skip to content
home > navigation > songs > this page

This index lists the essential songs (not all the songs) contained on the albums reviewed in Hip Christmas, plus singles, album tracks, or one-hit wonders not otherwise included on those albums. Whenever possible, the artist's name is linked to my review of the best Christmas album (not necessarily the only or original album) on which to find the song.

Barring that, the names will be linked to a place where you may buy the song (usually Amazon). If there's no link, it means that, to my knowledge, the song is not available, though used copies may be in circulation. Of course, the list will expand as I write more reviews. And, nothing's perfect - especially me and my crazy list. Please send additions, corrections, criticisms, and suggestions via email.

  • Magic Of Christmas (Hunks & Friends, 2009)
  • Magic Of Christmas Day (Dee Snider & Lzzy Hale, 2020)
  • Make It Home (Juliana Hatfield, 1995)
  • Make You Mine This Season (from "Happiest Season") (Tegan And Sara , 2020)
  • Making Out (Is the Best Part of Christmas) (The Active Set, 2011)
  • Mambo Santa Mambo (Enchanters, 1957)
  • Man In The Santa Suit (Fountains Of Wayne, 1997)
  • Man With All The Toys (Beach Boys, 1964)
  • The Man With The Bag - see (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag
  • Manic Panic Teknicolor Christmas (Albert & The Sleigh Riders, 2016)
  • Mardi Gras For Christmas (Squirrel Nut Zippers, 2018)
  • Marshmallow March (Surfrajettes, 2022)
  • Marshmallow World
  • Marvelous Toy [close]

    Tom PaxtonLike "My Favorite Things" - but to a much lesser extent - "The Marvelous Toy" is a regular ol' song that has been adopted as a Christmas tune. It's not hard to hear why - it's a charming ditty about a mysterious toy, and the song's whimsical use of onomatopoeia neatly captures a child's fascination with that stuff Santa brings. However, for many years "The Marvelous Toy" served simply as comic relief in earnest folksinger Tom Paxton's set list (and, I am guessing, a steady source of income). Paxton wrote the song early in his career and recorded it live at the Gaslight in New York City for his debut album I'm The Man Who Built the Bridges (1962). The Chad Mitchell Trio waxed it the following year on their album Singin' Our Mind, and a single of the track peaked at #43 in January 1964 (see The Best of the Chad Mitchell Trio: The Mercury Years, 1998). Paxton finally recorded a studio version of the song for Elektra in 1967, but it came out only in England a self-titled EP; this definitive version is hard to find - it's only been reissued on the 2004 Rhino UK 2-for-1 CD of Paxton's Elektra albums Outward Bound (1966) and Morning Again (1968).

    John DenverMeanwhile, Peter, Paul & Mary covered it on their popular children's album Peter, Paul & Mommy (1969). Paxton released another live version appeared on The Compleat Tom Paxton (Elektra, 1971), and it's this version that appears on Rhino's I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound: The Best Of Tom Paxton (1999). Paxton recorded it yet again in 1974 for UK LP The Tom Paxton Children's Song Book which was issued in the US in 1984 as The Marvelous Toy and Other Gallimaufry. Only in 1988 did the song (finally) appear on a formal Christmas album - Paxton's self-released A Child's Christmas, which Sony reissued in 1992 and was subsequently licensed to budget label Laserlight. (I suspect this is the same version as appears on The Very Best Of Tom Paxton, a batch of new recordings from 1988 with English folk notables Danny Thompson, Dave Swarbrick, and Archie Fisher.) All together, Paxton recorded "The Marvelous Toy" more times than I could count, and he even turned it into a children's book. Ultimately, however, it was 70's superstar John Denver who became responsible for the song's association with Christmas when he recorded a studio version on Christmas Like A Lullaby (1990) and a live rendition on The Christmas Concert (1996). Too much information? Welcome to my world....

  • Mary And Joseph (Tim McGraw, 2012)
  • Mary Christmas (Redd Kross, 1997)
  • Mary Had A Baby (Mary Hopkin, 1972)
  • Mary X-Mas (Nina Hagen, 1997)
  • Mary Xmess (Sun 60, 1993)
  • Mary's Boy Child
  • Mason Dixon's On The Line (Jerry Jeff Walker, 1984)
  • May Christmas Bring You Happiness (Luther Vandross, 1976)
  • May Everyday Be Christmas (Louis Jordan, 1951)
  • May You Always (Harry Harrison, 1965)
  • Maybe At Christmas Time (Drugstore, 2000)
  • Maybe Next Year (Jenny Owen Youngs, 2019)
  • Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song) (Meiko, 2007)
  • Maybe This Christmas (Ron Sexsmith, 2005)
  • Maybe You Still Call It Christmas
  • Medleys
  • Mele Kalikimaka (Beach Boys, 1977)
  • Mele Kalikimaka
  • Mele  Kalikimaka (Slim Martin, circa 1960)
  • Memory Of Snow (Sofia Talvik, 2021)
  • Memphis Christmas (Star & Micey, 2010)
  • The Merriest (June Christy, 1961)
  • Merry Crassmas (Crass, 1981) [close]
    Merry Crassmas
    listen / buy

    The All Music Guide describes Crass (sometimes stylized C.R.A.S.S.) as "the brittlest and most hard-line radical of the first wave of British punk bands." That may be the case - I'm not a fan - but you have to admire the fact that the same band specializing in "unrelenting sociopolitical screeds" chose as their fifth single "Merry Crassmas" (1981), a double-sided dose of thumb-in-your-eye holiday silliness.

    The only problem is these aren't really Christmas songs at all - though bits of holiday noise pops up occasionally. Rather, both sides consisted of Stars-on-45-style instrumental medleys of previously released Crass songs, but played on cheesy electronic instruments. Fans were invited to decipher the titles in question and enter a contest explained in great detail on the picture sleeve: "First prize, bath salts. Second prize, one Exploited single. Third prize, two Exploited singles," a wickedly funny dig at one of the band's rivals on the UK punk scene. Or, as Crass put it, "Super fun time for the family!" God bless us, everyone.

    For years, "Merry Crassmas" was available only as a rare 7-inch single released on the band's own label, Creative Recording And Sound Services (get it?). Many years later, it was finally compiled on Crassical Collection: Best Before 1984 (2020), a two-disc anthology released on the band's Crass Records. It was also available for download, but they had combined both sides into a single track titled "The Christmas Single," which exceeded 10 minutes. In most online services, that means the track can only be downloaded with a full-album purchase - or simply streamed in the alternative. Intrepid Christmas collectors and penurious punks should be advised, however, that is not the case in Bandcamp, where you can purchase all of the tracks individually.

  • Merry Christmas (Bryan Adams, 2011)
  • Merry Christmas (Al & The Vibrators, 1968)
  • Merry Christmas (Automatics, 2007)
  • Merry Christmas (Cameos, 1962)
  • Merry Christmas (Face To Face, 1999)
  • Merry Christmas (Fighting Gravity, 2015)
  • Merry Christmas (from "In The Good Old Summertime") (Judy Garland, 1949)
  • Merry Christmas (Lightnin' Hopkins, 1953)
  • Merry Christmas (Kingstonians, 1967)
  • Merry Christmas
  • Merry Christmas (Melanie, 1970)
  • Merry Christmas (Plan 9, 1984)
  • Merry Christmas (Ed Sheeran & Elton John, 2021)
  • Merry Christmas (Sir Jablonski, circa 1969)
    - closely resembles his earlier recording, Merry Christmas Day
  • Merry Christmas (Ramona Wulf, later of Silver Convention, 1970)
  • Merry Christmas (Blake Xolton & The Martians, 1980)
  • Merry Christmas Actually (Charley Stone, 2020)
  • Merry Christmas All (Brook Benton, 1983)
  • Merry Christmas At Grandmother's (Andrews Sisters & Danny Kaye, 1949)
  • Merry Christmas Baby
    • Chuck Berry (1958)
    • Booker T. & The MG's (1966)
    • Joe Bonamassa (2009)
    • Charles Brown (1956) Top 100 Song [close]
      Blue Yule
      listen / buy

      One of just a few artists earning more than one slot on my Top 100, Charles Brown is one of the greatest figures in the history of modern Christmas music. He first recorded "Merry Christmas Baby" with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers for Swing Time Records in 1947 (later subsumed by Hollywood Records). The song became a huge hit, reaching #3 on Billboard's R&B chart, then charting frequently for decades. But, Charles Brown would return to the well about a dozen times over the years, starting in 1956 with what I think is the definitive version of "Merry Christmas Baby," waxed in New Orleans for West Coast label Aladdin. It was also a hit but, oddly, only when reissued by Imperial, reaching #4 in 1964 and #10 in 1965 on the Christmas chart.

      Charles Brown would later release three formal Christmas albums, but the Aladdin recording of "Merry Christmas Baby" appeared on none of them. However, it would be collected on Rhino's Blue Yule and EMI's Legends Of Christmas Past, among others, as well as Driftin' Blues: The Best Of Charles Brown, the definitive survey of his Aladdin years. "Merry Christmas Baby" - credited to Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore despite Brown's claims of authorship - set the prototype for rhythm 'n' blues yule tunes, where romance and seduction all but obliterate the birth of Christ as the reason for the season. The song has been covered innumerable times, including memorable versions by Elvis Presley, Ike & Tina Turner, and Otis Redding. [back to list] [learn more]

    • Sheryl Crow with Eric Clapton (1999)
    • Hank Crawford (1964)
    • Dion (1993)
    • Four Tops (1995)
    • Lionel Hampton with Sonny Parker (1950)
    • Johnny Moore's Three Blazers featuring Charles Brown (1947)
    • Elvis Presley (1971)
    • Bonnie Raitt & Charles Brown (1992)
    • Lou Rawls (1967)
    • Otis Redding (1968) Top 100 Song [close]
      Soul Christmas
      listen / buy
      A number of songs from Atco's landmark 1968 collection Soul Christmas made my Top 100, and Otis Redding's rendition of Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby" is one of that album's most radical reinterpretations. If you don't listen to the lyrics carefully, you won't even recognize the song. Recorded in Memphis in 1967 (but unreleased till after Redding's death later that year), Otis' "Merry Christmas Baby" is built around Booker T. Jones' buoyant organ, Steve Cropper's insistent guitar riffing, and merrily trilling horns. It contrasts strongly with Brown's easygoing original, as well as Redding's other Soul Christmas contribution - a bleak "White Christmas." Altogether, it's a remarkable performance, and it set a whole new template for the song. Artists as impressive as Bruce Springsteen (on A Very Special Christmas) have opted to emulate Otis Redding, not Charles Brown, when they've cut their own interpretations of the song. ("Merry Christmas Baby" and "White Christmas" were also released as a single in 1968, with both sides hitting Billboard's Christmas chart at #9 and #12, respectively.) [back to list] [learn more]
    • Senders (1987)
    • Bruce Springsteen (1986)
    • Ike & Tina Turner (1964) [close]

      Ike & Tina TurnerIn her 60-year career, Tina Turner cut just one Christmas song. In her defense, it's so good and so frickin' intense, she might've thought she didn't need to cut anymore. And who's gonna argue with the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll? There have been lots of covers of Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby," but Tina's vocal cord-shredding performance puts hers in a category all by itself. And, to their credit, the Ikettes almost keep up with her! Produced by "Bumps" Blackwell and released as the non-LP b-side of Ike & Tina Turner's 1964 Warner Brothers single "Ooh Poo Pa Doo," the song was never widely available before the advent of the internet, having been reissued just once as part of Rhino's essential Cool Yule series. That said, Tina gave us a video a while back, and the song can now be downloaded or streamed on Warner Music's Merry Christmas From Stateside (2017), a fascinating collection of holiday sides released by the storied EMI UK reissue label (later purchased by Warner).

  • Merry Christmas Baby (Beach Boys, 1964) Top 100 Song [close]
    The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
    listen / buy

    The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (1964) is one of my favorites, but the evidence is thin - just the first five songs of the album. That's less than 10 minutes, and it's not even the whole first side of the LP. Still, it was like pulling teeth choosing just one Beach Boy's track for my Top 100 list. "Little Saint Nick" is, of course, the obvious choice; it was their big 1963 hit wherein the car song collided tunefully with the Christmas carol. Ultimately, I went with a song that was not only more original, it pointed the way more clearly towards Pet Sounds and beyond. "Merry Christmas Baby" portrays a romantic scenario bordering on adult, and the group's performance is beautiful and understated - even Mike Love acquits himself with one of his most sensitive vocals. Songs like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows" were just around the corner.

    "Merry Christmas Baby" is a Brian Wilson composition, by the way, not the famous Charles Brown song. And, all of the Beach Boys' holiday music is collected on the highly recommended Ultimate Christmas and, to a lesser extent, Christmas With The Beach Boys and Christmas Harmonies. [back to list] [learn more]

  • Merry Christmas Baby (Del Lords, 1984)
  • Merry Christmas Baby (Poets, 1965) [close]

    The Main IngredientFor a number of reasons, the Poets' 1965 Red Bird single "Merry Christmas Baby" is a very notable record. Fundamentally, it's a fine performance - a light, breezy example of the East Coast soul sound that grew out of doo wop and Tin Pan Alley, plus a little Curtis Mayfield influence. Red Bird, in fact, was owned by famed songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also produced the record. More significantly, the Poets were an early incarnation of the Main Ingredient, who would strike sweet soul gold in the 1970's. "Merry Christmas Baby," actually, was written by Rudy Clark, who later helped write the Main Ingredient's greatest hit, "Everybody Plays The Fool" (1972). That means, not incidentally, that "Merry Christmas Baby" is an original song - not either of the popular songs called "Merry Christmas Baby" associated with Charles Brown and the Beach Boys, respectively.

    The Poets were a vocal trio from Harlem, New York, comprised of Donald McPherson, Luther Simmons, and Tony Silvester, and they would record just this one record under that name. They changed their name to the Insiders for their next and last Red Bird single, then signed to RCA. After two more singles, they became the Main Ingredient and were charting records by 1970. Sadly, lead singer McPherson died suddenly in 1971 and was replaced by Cuba Gooding, who would be the voice of "Everybody Plays The Fool," "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely," and many other hits. (And, yes, he was the father of actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.) The group would record for RCA through 1981, and Everybody Plays The Fool: The Best Of The Main Ingredient is an excellent overview of their career.

    Rockin' Christmas: The 60'sThe final notable thing about the Poets' "Merry Christmas Baby" is its mysterious scarcity. Admittedly, it was not a hit, but over the years it has been reissued on exactly one Christmas album, Rhino's Rockin' Christmas: The 60's (1984) - though it pops up occasionally on bootlegs and European public domain compilations. In the digital age, it has appeared on exactly one compact disc, The Ad Libs And Friends (1996), a collection of Red Bird recordings from oldies specialist Collectables Records. It's worth noting, however, that the liner notes of that CD conflate the Harlem Poets with another group also called the Poets, also from New York City, but from the borough of Brooklyn. Easy mistake to make, I guess. The Brooklyn Poets scored a #2 R&B hit in 1966, "She Blew A Good Thing," which probably explains the name change mentioned earlier...

    Much later, the Poets' "Merry Christmas Baby" finally showed up for download and streaming on a digital album called A Very Vintage Christmas (2021) from the revitalized Sun Records, the Memphis-based label that gave the world Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. In 2024, the label issued an updated version, Glad Tidings From Sun Records. Red Bird had nothing to do with Sun, of course, but they are both now owned by Primary Wave, a company that's been hoovering up music publishing and recording masters since 2006.

  • Merry Christmas Baby (Tasha Taylor, 2010)
  • Merry Christmas Baby (George Thorogood, 2004)
  • Merry Christmas Baby (Please Don't Die) (Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls, 2009)
  • Merry Christmas Darling
  • Merry Christmas Darling
  • Merry Christmas Darling (And A Happy New Year, Too) (Uniques, 1963)
  • Merry Christmas Day (Sir Jablonski, circa 1959)
  • Merry Christmas Doctor (Nichols & May, 1961)
  • Merry Christmas Emily (Cracker, 2000)
  • Merry Christmas Eve (Better Than Ezra, 1993)
  • Merry Christmas Everyone (Shakin' Stevens, 1985)
  • Merry Christmas From A Bar (Mike Ireland & Holler, 1997)
  • Merry Christmas From Lisa Marie (Jana Sampson, 1979)
  • Merry Christmas From Mars (Michael Hall, 1994)
  • Merry Christmas From The Family
    • Diesel Doug & The Long Haul Truckers (1997)
    • Dixie Chicks with Rosie O'Donnell (2000)
    • Robert Earl Keen (1994) [close]

      Robert Earl KeenThose of you outside of Texas may not have heard of Robert Earl Keen, but inside the expansive borders of the Lone Star State, he's a hero. A hero, at least, to Texas' unique brand of college-educated good old boys who, despite copious book learnin' and nascent liberalism, struggle to nurture their inner redneck. These fellows follow Keen around from gig to gig, drunkenly hollering along (singing is too kind a word) with his acerbic, folk-tinged country songs. Keen originally cut "Merry Christmas From The Family" - his greatest hit - for his 1994 Sugar Hill studio album Gringo Honeymoon, and that recording's quiet, dry, but affectionate humor make it the definitive version. This original studio take can also be found on Keen's best-of collection, The Party Never Ends (2003), and on Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective (2006).

      The most commonly aired versions of the song, however, are the ones excerpted from Keen's raucous live performances. Modestly stated, there are more than a few: a 1995 CD single (also released as a book, pictured, and included on Sugar Hill Record's 1996 holiday collection Tinsel Tunes), 1996's No. 2 Live Dinner (also included with his 2006 Koch retrospective Best), 2004's Live From Austin TX, 2006's Live At The Ryman, and 2016's Live Dinner Reunion.

      Robert Earl KeenWhich is a shame, because Keen's boistrous fans all but obscure his hilarious account of a typical white trash holiday, complete with TV football, hard drinking, and electrical disasters. These themes, it turns out, ring very true in Middle America. "Merry Christmas From The Family" struck a chord with country fans everywhere, and it became something of an anthem for urban hicks, spawning cover versions by, among others, alt-folkie Jill Sobule and country acts Montgomery Gentry and the Dixie Chicks.

      Ultimately, Keen penned a sequel of sorts, "Happy Holidays Y'all," that he appended as a bonus track to his 1998 album Walking Distance. Then in 2004, he recorded a new, bluegrass-tinged studio version of "Merry Christmas From The Family" with help from Daryle Singletary and David Lee Murphy. That version was released as an Apple Music exclusive (now deleted) to promote Christmas Grass Vol. 2 (2004) - a Koch album on which the track does not appear.

    • Montgomery Gentry (2000)
    • Jill Sobule (1994)
  • Merry Christmas Girl (Figgs, 1995)
  • Merry Christmas, Happy New Year (Brook Benton, 1960)
  • Merry Christmas, Happy New Year (Chambers Brothers, 1969)
  • Merry Christmas, Happy New Year (Lee Scratch Perry, 1985)
  • Merry Christmas (Here I Come) (Lil' Lost Lou, 2010)
  • Merry Christmas, I Do Want To Fight Tonight (Bunnygrunt, 2022)
  • Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
    • Frankie & The Pool Boys (2019)
    • Kung Fu Monkeys (1999)
    • Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul (2017)
    • Helen Love (2001)
    • Ramones (1987) Top 100 Song [close]
      Ramones
      listen / buy

      No punk rock act is bigger than New York's iconic Ramones, a band that could make a valid claim to having invented the stuff. They took the post-modern ennui of the Velvet Underground, the primitive fundamentalism of the Stooges, and the raw, streetwise energy of their peers the Heartbreakers and the Dictators, and distilled it to its essence. Their one-and-only holiday song, "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)," is the perfect marriage of Johnny Ramone's chainsaw guitar, Joey Ramone's disarmingly sweet vocals, and the indomitable holiday spirit. "Christmas ain't the time for breaking each other's hearts," pleads Joey, and truer words have never been spoken.

      Recorded more than a decade after their groundbreaking 1976 debut, "Merry Christmas" reflects the huge growth in the Ramones' songwriting chops, and it incorporates their well-documented love of Phil Spector and classic Tin Pan Alley pop. The band first released "Merry Christmas" in 1987 as the b-side of their Beggars Banquet UK single "I Wanna Live," and they later included it on their 1989 album Brain Drain - though in a new, more polished version. Both versions, however, were produced by Jean Beauvoir (Plasmatics) and Daniel Rey, so it's possible that they are built on the same basic track. Either way, Rhino's Punk Rock Xmas includes the hard-to-find single version with all its rough edges intact. The album version is much more common, appearing on Oglio's The Edge Of Christmas (1995), Rhino's VH1: The Big 80's Christmas (2001), Blackheart's Christmas A Go-Go (2008), and many others. [back to list]

  • Merry Christmas I Fucked Your Snowman (Headwound, 1996)
  • Merry Christmas I Love You (Mark Bacino, 2000)
  • Merry Christmas I Love You (James Brown, 1966)
  • Merry Christmas I Love You (Velocity Girl, 1992)
  • Merry Christmas (I've Been Waiting So Long) (John Lindberg Trio, 2014)
  • Merry Christmas Kiss My Ass (All Time Low, 2010)
  • Merry Christmas (Let's Turn Off The News) (Niagra Balls, 2015)
  • Merry Christmas Loopy Lu (Kaisers, 1996)
  • Merry Christmas Mary (Johnny Cash, 1972)
  • Merry Christmas Mary Jane (Katie Pruitt, 2021)
  • Merry Christmas Momma (Lloyd Price, 1963)
  • Merry Christmas, Mr. Dread (Judge Dread, 1983)
  • Merry Christmas, My Love (Ray Agee, 1964)
  • Merry Christmas, My Love (Tierra, 2016)
  • Merry Christmas Party! (Mayer Hawthorne, 2024)
  • Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call (Bleachers, 2024)
  • Merry Christmas Polka (Andrews Sisters, 1949)
  • Merry Christmas Polka (Tex Ritter, 1947) [close]

    BaghdaddiosWe think of Tex Ritter as a country singer, but he was more of a singing cowboy - which is not quite the same thing - appearing in dozens of western movies. "Merry Christmas Polka" (1948) reflects the difference, and it has the same goofy charm as singing cowboy songs like "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle Jangle Jingle," which he recorded the same year, and "Christmas Carols By The Old Corral," his 1945 holiday smash. Compared to that song, "Merry Christmas Polka," can be hard-to-find. Outside the public domain, it's only ever appeared on one compilation, Christmas Kisses: Christmas Classics From Capitol's Early Years, a long out-of-print 1990 compact disc. Thankfully, the album got reissued for streaming and download in 2011. It's worth noting, however, that, unlikely as it seems, this "Merry Christmas Polka" is not the same song as the Andrews Sisters' 1949 recording of the exact same title.

  • Merry Christmas Santa Claus (You're A Lovely Guy) (Max Headroom, 1986)
  • Merry Christmas To Me (Swoon 23, 1994)
  • Merry Christmas To You (Peter 118, 2015)
  • Merry Christmas Tonight (Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, 2007)
  • Merry Christmas Wherever You Are
  • Merry Christmas (Wherever You Are) (Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots, 1985)
  • Merry Christmas Will Do (Material Issue, 1991)
  • Merry Crassmas (Crass, 1981)
  • Merry Fucking Christmas (To Some Of You) (85% Jesus, 2011)
  • A Merry Jingle (Greedies, 1979) [close]

    The GreediesThe Greedies are kind of a big deal - though you wouldn't know it at first glance. The band was an unlikely collaboration between members of decidedly old-school rockers Thin Lizzy - purveyors of anthems like "The Boys Are Back In Town" - and the Sex Pistols, princes of English punk. The Pistols had disintegrated in early 1978, and their infamous bass player, Sid Vicious, was dead little more than a year later - though not before murdering his girlfriend. Thin Lizzy's lead singer and bass player, Phil Lynott, was a punk ally of sorts, and he formed the Greedies (originally Greedy Bastards) with the guitarists and drummers from both bands: Steve Jones and Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), Scott Gorham and Brian Downey (Thin Lizzy). They played a few gigs, cut one single, "A Merry Jingle" (1979), appeared on Top Of The Pops - and that was that.

    "A Merry Jingle" is hardly a masterpiece - just a medley of "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" that favors Thin Lizzy more than the Sex Pistols. But, it's a good time and a genuine historical artifact. It was first anthologized on Rhino's essential compilation Punk Rock Xmas (1995), and it's rarely been reissued in subsequent years.

  • Merry, Merry Christmas (Alton Ellis & The I Listicks, 1972)
  • Merry, Merry Christmas (Keb' Mo', 2019)
  • Merry, Merry Christmas Baby (Dodie Stevens, 1960)
  • Merry Muthafuckin' Xmas (Eazy-E, 1992)
  • Merry Something Tou You (Devo, 2009)
  • Merry Stupid Fucking Christmas (Thorazine, 1996)
  • Merry Swiftmas (Even Though I Celebrate Chanukah) (Evan Taubenfeld, 2009)
  • Merry Texas Christmas, You All!
  • Merry Twist Mas (Jay Matty, 1961)
  • Merry Twist-mas (Marcels, 1961)
  • Merry Xmas (Fetty Wap, 2015)
  • Merry Xmas Blues (Celibate Rifles, 1982)
  • Merry Xmas Everybody
  • Merry Xmas (Screw You) (Audra & The Antidote, 2005)
  • Messed Up Xmas (Dollyrots, 2010)
  • Message To Santa (Cheetahs, 1992)
  • Millennium Prayer (Cliff Richard, 1999)
  • Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa (De La Soul, 1991)
  • Million Dollars For Christmas (The Andersons, 1995)
  • Miss You This Christmas (Letters to Cleo, 2019)
  • Missus Santa Claus (Leslie "Uggams" Crayne, 1953)
  • Mister Kringle's (Dressy Bessy, 2011)
  • Mistletoe (Lucy Hale, 2014)
  • Mistletoe (Saturday Looks Good To Me, 2002)
  • Mistletoe And Holly
  • Mistletoe And Me (Isaac Hayes, 1969)
  • Mistletoe And Wine
  • Mistletoe Kiss Polka (Margaret Whiting, 1949)
  • Mistress For Christmas
  • Misty Wonderland Hop (Hayseed Dixie, 2008)
  • Mittens (Train, 2021)
  • Mod Guitar Christmas (Stratocruiser, 2006)
  • Mom And Dad For Christmas (Lee Denson, 1973)
  • Mommy Look, Santa Is Crying (Stonewall Jackson, 1966)
  • Mommy What Happened to Our Christmas Tree (Little Willie John, 1953)
  • Mons Vaticanus (Ziggy Marley, 2021)
  • Monsters' Holiday
  • Moonlight, Mistletoe & You (Keb' Mo', 2019)
  • Morning Christmas (Beach Boys, 1977)
  • Motorcars & Aeroplanes (Remington Super 60, 2001)
  • Mr. And Mrs. Santa Claus
    • Laura Cantrell & Michael Shelley (2021)
    • George Jones & Tammy Wynette (1973) [close]
      Christmas Party With Eddie G.
      listen / buy

      George Jones and Tammy Wynette had an infamously tempestuous relationship, but everything seemed hunky dory on "Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus," a corny little single from 1973. It's sexually explicit in that sweet and coy (but gross) way common in country music in the 1970's - think of Conway Twitty's "You've Never Been This Far Before," Mac Davis' "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me," or Charlie Rich's "Behind Closed Doors."

      Anyway, George and Tammy have finished all their holiday preparations: The kids are tucked in and the fire's still burning, so, George insists with a leer, "It's time to think about you and me." Their pet names for each other are "Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus," and I keep receiving unsavory images of George running after Tammy dressed in only his jockey shorts and a fake Santa beard. Earlier in his career, Jones' recorded a variation on "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" ("My Mom And Santa Claus," 1962), and I imagine that is where his Santa fetish began. Ewww! God bless Tammy for putting up with him as long as she did.

      "Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus" was first issued as an Epic single, which disappeared without a trace. I discovered it on Christmas Party With Eddie G. (1990), a collection of strange and cool holiday songs compiled by legendary record collector Eddie Gorodetsky. Much later, it was compiled on George Jones and Tammy Wynette's Classic Christmas Album (2013), which includes solo and duet performances.

  • Mr. Grinch (D.I., 1994)
  • Mr. Santa (Suzy Bogguss, 2001)
  • Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby)
    • Fleshtones (2008)
    • Nathaniel Mayer & His Fabulous Twilights (1962) Top 100 Song [close]
      Rockin' Christmas: The 60's
      listen / buy

      Nathaniel Mayer was a Detroit wild man, and his "Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby)" is screaming chunk of proto-soul, singular is its naked yearning. Recorded in a studio that possessed, one wag suggested, "the acoustics of a vacant house," this noisy record showcases Mayer's willingness to utterly prostrate himself before Ol' St. Nick. "Mr. Santa Claus, I want my baby!" he hollers over and over, adding "I'll never ask for anymore." Mayer then ticks off everything he doesn't want if only Santa will grant his plea. "I don't want no fancy clothes to hang on my back, I don't want no speedboat or a Cadillac." He makes a compelling case, and as the record fades in a flurry of drum fills and supplications, Mayer frantically announces (via telephone) that his baby has indeed returned - a happy ending to a harrowing tale.

      Mayer is best known for "Village Of Love," a single released on Detroit indie Fortune Records in 1962. It reached #16 on Billboard's R&B chart and #22 on the Hot 100, but "Mr. Santa Claus" sank like a stone, and Mayer never again graced the charts. He and his band, the Fabulous Twilights, released several more singles on Fortune and one album, Going Back To The Village Of Love (1964), which included "Mr. Santa Claus." For reasons unknown, however, the Fabulous Twilights are not credited on the original "Mr. Santa Claus" 7-inch single - though it's a fair bet they played on it.

      Anyway, after his run on Fortune, Mayer disappeared for many years. He resurfaced in the 21st century and enjoyed several years of prominence among the hipster cognoscenti before his death in 2008. During that time, he released a single for Norton Records in 2005 that included a raucous live version of "Mr. Santa Claus," recorded in Brooklyn, New York, in 2003, which was later compiled on A Christmas Gift To You From Norton Records, Vol. 2 (2019). The original version, sadly, is rather scarce. It was collected on Rhino's Rockin' Christmas: The 60's (1984), but it has since appeared mostly on public domain collections like Blink Before Christmas (2019) and Blues, Blues Christmas Vol. 6 (2021). It also appears on CD reissues of the Village Of Love, of which there have been several - all on small European labels. [back to list]

  • Mr. Santa Claus (Santa Claus Helping Hand) (Richard Marks, 1969)
  • Mr. Santa's Boogie (Marshall Brothers, 1951)
  • Mr. Scrooge
  • Ms. Claus (The Grapes & Friends, 2018)
  • Mrs. Claus (Aquadolls, 2021)
  • Mrs. Claus Has Menopause (Sterilles, 1987)
  • Mrs. Santa Claus (Nat King Cole, 1953)
  • Mummy Won't Be Home For Christmas (The Scaffold, 1974)
  • Mule Size Yuletide (Evan Johns, 1990)
  • Must Be Santa
  • My Baby Fell For Ol' St. Nick (Dada, 1993)
  • My Boyfriend's Coming Home For Christmas (Toni Wine, 1963)
  • My Christmas Card To You (Groovie Ghoulies, 1992)
  • My Christmas Card To You (Partridge Family, 1971)
  • My Christmas Disappointments (The Feebs, 2010)
  • My Christmas Dream (Sonny James, 1966)
  • My Christmas List (A Simple Plan, 2002)
  • My Christmas Love (Bobby Vee, 1962)
  • My Christmas Prayer (Saint Etienne, 1993)
  • My Christmas Song For You (Melissa Manchester, 2006)
  • My Christmas Tree (Temptations, 1970)
  • My Christmas Tree Is Hung With Tears (Sarah Brown, 1983)
  • My Christmas Was In June (Ze Malibu Kids, 2002)
  • My Christmas Wish (Ronnie Spector, 2010)
  • My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year)
  • My Dreams Of Christmas (Boxmasters featuring Billy Bob Thornton, 2007)
  • My Evergreen (Freedom Fry, 2024)
  • My Most Miserable Christmas (Charles Brown, 1961)
  • My Favorite Christmas (Brandy Clark, 2023)
  • My Favorite Things
  • My Favorite Time Of Year (Jackopierce, 2012)
  • My Favorite Time Of Year (L.A. Exes, 2021)
  • My Mom & Santa Claus (George Jones & The Jones Boys, 1962)
  • My Name Is Santa And I'm A Punk Rocker (Launch Control, 2016)
  • My Stocking Is Empty (Leslie "Uggams" Crayne, 1953)

[top of page]