My Go-To Christmas Music

Before I get into my main lists, I want to share a new favorite I discovered on Todd Zolecki's Phillies blog at MLB.com. It's "Baseball Glove" by a Canadian country singer-songwriter, Gord Bamford. The lyrics talk about the many things the family wants, but all he wants is a baseball glove -- specifically, "a genuine cowhide Rawlings Pro Special, one autographed by Roy Halladay." Bamford is a Blue Jays fan and it was released last year, before Halladay was traded to the Phils, but it doesn't matter. Click the above link and you can watch the video and find a link to download the song for free.

There are so many new Christmas albums now, but in recent years I've only bought a few. These are the albums I bought in the last couple of years that I really enjoy:

Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album (love the Chris Colfer/Darren Criss version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside")
Annie Lennox - A Christmas Cornucopia (I love what she did, but I kind of wish this had a couple of fun, not so serious/religious-oriented selections, like Eurythmics' "Winter Wonderland," one of my all-time faves)
Kristin Chenoweth - A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas
Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked for the Holidays (their quirky humor shines in a number of songs, especially "An Elf's Lament;" also includes a few Hanukkah songs)
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas

I also found a couple of CDs that had been released previously: "A Classic Cartoon Christmas" and "A Classic Cartoon Christmas, Too." They feature tracks from many classic TV shows (and some that aren't so classic). Between the two, they include "Welcome Christmas" and "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas," songs from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town," Jimmy Durante's "Frosty the Snowman," a couple from the Muppets, and -- most happily -- the "Heat Miser" and "Snow Miser" songs from "The Year Without a Santa Claus." (I really need to edit them into one mp3 so when my music is in shuffle mode, I won't hear one and not the other right away.)

The following are the Christmas CDs I've had the longest, and are still my favorites:

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Salsoul Orchestra - Christmas Jollies (good old-fashioned disco Christmas!)
Barbra Streisand - A Christmas Album
various - A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector
John Denver and the Muppets - A Christmas Together (this show was a damn classic -- why isn't it on TV or DVD?)
The Supremes - Merry Christmas (might be my absolute favorite -- it was released in 1965, so it was before Diana Ross took over everything. Just sublime.)
Alexander O'Neal - My Gift To You (if you want a great 80s Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis-style beat, check out "Sleigh Ride" -- not the famous song, a different lyric)
various – A Very Special Christmas (loved so many of these besides the Eurythmics song, including Madonna's take on "Santa Baby" -- but didn't like two or three tracks at all, and I never bought any of the followup volumes)

Also, I have three volumes of "The Ultimate Christmas Album" from an oldies radio station (I think different stations in each market put their station ID on the cover), with 20-25 songs on each, including many classics and some oddities. The next list includes my favorites from those three...

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
What Christmas Means To Me - Stevie Wonder
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) - The Chipmunks
Christmas Ain't Christmas (Without The One You Love) - The O'Jays
The Little Drummer Boy - Harry Simeone Chorale
This Christmas - Donny Hathaway
Little Saint Nick - The Beach Boys
Here Comes Santa Claus - Gene Autry
Sleigh Ride - Johnny Mathis
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer - Elmo & Patsy
Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters
Donde Esta Santa Claus - Augie Rios
Give Love On Christmas Day - The Jackson 5
Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
Pretty Paper - Roy Orbison
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Bing Crosby
Dominick The Donkey - Lou Monte
Someday At Christmas - Stevie Wonder
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams
Let It Snow - Dean Martin
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
All Alone On Christmas - Darlene Love
Jingle Bells - The Singing Dogs (there have been many dog and cat versions of Christmas music, and probably other animals as well, but this is over 50 years old and is the Gold Standard of Christmas carols from the animal kingdom! And here's an interesting article about its creation.)
Winter Wonderland - Johnny Mathis
Sleigh Ride - The Ventures (this is just so cool)
Home For The Holidays - Perry Como
Christmas Vacation - Mavis Staples
Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano
O Holy Night - Lou Christie with University of Pittsburgh Men's Glee Club
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Chrissy The Christmas Mouse - Debbie Reynolds & Donald O'Connor
Happy Holidays - Andy Williams
We Need A Little Christmas - Percy Faith
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt With Henri Rene & His Orchestra

I mentioned "Put A Little Love In Your Heart," the Annie Lennox/Al Green duet from "Scrooged," the other day. Here are other songs I really like, either from some CDs or just downloaded individually...

Bing Crosby - Do You Hear What I Hear?
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Vaughn Monroe
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid
Last Christmas - Wham!
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como
Silver Bells - Perry Como
Nuttin' For Christmas - Stan Freberg
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
Sleigh Ride - Arthur Fielder and The Boston Pops Orchestra
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
Christmas Eve In My Hometown - Kate Smith (this is a real favorite of mine, probably in part because of Kate Smith's Flyers connection. I have this old boxed set of a Time-Life Christmas collection on vinyl. Actual vinyl! This, and some of the others listed, are from that collection. It's not really a well-known song, so I was so happy when I found it on mp3.)
Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney (a lot of people hate this! I never thought it was such a bad little song. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.)
Step Into Christmas - Elton John
Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
Father Christmas - The Kinks
Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte

These songs were part of a couple of holiday mixes, titled "Naughty" and "Nice," that a friend created a few years ago -- songs plus clips from various movies/TV shows -- you can probably guess, based on some of the titles, that these were in the "Naughty" mix:

(Everybody's Waiting for) The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear - Bob Rivers (I gotta find the full lyric from this and perhaps post it here. I love this.)
O Holy Night - Eric Cartman ("Jesus was born, and so I get presents/thank you, Jesus, for being born...")
All I Want for Christmas is a Go-Go Girl - Bey Ireland
Five Pound Box of Money - Pearl Bailey

And from the "Nice" mix...

'Zat You Santa Claus? - Louis Armstrong
Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth - Bing Crosby and David Bowie
December Will Be Magic Again - Kate Bush
Ring Christmas Bells - Ray Conniff and the Ray Conniff Singers

These last three are songs I downloaded last year, a couple of them as part of the Amazon.com "25 Days of Free" Christmas mp3 giveaway they run each year -- a different holiday track each day from Dec. 1-25 for free. (I've downloaded most of the Amazon freebies the last two years, but many of them aren't all that special. However, they do add a little variety to my holiday music mix.)

Christmas Time Is Here - Jody Watley
Calling On Mary - Aimee Mann
Christmas Tree - Lady Gaga (because what is Christmas without Gaga, really?)

I have one more Christmas blog in me, I think: partially related to this one, plus a story from my days in elementary school, if I have time tomorrow.