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Hot Rod Holiday The Right Stuff was a reissue label created by EMI after Rhino Records departed for greener pastures at Warner Music in 1992. Active for about 15 years thereafter, the Right Stuff mostly pulled treasures from the vast archives of EMI itself, including labels like Capitol, United Artists, and Imperial. But, like Rhino, they would also license music from a variety of labels. Their Hot Rod Rock series was a joint venture with Hot Rod magazine, pulling together songs about cars and songs that hot rod enthusiasts might enjoy. Hot Rod Holiday (1997) was the Christmas-themed volume in the series, and it collected 16 festive songs by the Beach Boys, the Ventures, and other vintage rock artists popular with grease monkeys and the ladies who love them.

Taken on its own terms, Hot Rod Holiday is a solid album with a high quotient of great Christmas songs. I count 12 of its tracks as essential listening (see below) including four songs from my Top 100. But, it has a few nagging problems. Most fundamentally, only one song, the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," is actually about a car, though Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" gets pretty close. It sounds like a hot rod song, even if it's about a reindeer. To be fair, there aren't that many Christmas songs about hot rods and, frankly, it's a problem shared with several other volumes in the Hot Rod Rock series. For instance, Back Seat Movers is just a collection of love songs. Sexy concept, though....

More irksome is the fact that the four tracks by Dion and Fats Domino are from two albums recorded in 1993, not during the artists' respective heydays. Neither album is particularly good, and the Fats Domino disc is just short of awful. Hot Rod Holiday manages to pluck two of the better tracks, Dion's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" and Fats' "I Told Santa Claus," as well as two duds. But, all of them sound out-of-place alongside music recorded as much as 40 years prior.

Beach Boys
Ventures
Bobby Helms
Dion
Fats Domino

Finally, one track on Hot Rod Holiday, Gary U.S. Bonds' "Call Me For Christmas," made its digital debut on the album, and decades later it's still not an easy song to find. But, if you like rock 'n roll oldies, Christmas music, or both, you will likely already own most of the remaining 15 tracks. The Beach Boys and Ventures Christmas albums are widely acknowledged classics, and both are found among my Top 20. And, songs like Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" are more common than dirt. Even the relatively obscure doo wop classics by the Five Keys, Marcels, and Statues can all be found on Rhino's Doo Wop Christmas - another Top 20 Album.

But, while I quibble - guys like me always do - most Christmas collectors (and gearheads) will enjoy the hell out of Hot Rod Holiday. So, merry gentlemen, start your engines! [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • Call Me For Christmas (Gary U.S. Bonds, 1967)
  • Frosty The Snowman (Ventures, 1965)
  • I Told Santa Claus (Fats Domino, 1993)
  • It's Christmas Time (Five Keys, 1951) Top 100 Song
  • Jingle Bell Rock (Bobby Helms, 1957) Top 100 Song
  • Jingle Bells (Ventures, 1965)
  • Little Saint Nick (Beach Boys, 1963)
  • Merry Christmas Baby (Beach Boys, 1964) Top 100 Song
  • Merry Twist-Mas (Marcels, 1961)
  • Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (Dion, 1993)
  • Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry, 1958) Top 100 Song
  • White Christmas (Statues, 1960)

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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