Monday, December 21, 2009

25 of My Favorite Christmas Songs

I'm not Christian, yet love Christmas music, just not the religious songs. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order. The numbers are there so I could keep count.
  1. "Santa Got Run Over by My Chevy" (Manic Hispanic). Finding the lyrics or even a useful website for this isn't all that easy. I was happy to find the name credited with the recording.
  2. "Jingle Bell Rock" (Bobby Helms). Probably my all-time favorite.
  3. "Run, Run, Rudolph" (Chuck Berry). Fun, fun, Rudolph.
  4. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (Nat "King" Cole). Simply the best.
  5. "White Christmas" (most versions). Irving Berlin's classic. My favorite version is the one by The Drifters.
  6. "Jingle Bells" (Singing Dogs). I love this; don't hate me. ;)
  7. "Santa Baby" (Eartha Kitt). Sultry Christmas!
  8. "Nuttin' for Christmas" (Stan Freberg). A humor classic, but I can't find the lyrics for Freberg's version, at least, not tonight. And the nicer Barry Gordon version. Freberg's version had a harder-edged ending.
  9. "Christmas Dragnet" (Stan Freberg). No one did parodies like this better than Freberg.
  10. "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas" (Allan Sherman). Sherman was right behind Freberg when it came to parodies.
  11. "Christmas Wrapping" (The Waitresses). Fun fluff that can get stuck in your head.
  12. "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) (Darlene Love). Darlene Love performing this on the David Letterman show has become a holiday tradition I try to never miss.
  13. "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (Elmo and Patsy). I had to include it.
  14. "Marshmallow World" (Darlene Love). Love's voice makes any song a classic.
  15. "Christmas (Don't be Late)" (The Chipmunks). Another classic, a vital part of my childhood.
  16. "Snoopy's Christmas" (The Royal Guardsmen). It's Snoopy! Nuff said!
  17. "The Marvelous Toy" (Peter, Paul, and Mary). Probably not a Christmas song, per se, but it does get a fair amount of airplay this time of year.
  18. "Rock and Roll Christmas" (George Thorogood). Can't beat the beat. Here's a video.
  19. "Do They Know it's Christmas?" (Band Aid). A song in the true spirit of the season.
  20. "Nut Rocker" (B Bumble and the Stingers). A wonderful instrumental, rock riff on The Nutcracker.
  21. "Father Christmas" (The Kinks). Not your typical holiday fare.
  22. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Brenda Lee). Infectious.
  23. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (Bruce Springsteen). Sure, it's an oldie and overdone. We all probably learned it when we were kids, even we Jews. But Springsteen made it sound fresh.
  24. "Christmas All Over Again" (Tom Petty). I've loved this song even before I knew it was Tom Petty's. I love Tom Petty's music.
  25. And to wrap up the list, "Blue Christmas" 
  26. by Elvis Presley has to be included. So poignant, and no one could ever sing it better than the King.

I keep thinking I'm missing some goodies. In fact, I know I am.

This novelty collection from Dr. Demento is wonderful.
Check out the background on some Christmas Novelty Songs.
And then, of course, for old-time rock 'n' rollers, there's the Phil Spector Christmas Album, a true classic, full of some of the best Christmas music you can find.

Now, if we could only get such a variety of Chanukah songs! :)

Feeling: festive

~~~o0o~~~
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