas (Buzz Of Delight featuring Matthew Sweet, 1983) [close]

  Buzz Of Delight was a short-lived band in the thriving Athen, Georgia music scene that birthed R.E.M., Pylon, the B-52's, and many others. The group featured the young Matthew Sweet (a Nebraska native) playing, singing, and writing almost everything, along with David Pierce, who played drums. The duo had previously played together in a band called Oh-OK, which included R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe's sister, Lydia. Buzz of Delight's simply-titled "Christmas" was released in 1983 as a one-sided dB single and subsequently included on their 12-inch 1984 dB EP Sound Castles - the only records they would ever release. The song exudes the wide-eyed optimism that marks most great yuletide anthems - even though the lyrics are all but unintelligible. Rhino's New Wave Xmas (1996, read more) is the only holiday compilation to include "Christmas," but it also appears on To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet (2002).

• Christmas (Jackie DeShannon, 1969)
• Christmas (Dillon Fence, 1991) [close]

  Dillon Fence was an earnest and pleasant, if not overly compelling, jangle pop band from North Carolina led by singer/songwriter Greg Humphreys. After a self-released EP in 1989, Christmas was their 1991 debut for their new label, Mammoth Records. At just three tracks, it's barely even an EP, and one of those tracks would would soon serve as the title song of their full-length debut, Rosemary, in 1992. As for "Christmas" itself, it's a moody, pretty song that certainly reflects its time and place. Humphreys, meanwhile, does his best to sound gloomy and deep - like any good 90's rock singer should. He acknowledges the beauty of the season, "bathing in the glow" of Christmas while moaning, "Why can't I feel something?" Later, "Christmas" was featured on Atlantic Records' alternative Christmas compilation, You Sleigh Me (1995), which it helped earn the song a (very) minor spot in history. And then, quite improbably the Christmas EP turned up for download and streaming. As for Dillon Fence, they wouldn't last long, recording just two more albums for Mammoth before splitting up. Fun fact: Early in their careers, Hootie and the Blowfish opened shows for Dillon Fence, while later, Dillon Fence opened for them.
• Christmas (Fuzzy, 1996) [close]

  A Beantown-based band fronted by two women, Fuzzy walked a fine line between folk, rock, power pop, and noisy grunge. "Christmas" is an uncharacteristically mopey ballad decrying a loveless holiday season. "Its colder in this house than anywhere in Boston," claims the singer, but "that's okay, Christmas means little to me." Methinks she protests too much.... Written by outsider Florence Dore, "Christmas" was originally released in an acoustic version on the band's Lemon Rind EP. A full-blown electric rendition - which I very much prefer - closes Fuzzy's sophomore effort, Electric Juices, which, incidentally, also contains a killer cover of the Beach Boys' "Girl Don't Tell Me." The inestimable Posies covered "Christmas" on Just Say Noël, but Fuzzy's electric version remains definitive.

• Christmas (Alvin Stardust, 2010)
• Christmas (Teddy Thompson & Family, 2008)
• Christmas (Wreckless Eric, 1990)
• Christmas (from Tommy)
  • Limecell (1996)
  • The Who (1969) [close]

    The Who's rather baroque "Christmas" explains why Tommy, the eponymous protagonist of Pete Townshend's celebrated rock opera, cannot celebrate the titular holiday. "Tommy doesn't know what day it is," Townsend protests. Further, "He doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is," leading to the ultimate question: "How can he be saved?" The song was never issued as a commercial single, but it did appear in 1970 on an English EP. Perhaps that's because, like a lot of Tommy tracks, "Christmas" is best heard within the ambitious framework of the larger work - also explaining, perhaps, why it has never been excerpted on any Christmas collection and rarely covered. New Jersey's Smithereens, for one, performed a rousing version on their 2007 album, Christmas With The Smithereens. In their hands, "Christmas" ends up sounding more like a typical Who song than it did when rendered by the band themselves!

• Christmas '65 (Draft Cards) (Allan Sherman, 1965)
• Christmas Ain't Christmas New Year's Ain't New Year's Without The One You Love
  • O'Jays (1969) Top 100 Song
  • Ebonys (1971)
• Christmas Ain't For Lonely People (Baghdaddios, 2008)
• Christmas Ain't Like Christmas Anymore (Kitty Wells, 1962)
• Christmas All Over Again
  • Darlene Love (2007)
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1992)
  • Butch Walker & Taryn Manning (2008)
• Christmas All Over Again (Puss 'n' Boots, 2019)
• Christmas All Over The World (Tim McGraw, 2011)
• Christmas (All Over the World Tonight) (Freedom Fry, 2022)
• Christmas All Over This Town (The Plimptons, 2011)
• Christmas All Summer Long (Deer Tick, 2010)
• Christmas All Year 'Round (Patty Surbey & the Canadian VIP's, 1964)
• Christmas Alone (Black Swans, 2011)
• Christmas Alone (Lola Kirke, 2022)
• Christmas Alone (Red Sovine, 1950)
• Christmas Alphabet (McGuire Sisters, 1954)
• Christmas (And Dad Wants Her Back) (Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, 2020)
• Christmas And Everyday (Best Coast, 2016)
• Christmas And Glasgow (Deacon Blue, 1991)
• Christmas And Me Are Through (Your Vegas, 2008)
• Christmas And New Year Blues (Tampa Red, 1934)
• Christmas And You
  • Frankie Avalon (1962)
  • Joni James (1953)
• Christmas And You (Los Lobos, 2019)
• The Christmas Angel (Cranes, 1997)
• Christmas Anyway (Stars, 2022)
• Christmas, Are You Here? (Michael Mazzarella, 2011)
• Christmas As I Knew It (Johnny Cash, 1963)
• Christmas At CBGB's (Baghdaddios, 1998) [close]

  Here's how Baghdaddios leader Kenn Rowell explained the origin of his band's holiday ode to New York City's legenday punk club: "Back in December of '98 we decided (at the last minute) to put out a cute little holiday punk single, 'Christmas At CBGB's.' What the hell, we were so in love with the place... I mean, they always made us feel at home, and we were in a fun-ass mood when I wrote the song a year-and-a-half before. Recording it was almost an afterthought... Paul Zlotucha and I were just tooling around in the studio when I said, 'Hey, I just happen to have the words here... why don't you give this a shot with me?' I dunno, it just seemed like the thing to do. So Paul and I tried a couple of takes, and it just fell into place. We added the rest of the instruments (and vocals) later. At that point we needed a b-side, and our retarded version of 'Auld Lang Syne' (which we hadn't tried in, like, three or four years!) popped into my mind. 'Why not?' I thought, and so we did it. A little long at the end, but other than that, pretty damn fine."

  As I write this, it's been 20 years since the release of "Christmas At CBGB's" and I've never even seen a copy. It's become the "Moby Dick" of my record collection, haunting me with its elusiveness and mythical power. Thankfully for me and my neuroses, Rowell fleshed out the original single with four new songs to create the Season's Beatings EP in 2008, making the song accessible to all.

• Christmas At Denny's (Randy Stonehill, 1989)
• Christmas At Ground Zero (Weird Al Yankovic, 1986)
• Christmas At Home (Webb Pierce, 1965)
• Christmas At Midnight (Lead Belly, 1944)
• (Christmas At) Montségur (Knights Of The New Crusade, 2011)
• Christmas At The Zoo (Flaming Lips, 1995)
• Christmas Auld Lang Syne (Bobby Darin, 1960)
• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
  • Deacon Blue (1991)
  • Death Cab For Cutie (2004)
  • Dollyrots (2020)
  • Dropkick Murphys (2020)
  • Jennifer Hudson (2021)
  • Darlene Love (1963) Top 100 Song [close]
    
    listen / buy

    The only original song on A Christmas Gift For You, producer Phil Spector's magnum opus, Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is an amazing performance that actually outstrips Spector's amazing studio craft. "They're singing 'Deck The Halls', but it's not like Christmas at all," Love laments during the bridge, saving herself for the searing, explosive crescendo that never fails to raise goose bumps. Very nearly hollering Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich's hormonally-charged lyrics, she pleads, "Please, please, please! Baby, please come home!" We feel every single ounce of her desire, and it's a riveting, indelible experience.

    Almost every track on A Christmas Gift For You is essential listening, and about half can be found on my Top 100 Songs. But, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is a towering achievement that stands above them all - right up there with other Spector masterpieces like "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," and "River Deep, Mountain High." [back to list] [learn more]

  • New Bomb Turks (1993)
  • Offspring (2020)
  • Sam Phillips (2019)
  • Reina (2004)
  • R.E.M. (2010)
  • U2 (1987)
• Christmas Balls (Ben Light & His Surf Club Boys, 1936)
• Christmas Bayou (Beausoleil, 1992)
• Christmas Blues
  • Charles Brown (1961)
  • Gatemouth Moore (1946)
  • Gatemouth Moore (1947)
• Christmas Blues
  • Dean Martin (1953)
  • Jo Stafford (1953)
• Christmas Blues (Canned Heat, 1968)
• Christmas Blues (Larry Darnell, 1950)
• Christmas Blues (Ramsey Lewis, 1961)
• Christmas Blues (Saturday Looks Good To Me, 2003)
• Christmas Blues (Washboard Pete, 1948)
• Christmas Blues (Big Joe Williams, 1963)
• Christmas Boogie
  • Davis Sisters featuring Skeeter Davis (1953) Top 100 Song
  • Toni Price (2007)
• Christmas Boogie (Sugar Chile Robinson, 1950) [close]

  I'd been listening to "Christmas Boogie" by Sugar Chile Robinson for about 20 years before I figured out he was a little boy - not a young woman. In my defense, I discovered the song on Christmas Kisses, an otherwise fine 1990 Capitol compilation that included no pictures or biographical information - and we didn't have the internet yet. And, with his high, sassy voice, Sugar Chile (real name Frank) sounded a lot like a young lady. But, if I'd listened more closely to the words, it would have been obvious, as he asks Santa for a bike, train, baseball glove, and "a gun that shoots" - not the type of things young ladies wished for back in 1950. Turns out, Robinson was a child prodigy who played barrelhouse piano and sang the blues. Just a few years after "Christmas Boogie" was released as the b-side of his Capitol 78-rpm single, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," Robinson quit music to pursue a career in academia.

• Christmas Boogie (Born To Boogie) (T. Rex, 1973)
• Christmas Boogie (One Last Kiss) (Joe Bonamassa, 2015)
• Christmas Bop (Marc Bolan, 1975) [close]

  A gleaming example of glitter rock, "Christmas Bop" was intended as a solo single by Marc Bolan, lead singer for T. Rex, but the release was cancelled. Finally released in 1982 as a 7-inch single, the 12-inch version added T. Rex's delightful 1972 "Fan-Club Xmas Message" originally issued on a flexi-disc. More recently, "Christmas Bop" has been compiled on numerous T. Rex CD retrospectives, including the excellent 2007 2-CD set Greatest Hits.

  Three distinct versions of the song exist, running about 3:20, 3:40, and 4:00, respectively. The shortest version is an alternate take originally released on Bump 'n' Grind (2000). The origins of the two longer versions are murkier. Maybe one is the 7-inch mix and the other the 12-inch? Both are the same take, but they are very different mixes, indeed. Judging from online evidence, none of the vinyl singles list the times - and I don't own them for comparison's sake. I can tell you that the 3:40 version is found on later editions of the Japanese T. Rex Christmas Album (not the first pressing - be sure to ask), while the 4:00 version is found on Greatest Hits and rarities compilations like Work In Progress (2013) and T. Rex Unchained: Unreleased Recordings, Volume 6: 1975 (2015). In the UK, there's also a digital single.

• Christmas Butt (Puss 'n' Boots, 2019)
• Christmas Calling (Valerie Masters, 1962)
• Christmas Camel (Procol Harum, 1967)
• Christmas Can't Be Far Away (Eddy Arnold, 1954)
• Christmas Candles (Andrews Sisters, 1949)
• Christmas Candy (Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely, 1950)
• Christmas Card (Jimmy Eat World, 1995)
• Christmas Card (Joyce Manor, 2014)
• Christmas Card (They Might Be Giants, 1993)
• Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis
  • Neko Case (2000)
  • Kinky Friedman (2015)
  • Magnapop (1995)
  • Tom Waits (1978)
• Christmas Carol (Tom Lehrer, 1959)
• Christmas Carols By The Old Corral (Tex Ritter, 1945)
• Christmas Celebration
  • B.B. King (1962) Top 100 Song
  • Jesse Thomas with Lloyd Glenn (1951)
• Christmas Celebration (Weezer, 2000) Top 100 Song
• Christmas Chihuahua (Edwin McCain, 2016)
• Christmas Choo Choo (Jimmie Davis, 1953)
• Christmas Chopsticks (Mel Blanc, 1951)
• Christmas Christmas (Cheap Trick, 1995) [close]

  I am a huge fan of Cheap Trick's overdriven power pop, so you can imagine my delight when I learned about "Christmas Christmas." It wasn't their first holiday song - that would be "I Want You For Christmas," a rewrite of their hit "I Want You To Want Me," recorded for 25 Years Bringing Joy To The World (2012), part of the Very Special Christmas series. But, "Christmas Christmas" was their first original Christmas song, even if it was a manic rave-up barely a minute-and-a-half long.

  "Christmas Christmas" was released on Gift, a two-track charity fundraiser available - depending on who you ask - only in Cheap Trick's hometown of Rockford, Illinois, or directly from the band. After all these years, "Christmas Christmas" is still only available on Gift, which is quite rare - look for it on Amazon or Discogs. The band did, however, record a new, slightly beefed up version (two minutes!) as the title track of their 2017 album Christmas Christmas.

  The other track on Gift, "Come On Christmas," is pretty great, too, but it's another rewrite, this time modeled on their 1977 song, "Come On, Come On". It's not nearly so rare, as it appeared the same year in an extended version on the band's Epic boxed set, Sex America Cheap Trick (1996). In the boxed set, guitarist Rick Nielsen says "Come On Christmas" was recorded and released in 1995, and that's the date Epic uses as a copyright. But, confusingly, the Gift CD is clearly dated 1996. The band's 1998 biography, Reputation Is a Fragile Thing: The Story of Cheap Trick, clarifies it was released in January 1996, so 1995 seems like the truest date for both tracks.
• Christmas Christmas Christmas (Cowboy & Spin Girl, 1992)
• Christmas, Christmas (Louie, Louie) (Mojo Nixon, 1995)
• Christmas (Comes But Once A Year)
  • Amos Milburn (1960) Top 100 Song
  • Joe Bonamassa (2017)
• Christmas Comes But Once A Year (Albert King, 1974)
• Christmas Comes Once A Year (You Are Always In My Heart) (Silos, 2018)
• Christmas Coming (Alton Ellis, circa 1971)
• Christmas Compromise (The Bird & The Bee, 2009)
• Christmas Could Have Been Good (Mando Diao, 2011)
• Christmas Country Style (Statler Brothers, 1978)
• Christmas Crime (Goons!, 2021)
• Christmas Crush (The Grapes & Friends, 2016)
• Christmas Crush (Home Grown, 1997) [close]
  
  listen / buy

  Home Grown was a ska-cum-pop punk band from Orange County, California, and their 1997 track "Christmas Crush" is a horny comedy of errors with a surprise ending worthy of O. Henry - that is if O. Henry wrote for Penthouse Forum. The band had several vocalists, including guitarists John E. Trash and Ian "Slur" Cone, but "Christmas Crush" is probably sung by bass player Adam "Adumb" Lohrbach, who helped write the song. Regardless, he starts off by announcing, "I had a crush on Santa since I was nine years old," so we're already in uncharted waters for the late 90's. But then, the first verse closes with the unambiguous plea, "Santa, sleep with me tonight!"

  And, that's when we get the first twist: Lohrbach is reading from his girlfriend's diary, not confessing his queerest desires. "This fetish is really bizarre," he admits, but he hatches a plan to dress up like Santa, sneak into his girlfriend's house, and give her "a night that she'll never forget." But - second twist - as he's slipping down the chimney, he sees his girlfriend already vigorously schtupping the actual Kris Kringle. "Santa, I knew you were coming to town," she moans, "but tonight you are coming in me!"

  The whole tawdry affair ends with the singer crying, "Santa, get off of my girlfriend" - one of my favorite lines in all of recorded music. But, we're left wondering about the denouement. Safe to say it wasn't pretty... I should add that, musically speaking, "Christmas Crush" is an ingenious piece of work - crunchy and catchy without the benefit of a standard chorus. Nice trick!

  Home Grown's "Christmas Crush" originated on KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer's Santa's Got A GTO (1997), one of several fine compilations he produced before a shocking fall from grace 20 years later (read more). The song later appeared on another KROQ compilation, Kevin & Bean: Santa's Swingin' Sack (1998), and a collection of alternative rock holiday songs, Sleighed: The Other Side Of Christmas (2000).

• Christmas Dance (Johnny Rabb, 1984)
• Christmas Date Boogie (aka Christmas Date Blues)
  • Big Joe Turner with Pete Johnson (1948)
  • Joe Bonamassa (2013)
• Christmas Day
  • Beach Boys (1964)
  • Al Jardine (2009)
• Christmas Day (Detroit Junior, 1960) Top 100 Song
• Christmas Day (Dido, 2000)
• Christmas Day (MXPX, 1999)
• Christmas Day (Linda Scott, 1961)
• Christmas Day (Sponge, 1996)
• Christmas Day (Squeeze, 1979)
• Christmas Day (Weeklings, 2021)
• Christmas Day (Jim White, 2001)
• Christmas Day In The Sun (Hot Hot Heat, 2005)
• Christmas Daze (Pylon Reenactment Society, 2023)
• Christmas Delight (Four Tops, 1995)
• Christmas Dinner (Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1951)
• Christmas Dinner (Peter Paul & Mary, 1969)
• Christmas Dinner Country Style (Bing Crosby, 1963)
• Christmas Dirtbag (Wheatus, 2023)
• Christmas Doll (Jim Eanes, 1963)

• Christmas Down (Fingerprints, 1978) [close]

  My obsession with Christmas music has led me to spend way too much time and money essentially chasing my tail - seeking out records that ended up not being any good. Even so, Fingerprints' "Christmas Down" is one of the biggest red herrings I ever purchased. What drew me to it was that it was a very early release on Minneapolis-based Twin/Tone Records - the legendary punk & new wave label that spawned the Suburbs, the Replacements, Soul Asylum, and many others.

  Fingerprints hardly rise to that level of merit or repute, but they were big in Minnesota and sounded a lot like many punk bands before the genre became codified as loud-and-fast, Ramones-style rock (by which I mean, they didn't sound like Journey or Foghat, and that made them pretty weird by the standards of 1978). Anyway, their single "Down" was just the fourth release ever on Twin/Tone (their self-titled EP was the third), and "Christmas Down" was the b-side. The problem is, the b-side is nothing more than the instrumental backing track from the a-side with a few Christmas sound effects thrown on top. And to figure that out, I paid $20 (plus postage) on eBay. Ouch!

• Christmas Downer (Departure Lounge, 2000)
• Christmas Drag
  • The Brobecks (2012)
  • I Don't Know How But They Found Me (2019)
• Christmas Dragnet (Stan Freberg, 1953)
• Christmas Dreams (Krastel Pie, circa 1968)
• Christmas Dreams (Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, 1956)
• Christmas Dressed In Blue (Iceberg Slim, 1994)
• Christmas Duel (Hives and Cyndi Lauper, 2008)
• Christmas Eve (Billy Eckstine, 1953)
• Christmas Eve (Galaxies, 1965)
• Christmas Eve (Sentinals, 1962)
• Christmas Eve (Teenage Fanclub, 2000)
• Christmas Eve (Tatsuro Yamashita, 1982)
• Christmas Eve Baby (Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, 1956)
• Christmas Eve Blues (Blind Lemon Jefferson, 1928)
• Christmas Eve Can Kill You (Everly Brothers, 1972)
• Christmas Every Day (A Simple Plan, 2016)
• Christmas Every Day of the Year (Five For Fighting, 2016)
• Christmas Everyday
  • Miracles (1963) Top 100 Song [close]
    Smokey Robinson and his crew were the only Motown act to release two Christmas albums during the label's "Golden Decade" (1962-1971). The first record, Christmas With The Miracles, was a more rockin' affair, recorded before Smokey developed the ultra-smooth style that gave us "Ooh Baby Baby" and "Cruising." The album contained but one Robinson original, "Christmas Everyday." Beginning with the kind of drum crack that prompted John Lennon to query whether Motown's drummer "beat on a bloody tree," the Miracles spin a soulful metaphor similar to William Bell's "Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday": if the singer's girl would just acquiesce, everyday could be a special as Christmas. In his inimitable style, Smokey insists, "I wouldn't need a Christmas tree if you belonged to me." Not receiving satisfaction, he takes serious measures: "I wrote and told Santa Claus I needed you because it would be Christmas everyday." The best of both Miracles Christmas records is compiled on Our Very Best Christmas, which I my recommendation. [back to list]
  • Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (1968)
  • Sky Kings (1996)
  • Temptations (1980)
• Christmas Everyday (Malibooz, 2011)
• Christmas Everyday (Maybe It'll Help) (Giant Sand, 1988)
• Christmas Everywhere (Crystal Gayle & Mishavonna, 2010)
• Christmas Fable (The Selecter, 2011)
• Christmas Fantasy (John Fahey, 1975)
• Christmas Feeling Ska (Toots & The Maytals, 1964)
• Christmas Feels Like Halloween (Sky Hooks, 2010)
• Christmas Fever (Charlélie Coutoure, 1981)
• Christmas Finds Me Oh So Sad (Charles Brown, 1960)
• Christmas For Cowboys
  • John Denver (1975)
  • Jars Of Clay (2004)
• Christmas For The Free
  • Argent (1973) [close]

    Argent is remembered as a one-hit-wonder for their 1972 glam rock smash, "Hold Your Head Up" and, in the United States at least, that is the case. It's their only song to crack Billboard's Hot 100, reaching a lofty #5. All the same, it's a unjust reputation, because the band recorded a long string of solid - if rarely spectacular - progressive rock albums and, let's not forget, they had quite a pedigree. The band was founded by former Zombie keyboardist and songwriter Rod Argent, and their guitarist and singer, Russ Ballard, would go on to write and/or sing a number of rock classics (learn more). Argent released "Christmas For The Free," a gentle, utopian holiday ode, on their 1973 LP, In Deep. The song also served as the b-side to "God Gave Rock and Roll To You," a Top 20 single in the UK.

    Written by Argent and fellow former Zombie Chris White, then sung by Ballard, "Christmas For The Free" has never shown up on a Christmas album, per se, though it is often compiled with other semi-popular Argent tracks on albums like Hold Your Head Up(2001). In 2011, the reconstituted Zombies, including Argent and original vocalist Colin Blunstone, recorded their own version, and in some ways it's superior to the original - more fulsome and confident, for sure. It first appeared on their 2011 album Breathe Out, Breathe In and was released separately as a digital single in 2013.

  • Zombies (2011)
• Christmas For You And Me (Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, 2012)
• Christmas Fucking Miracle (Run The Jewels, 2013)
• Christmas Game
  • Popcorn Rebellion (1968)
  • Johnny & The High-Keys (1969)
• Christmas Gift (Margie Joseph, 1976)
• Christmas Gift (Pinkard & Bowden, 1985)
• Christmas Greetings (Owen Gray, circa 1968)
• Christmas Griping (REM, 1991)
• Christmas Guest
  • Johnny Cash (1980)
  • Grandpa Jones (1969)
• Christmas Guitar Boogie (Joel Paterson, 2023)
• Christmas (I Can Hardly Wait) (The Courettes, 2018)
• Christmas Hard Times (Redd Foxx, 1961)
• Christmas Heart (June Christy, 1961)
• Christmas Holiday (Frankie Avalon, 1962)
• Christmas I'll Be Home (Vipers, 1986)
• Christmas In A Honky Tonk (Bill & Bonnie Hearne, 1981)
• Christmas In America (Pat Benatar, 2001)
• Christmas In America (Melissa Etheridge, 2004)
• Christmas In Antarctica (The Minus 5 featuring Ben Gibbard, 2018)
• Christmas In Atlantis (Delines, 2023)
• Christmas In Baghdad (Black Lips, 2007)
• Christmas In Chicago (Leon Russell, 1972) [close]

  Leon Russell penned "Christmas In Chicago" as the b-side to his "Slipping Into Christmas," releasing the single on his Shelter Records in 1972. "Christmas In Chicago" is defensibly the better song - certainly it's the least weird - conforming to a more traditional blue structure and featuring some snappy lap steel guitar licks. Lyrically, it's a standard "my baby left me" sort of blues, except this time she left him for Santa Claus... All the same, the eerie a-side slipped up to #4 on the Billboard Christmas chart - even if it utterly failed to enter the canon of holiday standards. Oddly, however, Russell never included the songs on one of his albums, nor did he licensed them for inclusion elsewhere. DCC Records, however, did release the songs on a promotional CD single to publicize their 1989 reissue of Leon Russell's Shelter catalog, and, many years hence, Capitol Records finally reissued the single for streaming and download.

• Christmas In Denmark Street (Spizzenergi, 2020)
• Christmas In Dixie
  • Alabama (1986)
  • Blind Boys Of Alabama (2013)
• Christmas In El Paso (Dash Rip Rock, 1990)
• Christmas In Fallujah
  • Cass Dillon (2007)
  • Billy Joel (2008)
• Christmas In Fallujah (Andy Mason, 2007)
• Christmas In Fallujah (Jefferson Pepper, 2005)
• Christmas In Harlem (Kanye West with Prynce Cy Hi & Teyana Taylor, 2010)
• Christmas In Heaven (Monty Python, 1983)
• Christmas In Heaven (Billy Ward & The Dominoes, 1953)
• Christmas In Hell (Crocodiles, 2020)
• Christmas In Hollis (Run-D.M.C., 1987) Top 100 Song [close]

  Is it hyperbole to call Run-D.M.C. the first superstars of rap? With all due respect to Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow, I think not. And, it's certainly no exaggeration to call "Christmas In Hollis" the greatest holiday rap song of all time. Run-D.M.C. were at their creative peak when they recorded "Christmas In Hollis," and it has everything anyone could ask for from a rap song - a great story, clever lyrics, Black pride, and an irresistible beat built on a classic soul sample - Clarence Carter's 1968 single "Back Door Santa." Maybe you would argue with calling it the greatest, but "Christmas In Hollis" certainly set the standard for future rap tracks, and it been covered and adapted many times since - even sampled by other rappers.

  Initially, "Christmas In Hollis" was released in several formats, including 7-inch and 12-inch single, on Profile Records' Christmas Rap album, and, most famously, on the inaugural edition of the Very Special Christmas series. Later, it was compiled on Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983-1991 (1991), Greatest Hits (2002), and pretty much every Run-D.M.C. hits collection ever since. In 1998, Arista Records released "Christmas In Hollis" on a special, clear promotional CD single (click to see) in anticipation of the group's comeback album, planned for release in 1999. However, tensions within the group led to the album being delayed, and the resulting album, Crown Royal, would not be released until 2001 with limited contributions by Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels - making the CD single quite the collector's item...

  Later, Sony Legacy added "Christmas In Hollis" to the 2005 deluxe edition of the group's 1988 album, Tougher Than Leather. And, of course, "Christmas In Hollis" pops up with regularity on Christmas collections like The Soulful Sounds Of Christmas (2006) and The Classic Christmas 80's Album (2015).

• Christmas In Hollywood (Hollywood Undead, 2008)
• Christmas In Hollywood (Kat Meoz, 2017)
• Christmas In Huntsville (Jason Boland & The Stragglers, 2015)
• Christmas In Jail (Youngsters, 1956) Top 100 Song
• Christmas In Jail (Ain't That A Pain) (Leroy Carr, 1929)
• Christmas In Jamaica (Brent Dowe, circa 1973)
• Christmas In June (The Grapes & Friends, 2024)
• Christmas In Killarney
  • Bing Crosby (1951)
  • April March (1962) [close]

    I mention this song here not because it is "essential" - it is not - but to warn fans of April March, indie darling (Chick Habit, 1994) and former leader of pop punk band the Shitbirds (see below). That's because this April March is not that April March. Rather, she's a completely obscure lounge singer. This song - released on a label called Keytone b/w "When Christmas Rolls Around" - is the same song recorded by Bing Crosby and others. So, there you have it. Now, hopefully, none of you will spend years chasing it down like I did....

• Christmas In L.A. (The Killers featuring Dawes, 2013)
• Christmas In Love (Firefall, 1982)
• Christmas In Mexico (T.G. Sheppard & Kelly Lang, 2020)
• Christmas In My Hometown
  • Eric Clapton (2018)
  • Sonny James (1954 and 1966)
• Christmas In My Hometown (Charley Pride, 1970)
• Christmas In My Neighborhood (The Grapes & Friends, 2019)
• Christmas In My Soul (Laura Nyro, 1970)
• Christmas In New Orleans (Louis Armstrong, 1955)
• Christmas In New York (Abigail Breslin, 2013)
• Christmas In New York (Pointer Sisters, 2005)
• Christmas In New Zealand (Spinning Wig Hats aka The Long Ryders, 1985)
• Christmas In November (Elton Britt, 1962)
• Christmas In Prison
  • Bright Eyes featuring John Prine (2023)
  • Hayes Carll & Melissa Carper (2023)
  • Hiss Golden Messenger & Lucinda Williams (2019)
  • Joshua James (2003)
  • Doug Legacy & The Legends Of The West (1984) [close]

    Doug Legacy is a singer and percussionist from Houston, Texas, who never really recorded under his real name, Charles Douglas Lacy, though he is often credited as Doug Lacy (or Lacey) for his session work. He recorded quite a bit with the Zydeco Party Band as Doug Legacy, made an album with Oingo Boingo in 1996 under the name Doug & The Mystics, and another as Doug Legacy & The Donkey Biters in 2005. As a musician, he's backed plenty of famous people including Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren, John Hiatt, and Eddie Money. Reportedly, he also won The Gong Show for playing steel drums, worked on The Muppet Show as both a musician and puppeteer, and played a singing pirate at Disneyland. Now, that's a résumé!

    Doug Legacy's contribution to the hip Christmas canon is a self-released single from 1984, "Christmas On The Range," a cover of a very obscure song written by three old-school songwriters, Charles Tobias, Nat Simon, and Roy Newell. The song was first recorded by singer and bandleader Eddy Howard for Columbia in 1940 under its full, published title, "When It's Christmas On The Range" - all of which means it's not the song of the exact same title recorded by Bob Wills in 1949. Anyway, no big whoop.

    The big news is the b-side, "Christmas In Prison," because it is - best I can tell - the first-ever cover of John Prine's composition from his 1973 album Sweet Revenge. These days, the dark, yet whimsical song is reasonably well-known and fairly widely covered, and John Prine (rest his soul) is practically considered a saint. But, clearly, it took a while for that to happen - in part because, relatively speaking, almost no one was recording Christmas music in the 1970's (see this page for a more fulsome discussion).

    It took me a number of years to appreciate Doug Legacy's rather formal interpretation of "Christmas In Prison." He treats the song to a purely acoustic, somewhat mannered, old-timey country arrangement, and Legacy's big, pure, near-operatic voice doesn't wring a lot of nuance from Prine's eccentric lyrics. I discovered the recording on Rhino Records' mostly great 1989 compilation, Bummed Out Christmas! (read more), which includes virtually no annotation - something atypical for a label with Rhino's usually high standards. So, it took me even longer to discover what an amazingly star-studded recording Legacy's single was - thank you, internet! - which spurred me to reevaluate the whole thing. With hindsight, it sounds like a harbinger of the music we'd come to call Americana, beating O Brother, Where Art Thou? to the punch by more than a decade.

    The Legends Of The West were a who's who of West Coast session men from the period, including Jim Keltner (drums), Jorge Calderon (bass), David Mansfield (guitar), and Ry Cooder (accordion), who also produced the track with Doug Legacy. Based on the music and the cover art, the Christmas single was clearly a fun side-project among friends, and it's not even clear if it was ever offered for sale. Frankly, it seems just as likely that it was pressed up as a holiday greeting for friends and family.

    At any rate, the familial approach extended to the group's 1988 album, Hey You!, which included "Christmas In Prison" but not "Christmas On The Range." Other tracks on the album featured Todd Rundgren, Van Dyke Parks, Waddy Wachtel, Bonnie Raitt, Bobby King, Will Jennings, Joe Puerta, David Lindley, Eric Gale, and the Tower Of Power Horns. Hey You! was mostly written, arranged, and produced by Doug Legacy (who used his real name everywhere but in the masthead), and it turned out to be the last Legends Of The West recording.

    I should acknowledge that there's some disagreement about the date of the record's release. The original vinyl 45 does not have a date on it, and Bummed Out Christmas! dates "Christmas In Prison" as 1984 - though without any further information, as previously mentioned. Other sources date the single as 1988, i.e. the same as the album, which provides the standard copyright date, as well as track-by-track session personnel - but no specifics about when the individual tracks were recorded. "Christmas In Prison" is, however, the only track on the album produced by Ry Cooder with that particular group of musicians. So, it makes sense that it's taken from an earlier session, and I have to assume Rhino knows of whence they speak...

  • Willie Nelson (2006)
  • John Prine (1973)
  • Wesley Stace, aka John Wesley Harding (2016)
• Christmas In Southgate (Ry Cooder, 2007)
• Christmas In Suburbia
  • Cleaners From Venus (1990)
  • Eye Tunes (2020)
  • Librarians With Hickeys (2020)
  • Martin Newell (1993)
• Christmas In The City (Mary J. Blige, 1997)
• Christmas In The City (Nick D' & the Believers, 2014)
• Christmas In The Club (Tom Tom Club, 2002)
• Christmas In The Congo (Marquees, 1959) Top 100 Song
• Christmas In The Congo (Teddy & The Tall Tops, 1983)
• Christmas In The Ghetto (Operation From The Bottom, 1996)
• Christmas In The Hills (Hylo Brown, 1963)
• Christmas In The Loony Bin
  • Daniel Johnston (1988)
  • Osaka Popstar (2016)
• Christmas In The Sand (Kurt Baker, 2021)
• Christmas In The Slammer (Swallows, 2000)
• Christmas In Tunisia (REM, 1994)
• Christmas In Vietnam (Jack Cardwell, 1966)
• Christmas In Vietnam (Johnny & Jon, 1966)
• Christmas In Washington
  • Joan Baez (2003)
  • Steve Earle (1997)
• Christmas In Your Arms (Ruben Studdard, 2009)
• Christmas Is (Tom T. Hall, 1978)
• Christmas Is (Lou Rawls, 1967)
• Christmas Is (Run-D.M.C., 1992)
• Christmas Is A Special Day (Fats Domino, 1993)
• Christmas Is A Way Of Life, My Dear (Chantal Kreviazuk, 2019)
• Christmas Is A-Coming
  • Shitbirds featuring April March (1993)
  • John Denver & The Muppets (1979)
• Christmas Is Annoying (Keb' Mo', 2019)
• Christmas Is Cancelled (Farrah, 2005)
• Christmas Is Cancelled (Vice Squad, 2013)
• Christmas Is Coming (Payolas, 1983)
• Christmas Is Coming (Three Courgettes, 1982)
• Christmas Is Coming (from "A Charlie Brown Christmas") (Vince Guaraldi Trio, 1965)
• Christmas Is Everywhere Except in My Heart (Jimmy Martin, 1980)
• Christmas Is For Mugs (Graham Parker, 1994)
• Christmas Is Here (Baskerville Hounds, 1966)
• Christmas Is Here (Buckcherry, 2010)
• Christmas Is Going To The Dogs (The Eels, 2000)
• Christmas Is Just Another Lonely Day (Ernest Tubb, 1961)
• Christmas Is Just Around The Corner (from "A Cranberry Christmas") (Barry Manilow, 2008)
• Christmas Is Leading Me Home (Hayley Sales, 2013)
• Christmas Is Love (James Brown, 1970)
• Christmas Is My Favorite Time Of Year (Patricia Vonne, 2023)
• Christmas Is My Time Of Year
  • The Christmas Spirit (1968) Top 100 Song [close]

    A true oddity in the annals of Christmas rock, "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" was recorded by the Christmas Spirit, a one-off collaboration by an oddball assortment of California rockers, some already famous, others soon to be. Written by Turtles singer Howard Kaylan and producer Chip Douglas (Monkees, Lovin' Spoonful, Turtles), it's a sterling (if eccentric) example of folk rock, and it brims with the festive spirit of the holidays. Lending a hand were Turtle Mark Volman (who, with Kaylan, later performed with Frank Zappa as Flo & Eddie); Gram and Gene Parsons (both of whom were members of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, but were not related); Linda Ronstadt (who'd just left the Stone Poneys but would eventually become a country rock icon); Henry Diltz and Cyrus Faryar (who, with Douglas, had been members of the Modern Folk Quartet); and the Bessie Griffin and the Gospel Pearls, whose cacophonous caroling very nearly overwhelm the proceedings.

    "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" was originally released as a single by tiny White Whale Records (known mainly for the Turtles) backed with "Will You Still Believe In Me," a lovely Christmas song written by Ronstadt's bandmate in the Stone Poneys, Robert Kimmell, and sung by Chip Douglas and Linda Ronstadt. The record flopped miserably, though the a-side was preserved for posterity on Rhino's long out-of-print 1984 LP, Rockin' Christmas: The 60's. It wouldn't be released in the digital age till 2004 when both sides appeared on the compact disc Out Of Nowhere: The White Whale Story Vol. 2, which was later reissued for download and streaming. "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" was also included on the Turtles' collection All The Singles (2016). [back to list]

  • Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz & Peter Tork of the Monkees (1976)
• Christmas Is Near (Ralph Stanley, 2003)
• Christmas Is Revolting (And So Are The Elves) (Tuna Observatory, 1983)
• Christmas Is Saturday (Don Dixon, 2006)
• Christmas Is The Day (Free Design, 1968)
• Christmas Is The Only Time (I Think Of You) (Wes Lachot & Chris Stamey, 1993)
• Christmas Is The Season (Jo Stafford, 1964)
• Christmas Is The Time (Lou Rawls, 1993)
• Christmas Is The Time To Be With Your Baby (The Orchids, 1964)
• Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You
  • Cute Lepers (2008)
  • Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen (2023)
  • Billy Squier (1981) Top 100 Song
  • SR-71 (2001)
• Christmas Island
  • Andrews Sisters (1946)
  • Bob Atcher & The Dinning Sisters (1950)
  • Ernest Tubb & The Beasley Sisters (1950)
• Christmas Island (Depeche Mode, 1986)
• Christmas Isn’t Christmas (Bon Jovi, 2023)
• Christmas Journey (Wayne Newton, 1966)
• Christmas Just Does This To Me (Matt Wertz, 2010)
• Christmas Killed Us (Loudflower, 1996)
• Christmas Kisses (Ray Anthony & The Bookends, 1961) [close]
  
  listen / buy

  Ray Anthony (real name Raymond Antonini) was a member of Glenn Miller's big band in the 1940's, well-known both for his skill with the trumpet and his matinee idol good looks. By the 1950's, he was leading his own band, when economic pressures forced most of the big bands off the road. Anthony's career survived for decades after the swing era had ended, however, by adapting to the times. He downsized his band, played Las Vegas, and worked a lot in movies and TV - both as a musician and as an actor.

  And, he wasn't afraid to jump on a bandwagon. Some of Ray Anthony's biggest hits were covers of already popular songs like "Dragnet" (#2, 1953) and "Peter Gunn" (#8, 1959), and he was unabashed about cozying up to the emerging rock 'n' roll market. In 1956, his band appeared in The Girl Can't Help It alongside Little Richard, Gene Vincent, and Fats Domino. And, in the early 60's, he tried - and failed - to launch a girl group, the Bookends.

  The Bookends were a pair of hot tomatoes (Annita Ray and Diane Hall) who primary role was to lend Anthony's Vegas revue some sex appeal. On that front, they succeeded wildly, but in 1961 he tried to pass them off as a genuine girl group like the Shirelles or the Cookies. In an apparent attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of America's teenagers, the original Capitol 45-rpm record of the Bookends' debut, "Christmas Kisses," didn't have Ray Anthony's name on it - not as producer, arranger, or bandleader. And, while it was a catchy, sexy, silly song, the ruse didn't work and the single flopped.

  The following year, he jumped on a different bandwagon with a Capitol album called The Twist credited to Ray Anthony and His Bookends. Under that billing, they'd release about a half-dozen further singles, but then it was back to the bars for the Bookends. For his part, Ray Anthony soldiered on, performing all the way into the 21st century. He turned 100 in 2022 as the last living member of the original Glenn Miller band.

  On the crest of the compact disc wave, "Christmas Kisses" lent its name to a fine Capitol's compilation, and it subsequently became a kind of kitsch calling card - at least among Christmas music enthusiasts. The song would pop up several times over the years, most notably on Ultra-Lounge Christmas Cocktails (1996), almost always credited to some variation of Ray Anthony and the Bookends.

• Christmas Kisses (Happy Martyr, 2012)
• Christmas Letter (Sonny James, 1966)
• Christmas Letter (Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, 1956)
• Christmas Letters (Carol Ford, 1968)
• Christmas Lights (Coldplay, 2010)
• Christmas Lights (Hi-Risers, 2020)
• Christmas Lights (Donna Lewis, 1995)
• Christmas Lights (from "Stranger Things") (Ingrid Michaelson, 2019)
• Christmas Lights (Montgomery Cliffs, 1999)
• Christmas Lights of Blue (The Come Ons, 2011)
• Christmas Like (Straight No Chaser, 2021)
• Christmas Like A Lullaby (John Denver, 1990)
• Christmas List (Foster & Lloyd, 1990)
• Christmas Love (Tom Greed & The Snowflakes, 2001)
• Christmas Love (Rotary Connection, 1968)
• Christmas Love (Dwight Twilley, 1992)
• Christmas Love Song (aka All I Want for Christmas Is You) (Tony Bennett, 2004)
• Christmas Lullaby (Belinda Carlisle, 1995)
• Christmas Lullaby (Shane MacGowan & The Popes, 1996)
• Christmas Lullaby (CJ Ramone, 2017)
• Christmas Lullaby (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, 1968)
• Christmas Magic (Jennifer Love Hewitt, 2024)
• Christmas Makes Me Hot! (13 Stories, 2006)
• Christmas Means Nothing Without You (from "Anna And The Apocalypse") (Shonagh Murray, 2018)
• Christmas Medley (Live on the Ed Sullivan Show) (Cowsills, 1967)
• Christmas Moon (Jackie Gleason, 1967)
• Christmas Morning (Infant Kings, 1997)
• Christmas Morning (Last Bandits featuring Nikki Sudden, 1986)
• Christmas Morning (Lyle Lovett, 1996)
• Christmas Morning (Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men, 2020)
• Christmas Morning (Titus Turner, 1952)
• Christmas Morning (Loudon Wainwright III, 1999)
• Christmas Morning (Zebra, 1969)
• Christmas Morning Blues (Sonny Boy Williamson, 1938) [close]

  The first Sonny Boy Williamson (real name John Lee Williamson) all but invented blues harmonica and penned a number of eternal classics - "Good Morning Little School Girl" foremost among them. He also composed this wonderful yuletide lament, begging Santa Claus to "bring my baby a lot of toys" - meaning electric radios, fur coats, and other modern conveniences. "Christmas Morning Blues," however, can be tough-to-find. For quite some time, Virgin's All Time Blues Classics (pictured) was the only CD I'd uncovered that contained the holiday song alongside Sonny Boy's best-known tracks. Sadly, the disc was only available in Spain - though the song did appear on RCA's more focused The Bluebird Recordings: 1938. Later, though, old-time music specialist JSP Records included the song on their reasonably-priced 4-CD boxed set, The Original Sonny Boy Williamson, Vol. 1 (2007). Even better, English label Document Records included "Christmas Morning Blues" on their absolutely essential 2005 compilation, Blues Blues Christmas, and Sony picked it up on their wonderful 2013 collection Death Might Be Your Santa Claus.

• Christmas Morning Blues (Victoria Spivey, 1927)
• Christmas Morning Comin' Down (The Tall Pines, 2010)
• Christmas Mourning (Julian Cope, 1988)
• Christmas Must Be Tonight
  • The Band (alternate version, 1975)
  • The Band (released version, 1977)
  • Ronnie Hawkins (2015)
  • Amy Helm & The Woods Brothers (2018)
  • Peter Holsapple Combo (2019)
  • Robbie Robertson (1988)
• Christmas Night (Dwight Twilley, 1992)
• Christmas Night In Harlem (Louis Armstrong, 1955)
• Christmas Night Of The Zombies (MXPX, 2003)
• Christmas 1968 (Happy Christmas) (Beatles, 1968)
• Christmas Number One (The Black Arts, 2007)
• Christmas On A Friday (MxPx, 2015)
• Christmas On A Greyhound Bus (Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters, 2019)
• Christmas On Easter Island (Sad Lovers And Giants, 1991)
• Christmas On 45 (Holly And The Ivys, 1981)
• Christmas Of Love (Little Isidore & The Inquisitors, 2000)
• Christmas On Mars (Groovie Ghoulies, 1992)
• Christmas On My Mind (Hep Stars, 1967)
• Christmas On Riverside Drive (August Darnell, 1981)
• Christmas On The Block (Alan Mann Band, 1984)
• Christmas On The Moon (Christmas Jug Band, 2021)
• Christmas On The M62 (Wreckless Eric, 2014)
• Christmas On TV (Chris Isaak, 2004)
• Christmas Only Comes Once A Year (MXPX, 1999)
• Christmas Party (Clarence Carter, 2010)
• Christmas Party (Brendan Hanlon & The Bat Men, 1964)
• Christmas Party (MXPX, 2002)
• Christmas Party (Walkmen, 2004)
• Christmas Passing Through (Roches, 1990)
• Christmas Past (Mike Ireland & Holler, 1997)
• Christmas Plea (Dynamics, 1962)
• Christmas Polka (Jimmy Wakely, 1949)
• Christmas Prayer (Penguins, 1955)
• Christmas Prayer (Valentines, 1955)
• Christmas Prayer (Susan Wheeler, 1966)
• Christmas Present Blues (Jimmy Reed, 1970)
• Christmas Presents (Solomon Burke, 1955)
• Christmas Rappin' (Kurtis Blow, 1979)
• Christmas Reunion (Reno & Smiley, 1963)
• Christmas Ride (Fight, 1994)
• Christmas Roses (Grandpa Jones, 1969)
• Christmas Saves The Year (Twenty One Pilots, 2020)
• Christmas Shake (Figgs, 1995)
• Christmas Shoppers Paradise (Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, 1992)
• Christmas Sing Along With Jose (Bill Dana, 1961) [close]

  While writing for "The Steve Allen Show", comedian Bill Dana garnered a huge break when José Jimenez, a character he created for a Christmas sketch, became a national sensation. In the sketch - preserved on Rhino's The Best of José Jimenez - Dana's character played a Puerto Rican Santa Claus whose hearty laugh was rendered "Jo, Jo, Jo!" Though the dim-witted, heavily-accented Jimenez - resembling Speedy Gonzalez on quaaludes - can rightfully be called a racist portrayal, Dana's creation earned wide acclaim, most notably in the role of a reluctant astronaut while the Mercury space program was in the news. Dana revisited the holiday season with "Christmas Sing Along With Jose," a droll rendition of "Jingle Bells" released both as a single and as part of his album, Jose Jimenez In Orbit - Bill Dana On Earth. Neither record has ever been reissued on any CD.

• Christmas Song (Angel, 1978)
• Christmas Song (Phoebe Bridgers with Jackson Brown, 2018)
• Christmas Song (The Garlands, 2013)
• Christmas Song (Jethro Tull, 1968)
• Christmas Song (Mogwai, 2009)
• Christmas Song (Natural Gas, 1976)
• Christmas Song (Gilbert O'Sullivan, 1974)
• Christmas Song (Michael Penn, 1985) [close]

  I mention this song here not because it is "essential" - it is not - but to warn fans of Michael Penn, the modern pop singer ("No Myth," 1990) and husband of musical fellow traveler Aimee Mann. That's because this Michael Penn is not that Michael Penn. Rather, he's a completely obscure country singer. This song - released on a label called AGM b/w "It's Gonna Take A Long Time" - is also not the Nat King Cole song of great renown. So, there you have it. Hopefully, none of you will spend years chasing it down like I did....

• Christmas Song (Ravonettes, 2003)
• Christmas Song (Weezer, 2000)
• Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
  • Cynthia Basinet (2011)
  • Tony Bennett (2002)
  • Les Brown with Doris Day (1946)
  • Carpenters (1978)
  • Jimmy Castor Bunch (1975)
  • Alex Chilton (1993)
  • Nat King Cole (1946, 1953, and 1961)
  • Billy Crystal (1985)
  • Sammy Davis, Jr. (1964)
  • Drifters (1964)
  • Ella Fitzgerald (1960)
  • Dexter Gordon (1970)
  • Dobie Gray (1976)
  • Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors (2018)
  • Al Jarreau (1982)
  • Kaz Jaz Quartet (1983)
  • Alicia Keys (2019)
  • King Curtis (1968) Top 100 Song
  • Peggy Lee (1960)
  • Aimee Mann (2000) [close]

    Cast against type, gloomy former 'Til Tuesday singer Aimee Mann has demonstrated an affinity for Christmas music over the years. In 2000, she recorded her understated rendition of Mel Tormé's classic "Christmas Song" for a two-song CD single sold through her website, www.aimeemann.com. The second track is an original composition, "Christmastime." The recording is a duet with her husband, Michael Penn, who cowrote the song with Jon Brion, and it finally saw wide commercial release in 2005 on a rather generic adult-contemporary compilation entitled Jingle Bell Rock. In 2004, Mann released "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" as a free-with-purchase single to promote web sales of her Live At St. Ann's Warehouse DVD, and in 2005 she released an iTunes exclusive EP (now deleted). In 2006, she finally released a whole Christmas album, One More Drifter In The Snow.

  • Johnny Mathis (1958)
  • Johnny Mathis featuring Billy Joel (2013)
  • Carmen McRae (1991)
  • Mello Moods (1964)
  • Ricky Nelson (1964)
  • Les Paul & Mary Ford (1961)
  • Nelson Riddle (1965)
  • Seal (2017)
  • Shantons (1960)
  • Supremes (1965)
  • Mel Tormé (1955) [close]

    Mel Tormé was very successful as a nimble jazz singer and impossibly smooth crooner known as "The Velvet Fog." And, he was no slouch as an actor, appearing in a number of movies and lots of television. He was also a fine drummer and lifelong friend of the best drummer, Buddy Rich. So, relatively speaking, Tormé only dabbled in songwriting, but he could probably have lived quite well on nothing but the royalties of his greatest hit, "The Christmas Song." Reportedly, he referred to the song as "my annuity."

    Already a seasoned veteran at age 30, Mel Tormé wrote the music for "The Christmas Song" in 1945, and his frequent songwriting partner, Robert Wells, penned the lyrics. It was originally subtitled "Merry Christmas To You," but over the years that changed to "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire," its unforgettable first stanza. Nat King Cole, a jazz pianist and singer with pop ambitions, recorded the song in 1946, and he immediately took ownership - at least in the eyes of the record-buying public. Cole's recording zoomed up the charts, topping out at #3 Pop and #3 R&B. It would chart over and over again, year after year, right up to the present, while spawning thousands of cover versions - most slavishly patterned after Cole's elegant interpretation. Still, Tormé got to cash the royalty checks...

    So, it's almost lost to history that Mel Tormé himself waxed his most famous composition several times, starting with a live recording on his Coral LP Gene Norman Presents Mel Tormé (1955), captured at Norman's Crescendo nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, on December 15, 1954. It's a lovely, intimate performance, and it can be found on GRP's Mel Torme in Hollywood (1991) and The Joy Of Christmas Past (1994).

    

    

    

    

    

    Tormé's first studio recording of "The Christmas Song" was made in 1961 for his Verve album My Kind Of Music, released in early 1962. It's included on A Bachelor Pad Christmas (1996) and Snow - The Get Easy! Christmas Collection (2002), among others, as well as Rhino's fine boxed set The Mel Tormé Collection 1944-1985 (1996).

    Then, Tormé recorded another studio version for Columbia on October 1, 1966 - he was associated with the label from 1964 to 1967 - but it sat unreleased until 1970 when it was issued as a non-LP single b/w "One Little Snowflake." This version popped up on the 1997 CD reissue of Tormé's 1965 Columbia album That's All, and it was subsequently collected on Croon & Swoon: A Classic Christmas Vol. 2 (1999).

    In 1992, near the end of his long career, Mel Tormé finally recorded his first full holiday album, logically titled Christmas Songs, for audiophile label Telarc. Of course, the album included a new version of "The Christmas Song," and it served as something of a victory lap for a man who had outworked and outlived most of his peers. Tormé died in 1999, not long after he had received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

  • Jody Watley (2015)
  • Whispers (1979)
• Christmas Song Cha Cha (Hugo Winterhalter, 1958)
• Christmas Song For Melanie (Remington Super 60, 2001)
• Christmas Songs (Josh Rouse, 2019)
• Christmas Soon (JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys, 2010)
• Christmas Sound (The Swimmers, 2007)
• Christmas Sounds (Saturday's Children, 1966)
• Christmas Spell (Peggy Lee, 1949)
• Christmas Spirit (Johnny Cash, 1963)
• Christmas Spirit Of '69 (North Pole United, 2010)
• Christmas Spirit?? (Wailers, 1965) Top 100 Song [close]
  There's never been a more sour Christmas single than the Sonics/Wailers split 45, "Don't Believe In Christmas" b/w "Christmas Spirit??" The a-side featured the Sonics railing against the entire institution of Christmas, largely for personal reasons. The Wailers' flip side attacks the holiday for what it reveals about America - our commercialism, our shallowness, our lack of self-awareness. Told in a droll, Dylanesque twang, "Christmas Spirit??" is so broad, so bitter, so altogether over-the-top that it just may have been intended as a parody. Or, it may have been an earnest attempt at relevance by an aging party band ("Tall Cool One," 1959). Either way, it works for me - bah humbug, babe. Both sides of this infamous single are included on Etiquette's Merry Christmas From The Sonics, Wailers, Galaxies, a compilation of garage bands from the Pacific Northwest, as well as Rhino's Bummed Out Christmas. [back to list]
• Christmas Spirits (aka Christmas Blues) (Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends, 1948) Top 100 Song [close]

  Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends walk a fine line between jazz and blues on "Christmas Spirits" (sometimes called "Christmas Blues"), their ribald 1948 classic for Capitol Records. "Christmas spirits all around me, but I just don't feel a thing," she insists, but the raw, unrequited sexual need (and bawdy humor) Lee injects into her understated performance is remarkable. Aware that Santa can't bring her what she needs most (wink, wink), she resorts to flirting with the Fat Man himself. "I could go for your long (pausing wickedly) whiskers," she tells Santa. Her Boyfriends on this session included stellar saxman Benny Carter and trombonist Vic Dickenson, whose sultry solo is a sleazy highlight.

  "Christmas Spirits" was recorded, by the way, in November 1947 but not released until October 1948. So, both dates are common. It can be found on Capitol's Christmas Kisses, Rhino's Hipsters' Holiday, and other fine compilations.

  Julia Lee was a versatile pianist and singer, and she was quite popular during her tenure for Capitol from 1944 to 1950, particularly in her hometown of Kansas City. She specialized, however, in risqué songs like "Christmas Spirits," and today she's best remembered for her skills with the sexual double entendre, including songs like "King Size Papa," "My Man Stands Out," and "Snatch and Grab It."

• Christmas Star (Debbie Gibson, 2021)
• Christmas Stars (Dwight Twilley, 2004)
• Christmas Steps (Mogwai, 2006)
• Christmas Strutt (Hot & Sassy, 1980)
• Christmas Style (Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, 2018)
• Christmas Stylee (Johnny Osbourne & The Family Group, 1980)
• Christmas Swing (Michel Warlop & Orchestre featuring Django Reinhardt, 1937)
• Christmas Tears
  • Frieda Borth (1983)
  • Eric Clapton (1999)
  • Freddy King (1961) Top 100 Song
• Christmas Tears (Four Seasons, 1962)
• Christmas Tears Will Fall (Rudy & The Rialtos featuring Wolfman Jack, 1976)
• Christmas That Almost Wasn't (Osaka Popstar, 2006)
• Christmas (The Warmest Time Of The Year) (Whitney Wolanin, 2005)
• Christmas Time (Horace Andy, 1972)
• Christmas Time (BoDeans, 1989)
• Christmas Time (Boss Martians, 1997)
• Christmas Time (Jan Bradley, 1962)
• Christmas Time (Ray Charles, 1978)
• Christmas Time (Far Too Jones, 1992)
• Christmas Time (Krayolas, 1980) [close]

  On a series of fine, though obscure, records in the 70's and 80's, the Krayolas effortlessly threw down guitar-driven, power pop nuggets like "You're Not My Girl" and "Cry Cry, Laugh Laugh." That being the case, "Christmas Time" is an extraordinarily gentle record. The San Antonio-based "Tex-Mex Beatles" abandon their Rickenbackers and Ludwigs in favor of synthesizers and carefully constructed harmonies. The end result - baroque pop infused with melancholy, flirting with dissonance - would make Brian Wilson smile (pun intended), and it doesn't sound like either the Beatles or Tex-Mex music. "It's the happiest day of the year," announces singer Hector Saldana at the outset. But, by the time the record draws to its dreary conclusion, he sings of tears and fears on "the loneliest day of the year." "Christmas Time" is included on Best Riffs Only: The Krayolas 1977-1988 (2007), released about the time the band reunited.

• Christmas Time
  • Billy Boy Arnold (1979) [close]

    In the 1950's Chicago bluesman Billy Boy Arnold earned his bones blowing harp for Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and others while cutting some impressive sides of his own for Chess and Vee Jay, including "I Wish You Would" and "I Ain’t Got You," both later covered by the Yardbirds. Twenty years later, he cut a smokin' holiday unicorn while in London in 1977 at a session arranged by legendary BBC disc jockey John Peel. "Christmas Time" is a cover of Jimmy McCracklin's 1961 classic, and Arnold is backed by UK blues rockers the Groundhogs. Both versions are great, but Arnold's cover - driven by Tony McPhee's aggressive guitar - has a distinctly modern feel compared to McCracklin's piano-and-horn-based original. Arnold's "Christmas Time" wasn't released, however, until 1979 when it appeared on his Red Lightnin' album Checkin' It Out. "Christmas Time" has rarely been anthologized, but you can find it on Time-Life's Living The Blues: Christmas.

  • Jimmy McCracklin (1961)
• Christmas Time (Red Sky July, 2014)
• Christmas Time (Shandy featuring Don Powell from Slade, 2023)
• Christmas Time (Chris Stamey Group with the dBs and Syd Straw, 1986) Top 100 Song [close]
  Two tracks from Chris Stamey's Christmas Time appear in my Top 100 Songs: Stamey's "Christmas Time" and the dB's "Holiday Spirit." (Stamey is a member of the dB's, and they appear on both tracks.) The dB's song is more of a statement - not even two manic minutes of unreserved cynicism and greed - but I love it. "Christmas Time," though, is a real artistic achievement and - in many ways - the better song. It is certainly a more sophisticated composition and full-realized recording. And, it's a virtual paean to Big Star, whose classic "Jesus Christ" also appears on the album. From the letter-perfect power pop arrangement (chiming guitars, soaring harmonies, thundering drums) to the inventive way Stamey rewrites holiday homilies in his lyrics, "Christmas Time" bores its way into the subconscious and will not let go. It's a long story, but Christmas Time has been issued four separate times (and counting), each time with a different track listing. The title song, obviously, appears on all of them, and "Holiday Spirit" is included on the CD editions by East Side Digital (1993), Collector's Choice (2006), and Omnivore (2015). [back to list]
• Christmas Time (Again) (Bad Manners, 1989)
• Christmas Time Again (Reuben Anderson, 1966)
• Christmas Time Again (The Connection, 2013)
• Christmas Time Again (The Goldbergs, 2009)
• Christmas Time At Home (Rhonda Vincent , 2021)
• Christmas Time (Beggin' Santa Claus) (Black Ace, 1937)
• Christmas Time Blues (Guitar Slim & Jelly Belly, 1948)
• Christmas Time Blues (Roy Milton, 1950)
• Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)
  • The Darkness (2003)
  • The Darkness (new version, 2013)
• Christmas Time For Everybody But Me (Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, 1963)
• Christmas Time In My Hometown (Bobby Helms, 1967)
• Christmas Time In The Motor City (Was Not Was, 1981)
• Christmas Time In The Valley (Freddy Fender, 1977)
• Christmas Time Is Coming (The Automatics, 2007)
• Christmas Time Is (Coming 'Round Again) (Mavericks, 2017)
• Christmas Time Is Here (from "A Charlie Brown Christmas")
  • Becky Barksdale (2013)
  • Chomsky (2000)
  • Combustible Edison (1994)
  • Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965)
  • Meg Hentges (1994)
  • Ivy (2004)
  • Paula Kelley (2022)
  • Lyle Lovett & Kat Edmonson (2011)
  • R.E.M. (1993)
  • Stone Temple Pilots (1994)
  • Jody Watley (2015)
• Christmas Time Is Here (Correatown, 2012)
• Christmas Time Is Here (Heptones, 1968)
• Christmas Time Is Here (Ray Parker Jr., 1982)
• Christmas Time Is Here Again (Beach Boys, 1977)
• Christmas Time Is Here Again
  • Flirtations (1968)
  • Pepper Pots (2009)
• Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
  • Beatles (1967)
  • Malibooz (2019)
  • REM (2000)
  • Spoon (2021)
  • Ringo Starr (1999)
  • Weeklings (2017)
• Christmas Time Is Here (Where the Hell Are You?) (Mabini, 2012)
• Christmas Time Is Near (Stanley Brothers, 1958)
• Christmas Time Love (Ashley Matte, 2010)
• Christmas Time To Me (Jordin Sparks, 2013)
• Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over
  • Fiddlin' John Carson (1927)
  • Jack White (2003)
• Christmas Time With You (Dollyrots, 2022)
• Christmas Time's A-Comin'
  • Good Lovelies (2020)
  • Emmylou Harris (1979)
  • Bill Monroe (1951)
  • Webb Pierce (1976)
  • Mac Wiseman (circa 1979) Top 100 Song [close]

    Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mac Wiseman isn't well-known outside of bluegrass circles, but within that community, he is a hero of great stature - just short of men like Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, both of whom he worked with. Written by Tex Logan, "Christmas Time's A-Coming" stands as arguably the most iconic original country Christmas song ever, and it was Monroe who first recorded the song in 1951. And, to most critics, Monroe's rendition is definitive. But, Mac Wiseman puts it across with such panache that I believe it to be just about the greatest country Christmas record ever waxed. Unfortunately, it's also a very obscure recording, and I can't even be sure of the date. I stumbled onto it when I bought a copy of Joe Ward's 1955 King Records hit, "Nuttin' For Christmas," released as a vinyl 45 in 1979 by Nashville budget label Gusto Records, with Wiseman's "Christmas Time's A-Coming" on the b-side. That made me think it was an "oldies" reissue, but the record itself bears no recording dates or other information, and Wiseman's recording appears on no earlier releases that I've been able to locate.

    Now, it makes sense that Wiseman would have recorded "Christmas Time's A-Coming" for an independent label like Gusto during the late 1970's, with his long tenure as a major label artist (for Dot, Capitol, and RCA) having come to a close earlier in the decade. And, the recording certainly sounds contemporary with that era. But, while Gusto controlled the vintage masters of King, as well as Starday, Hollywood, and other labels prolific in country music, Wiseman never recorded (to my knowledge) for any of those companies. He did, however, record an album, Golden Classics, for Gusto in 1979 - though he was also recording for CMH and other labels around the same time - and he contributed songs to several Gusto compilations during the late 70's and early 80's. So, 1979 as the actual release date of "Christmas Time's A-Coming" makes about as much sense as anything - I just can't prove it.

    Regardless, Wiseman's definitive reading of the song has been released on several subsequent budget albums - most bearing the Hollywood imprint - including Christmas Jamboree (1988), a now out-of-print compact disc, which is comprised mostly of vintage King and Starday recordings. To confuse matters even further, Wiseman's Power Pak album Number One Christmas showed up in 1996 (but did not include "Christmas Time's A-Coming"), and Wiseman recorded a new version of the song in 2002 with Doc Watson and Del McCoury for the album Christmas On The Mountain: A Bluegrass Christmas.

• Christmas Time's A-Comin' (Buck Owens, 1965)
• Christmas Time This Year (Ry Cooder, 2011)
• Christmas To New Year's (The Larks, 1951)
• Christmas Train (Sofia Talvik, 2019)
• Christmas Tree (Zac Brown Band featuring Sara Bareilles, 2015)
• Christmas Tree (Lady GaGa, 2008)
• Christmas Tree (Living Pins, 2022)
• Christmas Tree Carol (Orbit, 1997)
• Christmas Tree Farm (Taylor Swift, 2019)
• Christmas Tree In The Window (Dawes, 2024)
• Christmas Tree On Fire
  • Holly Golightly (2006)
  • Tom Heinl (2003)
• Christmas Tribute (Bob Luman, 1977)
• Christmas Twist (Si Cranstoun, 2015)
• Christmas Twist (Syd Straw, 1992)
• Christmas Vacation (Descendents, 1985)
• Christmas Vacation (Mavis Staples, 1989)
• Christmas Vacation (Bobby Vee, 1962)
• Christmas Valley (Walkabouts, 1996)
• Christmas Voice (I Don't Want To Bring You Into This World) (The No Ones, 2022)
• Christmas Waits (Heart, 1998)
• Christmas Waltz
  • Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (2022)
  • Norah Jones (2021)
  • Peggy Lee (1960)
  • Frank Sinatra (1954)
  • Nancy Wilson (1968)
• Christmas Was Better In The 80's (Futureheads, 2010)
• Christmas We Deserve (ABC, 2016)
• Christmas Weather (Student Teachers, 1979)
• Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like This? (Eels, circa 2020)
• Christmas Will Be Just Another Day
  • Brenda Lee (1964) Top 100 Song
  • Lisa Mychols (2020)
• Christmas Will Be Magic Again (International Language, 1995)
• Christmas Will Break Your Heart (LCD Soundsystem, 2021)
• Christmas Will Really Be Christmas
  • Black Pumas (2020)
  • Lou Rawls (1967)
• Christmas Wish (NRBQ, 1980)
• Christmas Wish (Bobby Vee, 1962)
• Christmas Wish (aka My Christmas Wish For You) (Percy Sledge, 1978)
• Christmas With Friends (Shaggy & Gene Noble, 2019)
• Christmas With Jesus (Josh Rouse, 2002)
• Christmas With My Dad (Krayolas, 2019)
• Christmas With No One To Love (Charles Brown, 1961)
• Christmas With Satan (James White, 1982)
• Christmas With The Beatles (Judy & The Duets, 1964)
• Christmas With The Devil
  • Judith Owen & Harry Shearer (2014)
  • Spinal Tap (1984) [close]
    
    listen / buy

    At the risk of explaining the obvious, Spinal Tap was a heavy metal parody band consisting of musical comedians Michael McKean (as lead singer David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (guitarist Nigel Tufnel), and Harry Shearer (bassist Derek Smalls), plus a series of ill-fated drummers. They were the stars of the 1984 Rob Reiner mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, and if you've ever uttered the phrase "turn it up to eleven," you have Spinal Tap to thank.

    Spinal Tap first performed "Christmas With The Devil" on May 5, 1984 - which is a joke in and of itself - on an episode of the long-running NBC sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live. The song is very much in keeping with the rest of the band's catalog - an overboiled, heavy metal fever dream performed so expertly that you'd be forgiven if you mistake it for the real thing. "The elves are dressed in leather and the angels are in chains," intones St. Hubbins. "There's someone up the chimney hole, and Satan is his name."

    "Christmas With The Devil" was originally released on an Enigma 7-inch single in 1984, and it included a message from the band as the song fades: "This is Spinal Tap wishing you and yours the most joyous of holiday seasons. God bless us every one!" In 1992, the band recorded a completely new (though very similar) version for their 1992 sophomore album Break Like The Wind, and it's this version which usually appears on compilations like Hip-O's Sleighed: The Other Side Of Christmas (2000). Meanwhile, the original version and its "scratch" b-side were both included on the 2000 CD reissue of the This Is Spinal Tap soundtrack, later made available for download and streaming.

    For the morbidly curious, Spinal Tap recorded one other Christmas song in 1993. It's just a goof - a brief, fumbling, a cappella version of "We Three Kings Of Orient Are" - and it's rather hard to find. It first appeared on two obscure benefit albums, The Holiday Collection Volume III and Share The Wonder, the latter originally sold exclusively at Nordtrom's department stores. It later appeared on another benefit album, A Christmas Gift Of Love (1994), and was compiled on the two-disc version of Time-Life's Have A Fun Christmas (2004) - both exceedingly rare.

• Christmas With You (Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash, 1972)
• Christmas With You (Firehouse, 1995)
• Christmas With You (Macy Gray, 2022)
• Christmas Without The Queen (The Bird And The Bee, 2022)
• Christmas Without You (Mary J. Blige, 2024)
• Christmas Without You (OneRepublic, 2011)
• Christmas Without You (Tommy Page, 1988)
• Christmas Won't Be Christmas (Without You) (Calvin Bostick, 1952)
• Christmas Won't Be The Same (Martini Brothers, 2014)
• Christmas Won't Be The Same This Year (Jackson 5, 1970)
• Christmas Wrapping
  • Aquadolls (2021)
  • Donnas (2005)
  • The Good Natured & Colette Carr (2012)
  • The Peaches (1994)
  • Save Ferris (1998)
  • Waitresses (1981) Top 100 Song [close]
    
    listen / buy

    By the early 80's, it was OK to be a nerd (thank you, David Byrne). The Waitresses made something of a career out of exploring the lives of nerds, first with the theme of Square Pegs, a short-lived sitcom, then with "I Know What Boys Like," a sneering portrayal of the ultimate nerd (a horny male) as told by a woman (or prick tease, depending on one's perspective). "Christmas Wrapping" fits this theory as well, only this time the insecure party is female and the story turns out well.

    Employing a charming pseudo-rap style (think Blondie-meets-Tom Tom Club), singer Patty Donahue begins with a resounding "Bah humbug!" After a year of missed romantic opportunities, though, she runs into "that guy I've been chasing all year" while doing some last-minute shopping."Christmas magic's brought this tale to a very happy ending," she effuses, not unlike those Revenge Of The Nerds movies two decades ago.

    "Christmas Wrapping" was the most popular song from ZE Record's A Christmas Record, a neat 1981 LP that's only been reissued on CD overseas, though it's available for download and streaming. However, the song often shows up on compilations like The Edge Of Christmas and is included on the group's fine Best Of The Waitresses. In 1982, "Christmas Wrapping" was issued as a 12-inch single, and this later showed up online, including the unhinged non-LP b-side, "Hangover 1/1/83." [back to list] [learn more]

• Christmas (Xmas) (Rooks, 1992)
• Christmases When You Were Mine (David J, 2024)
• Christmasland (Tony Bennett, 1968)
• Christmasland (Spongetones, 1991)
• Christmassy (Dan Wilson, 2018)
• Christmastime (Aimee Mann & Michael Penn, 1996)
• Christmastime (Smashing Pumpkins, 1997)
• Christmastime Here (Could Never Be Like That) (Wednesday Week, 1984) Top 100 Song
• Christmastime In The City
  • Maple Mars (2010)
  • Maple Mars (2023)
• Christmastime Is For Sinners (Mono Men, 1994)
• Christmastime (Song For Marissa) (Cowsills, 1993)
• Christmastime With You (Cheepskates, 1984)
• Christmasville U.S.A. (Jimmy Charles, 1961)
• Circle Of Steel (Gordon Lightfoot, 1974)
• Clean For Christmas (James, Brown, 1999)
• Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas) (Free Design, 1968)
• Closing Of The Year (Main Theme from "Toys") (Wendy & Lisa with Seal, 1992)
• Coal (IDK, 2021)
• Coal (MXPX, 2009)
• Coal for Christmas (Tommy Byrne featuring Gary U.S. Bonds, 2023)
• Cocaine Christmas (Beaumonts, 2021)
• Cocktails and Candy Canes (Geoff Palmer, 2021)
• Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year) (Elton John, 1983)
• Cold Chillin' Christmas (Cold Chillin' Juice Crew , 1988)
• Cold Christmas Eve (Styrenes, 1999)
• Cold Dark Night (Sam Phillips, 2009)
• Coldest Corner In The World (Marc Cohn, 2014)
• Coldest Night Of The Year (Twice As Much with Vashti Bunyan, 1966)
• Come Home For Christmas (David Gates, 1981)
• Come Home For Christmas (Platters, 1963)
• Come On Christmas (Cheap Trick, 1995)
• Come On Christmas (Brad Lovell, 2012)
• Come On Christmas (Saint Etienne, 2003)
• Come On Christmas (Dwight Yoakam, 1997)
• Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On (Ringo Starr, 1999)
• Come On Santa (Hentchmen, 1997)
• Come On Santa, Hand It Over (The Automatics, 2007)
• Come On To The Christmas Party (Snowballs, aka the J. Geils Band, 1980)
• Come Some Christmas Eve (Or Halloween)
  • Bee Gees (1968)
  • Tall Poppy Syndrome (2021)
• Comfort & Joy (aka God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) (Simon & Garfunkel, 1967)
• Comin' Down The Chimney (Little Joey, aka Sonny Bono, and Little Tootsie, 1959)
• Comin' Home For Christmas (Dolly Parton, 2009)
• Coming Home Christmas (Edward Bear, 1973)
• Coming Home For Christmas (MXPX, 2000)
• Coming Home for Christmas (Leo Sayer, 2011)
• Coming Out For Christmas (Crystal Bowersox, 2013)
• Cool Cool Christmas
  • Sabers (1955)
  • Bobbie & Boobie (aka Bobby Nunn) (1958)
• Cool Yule
  • Louis Armstrong & The Commanders (1953)
  • Go Go Joes (1954)
• Cool Yule (Rebel Pebbles, 1982) Top 100 Song [close]
  
  listen / buy

  Barely a footnote in the grand scheme of things, the Rebel Pebbles earned a place in my heart with their contribution to IRS Records' Just In Time For Christmas. A veritable cream puff of a song, "Cool Yule" marries girl group goofiness to garage rock swagger, coming up with a sound I've rarely heard before or since. Their closest living relative, actually, might well be Josie & The Pussycats, but comparisons to the Go-Go's are reasonable, too. Anyway, the Pebbles were an all-girl band featuring vocalist Rachel Murray and once-and-future Pandoras guitarist Karen Blankfield. At least on this slim evidence, the Rebel Pebbles were wholesomely unashamed of all things girly. Everything from diamonds and pearls to Bobby Darin (!) winds up on their hefty Christmas list, but they always return to their magnanimous wish for us all - have a cool Yule!

  Postcript. On the strength of this song alone, I hunted down the Pebbles' sole 1991 long-player, Girls Talk. Featuring the minor hit, "Dream Lover," the album is pleasant enough, but its polished professionalism robs it of the sexy, off-the-cuff charm that makes "Cool Yule" so irresistible. On closer inspection, the Rebel Pebbles' recordings resembled the solo Belinda Carlisle more than the early Go-Go's. Too bad.

  Feedback. Later, the Rebel Pebbles' lead singer, Rachel Murray, sent me an email saying, "I just stumbled onto your site and saw "Cool Yule" listed in your Top 100 Christmas songs. As the songwriter (with Robin Fox and Michael Gurley), I had to tell you that I couldn't have agreed with you more on your assessment of our Christmas single as opposed to our full-length LP. I have always maintained that "Cool Yule" was our best song, or at least our best recording. You were very accurate in saying that the over-production of our record made it way less charming than our Christmas song. It was recorded before the full-length record on a much smaller budget with Michael Gurley (my good friend and leader of the band Dada) producing. Thanks so much for mentioning it! Although I hear it occasionally over the holidays, it's great to know that someone else appreciates it as much as I do."

  Another Postscript. The Rebel Pebbles' first recording was a self-released, three-song cassette EP, Party Time (1990). One assumes it got them their record deal with IRS, but in-and-of-itself, it proved insanely rare. In 2011, however, it was reissued digitally by Capitol Records, which had long ago subsumed IRS. Party Time turned out to be much better than Girls Talk - loud, raw, jangly, and full of much the same girly power that super-charged "Cool Yule." Strongly recommended! [back to list]

• Cool Yule (aka Yulesville) [close]

  Tony Rodelle Larson's "Cool Yule" is the same song that Edd "Kookie" Byrnes (star of TV's "77 Sunset Strip) recorded as "Yulesville" in 1959 (see Rhino's Cool Yule series). It's a beatnik retelling of "'Twas The Night Before Christmas," that concludes with the deathless lines, "He laid the jazz on me and fled from the gig wailin' 'Have a cool Yule, man, later, like, dig?'" Larson's 1961 version is way weirder than Byrnes' comparatively normal reading, with additional lyrics about "beat diplomacy" and buckets of reverb. I have no idea who Larson was except that he recorded for Denver-based Band Box Records. But, I can clear up confusion about when it was released. Some sources say 1960, others 1962, but the truth is 1961. The record was listed under "Reviews of New Singles" on page 30 of the December 4, 1961 edition of Billboard, and that seems pretty conclusive... The single is remarkably rare, but you can find it on the 1990 compilation Christmas Party With Eddie G. (read more).

  Three years later, somebody named Donny Burns recorded the song as "Cool Yule" for Canadian indie Arc Records, using basically the same lyrics over a very different, "Peter Gunn" guitar-based backing track. Again, lots of sources date the song as 1966, but the December 14, 1964 edition of RPM ("Canada's Only Music Industry Weekly") reports that "Donny Burns from Winnipeg joins the Arc family with 'Cool Yule'". This version can be found on the digital albums Christmas Party (EP, 2000), Christmas Up North (2017), and A Christmas Gift to You from Norton Records Vol. 2 (2019)

  • Donny Burns (1964)
  • Tony Rodelle Larson (1961)
• Cooler Than Santa Claus (Morris Day, 2020)
• Corrido de Auld Lang Syne (Dance Of The New Year) (Little Bobby Rey & His Band, 1959)
• Could It Be Christmas? (Jon Lindsay, 2011)
• Count Your Blessings (Rita Wilson & Vince Gill, 2021)
• Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep (Bing Crosby, 1954)
• Countdown To Christmas (Glam Chops, 2008)
• Countdown To Christmas Party Time (Three Wise Men, aka XTC, 1983)
• Counting The Days ('Til Christmas) (Marah, 2005)
• Country Christmas (Patti LaBelle, 1990)
• Coventry Carol (Alison Moyet, 1987)
• Cowboys' Christmas Ball (The Killers, 2011)
• Cozy Little Christmas (Katy Perry, 2021)
• Cradle In Bethlehem (Nat King Cole, 1961)
• Credit Crunch Christmas (Toy Dolls, 2011)
• Creepy Christmas Party (Las Pistolas, 2011)
• Cruel World (Concrete Blonde, 2011)
• Cruising With Santa (Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias, 1982)
• Cuddle Up (Catey Shaw, 2014)
• Cut Down The Tree (Ice Choir, 2014)

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