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A Boston Rock ChristmasI hesitated to include this rare, raucous slab of vinyl in my Top 20 Albums list: I didn't want to taunt you, dear reader, with a brilliant record you'll probably never find. But, I did, because it's that freakin' good. Just five songs long, and essentially just a local Beantown record, A Boston Rock Christmas (1983) smokes from start to finish, covering everything from lubricious roots rock (Sonny Columbus) to techno pop (Jeff & Jane) to shambolic punk (Native Tongue) to blistering hardcore (SSD). The Del Fuegos (backing Columbus) make one of their earliest appearances on vinyl; they would go on to wax several acclaimed albums for Slash Records. Making their recording debut is the band Christmas (how screamingly appropriate), who later evolved into popular lounge revivalists Combustible Edison.

The only original song on A Boston Rock Christmas is Sonny Columbus' twisted gem "That Punchbowl Full Of Joy." I've dug up little about Mr. Columbus other than the fact that he later fronted a lounge novelty act called the Swinging Erudites (circa 1985), and his day gig was running the Hoodoo Barbecue, a legendary musician's hangout. He was characterized at the time as a "deranged and highly active alcoholic," and that's not hard to believe given the horny inebriation that gleefully fills his "Punchbowl." Though Columbus insists, "Little Jesus, he's my man," the song is peppered with blasphemous Christmas puns (logs, balls, stockings) that jive perfectly with the Del Fuegos' noisy bump-and-grind. "I'll bring you back down to my manger," Sonny promises, "because at Christmas time no one's a stranger." Wow!

The other four songs are all traditional holiday standards and carols, each played in an extremely non-traditional manner. That's commonplace these days, but it was still a fairly novel concept at the time - at least, it was a new idea for me, an aspiring punk barely old enough to buy beer. If I have a favorite, it has to be the full-frontal assault on "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" by SSD. The band is legendary in the "straight edge" punk community, but I love the song, in part, because the singer - perhaps unwittingly - doesn't sing the melody, but rather the harmony line from the arrangement on the Ray Conniff Singers' 1962 album We Wish You A Merry Christmas. I guess his parents owned that record, too...

A Boston Rock Christmas was sold at Newbury Comics, a regional chain of record stores, and issued only on vinyl - and has been out-of-print pretty much ever since. But, it's supremely worth tracking down - if possible. Though the EP has never been reissued in any digital format, "Punchbowl Full Of Joy" was included on Ho Ho Ho Spice in 2002. [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • Do You Hear What I Hear? (Native Tongue)
  • Jingle Bells (Jeff & Jane)
  • Jolly Old Saint Nicholas (SSD)
  • O Holy Night (Christmas)
  • That Punchbowl Full Of Joy (Sonny Columbus & His Del Fuegos) Top 100 Song

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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