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New Wave XmasThe golden age of Christmas rock & roll ended shortly after the Beatles got serious, upping the artistic ante for everybody concerned. Christmas records were henceforth deemed crass, commercial, and resolutely unhip, and by the 1970's, few artists of any repute were creating them. To wit, among the mere handful of rock & roll Christmas albums released during the 70's were masterpieces (ahem) by the Partridge Family, John Denver, and the Carpenters. Party down, huh?

Late in the decade, however, punk and new wave artists began to embrace the disgraced genre with great abandon and irreverence. Christmas, if nothing else, provided a convenient target for the vitriol and frustration that often fueled this visceral, emergent music. The Boys, Waitresses, and Del Fuegos were just a few of the notable artists caught skewering Santa during this transformative time for rock 'n' roll. Ironic, then, that the trickle of Christmas records spilling out of this new wave helped prime the pump for the earnest Christmas music revival that began in 1987 with A Very Special Christmas - and continues unabated today.

Many of these great punk and new wave records, alas, have been lost to the used 45 bins of used record stores and garage sales the world over. But, 17 of the musically lighter moments have been happily preserved by Rhino Records on New Wave Xmas (1996), part of a much larger series dubbed Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits Of The 80's. Ranging from 1977 (David Bowie's decidedly "old wave" duet with Bing Crosby) to 1996 (when new wave had long since transmogrified into alternative rock), the CD covers a lot of ground - stylistically and chronologically - proving that new wave was more of an attitude than a discernible musical genre.

Pretenders
Buzz Of Delight
Chris Stamey
Miracle Legion
They Might Be Giants

Tortured Carols

The artists included on New Wave Xmas run the gamut from semi-famous (XTC, Squeeze, They Might Be Giants, Throwing Muses) to relatively obscure (Sun 60, Root Boy Slim), but a common thread emerges among them: faith in Christmas as an inclusive celebration. Each of them experiences the holiday differently (and often with rancor), but they see Christmas as belonging to them as much as anyone - a marked contrast to the "fuck Christmas" perspective purveyed by Rhino's quasi-companion CD, Punk Rock Xmas (1995). Not all of these songs are masterpieces, and at least one - Miracle Legion's relatively straightforward cover of "The Little Drummer Boy" - gets by because it marks one of the first times an alternative act assayed the old warhorse. But, I consider all 17 tracks (see below) to be essential listening, meaning I slot them into my playlist every holiday season.

While they range from sublime to ridiculous, the songs on New Wave Xmas consistently presents Christmas music with distinction. No one, that is, will confuse these tortured carols with those of Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians! For instance, Timbuk 3 - best remembered for their anti-yuppie rant, "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)" - perform an anti-violence ode, "All I Want For Christmas," that makes a philosophically shaky connection between G.I. Joe action figures and third world unrest. Los Lobos deconstruct Johnny Marks' classic as "Rudolph The Manic Reindeer." In "One Christmas Catalog," Captain Sensible (guitarist for the Damned) sounds like he needs his Ritalin. Stan Ridgway and Wall Of Voodoo relate a comic morality play, "Shouldn't Have Given Him A Gun For Christmas," with a truly painful denouement.

Even so, there's a sweetness (or bittersweetness) to many of these songs that can't be denied. Some, like "Christmas" by Buzz Of Delight (featuring a young Matthew Sweet) or "Christmas Time" by dB's founder Chris Stamey, simply exude the wide-eyed optimism that marks most great yuletide anthems. The best example, though, is the Pretenders' "2000 Miles," perhaps the best-known song on New Wave Xmas. When first released as a single for Christmas 1983, "2000 Miles" was easily the least acerbic song in Chrissie Hynde's portfolio to date. When they started out, the Pretenders were so full of piss and vinegar (cf. "Precious," "Bad Boys Get Spanked") that I never would have guessed that they'd record a Christmas standard. But, they did - and how! "2000 Miles" is darn near pious, but it sounds like a great Pretenders record while also being obliquely religious, vaguely romantic, and absolutely festive.

At the time, however, "2000 Miles" was seen as a protest against Britain's war in the Falkland Islands - something largely lost to history. It was subsequently included on the Pretenders' 1984 album Learning To Crawl, and today it ranks up there with the Kinks' "Father Christmas" and Wham's "Last Christmas" as one of the most-covered holiday songs of the modern era.

PoguesHappy Christmas, Your Arse

Here's another particularly vivid example. In the Pogues' singularly brilliant "Fairytale Of New York," singer Shane MacGowan is spending "Christmas Eve in the drunk tank," but he finds the wherewithal to address his old lover, voiced by fine English singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl. "Happy Christmas," Shane begins, "I can see a better time when all our dreams come true." But, it ends badly when Kirsty spits out this immortal, venomous retort:

You scumbag, you maggot,
You cheap lousy faggot.
Happy Christmas, your arse,
I pray God it's our last.

The Pogues' gritty tale is filled with hope and tradition, regret and recrimination - a veritable catalogue of the conflicting feelings the holidays evoke. Still, it is also a testament to our inexhaustible faith in the spirit of Christmas. No matter what we throw at the holiday - or at each other - this peculiar optimism survives down through the ages. Christmas can withstand the tallest of waves - either new or old - emerging intact on the bright side of morning. Or, as the Pogues put it, after all of Shane and Kirsty's travails, "The bells are ringing out on Christmas Day."

When "Fairytale Of New York" was first released in 1987, it was a huge deal in the United Kingdom - almost claiming the coveted Christmas #1 slot on the UK charts. The Pogues were rising stars in the UK, and "Fairytale" was their biggest hit to date - and it did, in fact, reach #1 in their homeland of Ireland. Outside the UK, though, the band never really became a household name. In the United States, in particular, the Pogues failed to gain a commercial foothold. They never registered a single on the Billboard Hot 100, though they earned a fiercely loyal following in the punk community.

Punk Rock XmasWorldwide, however, the reputation of "Fairytale Of New York" has grown steadily over the years. These days, it charts most every year in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and beyond - just like Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" or Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." Indisputably, "Fairytale Of New York" is a fine piece of songwriting and a marvelous, rapturous performance. But, the regard for the song is also deeply sentimental for two very different, but equally tragic reasons. First, Kirsty MacColl died in 2000 in a hideous boating accident in Mexico at age 41. Then, improbably, Shane MacGowan survived until 2023, but he was a shell of his former self, his body racked by a lifetime of substance abuse.

Consumer Notes

New Wave Xmas was part of a loose series of compact discs compiled by Rhino Records at the height of the CD era documenting holiday music in a dizzying variety of genres including jazz, blues, doo wop, country, punk, reggae, and swing (read more). Collectively, they documented the history of recorded Christmas music in the 20th century.

All of these fine albums are out of print, though copies circulate on Amazon, Discogs, eBay, and around the web. But, Rhino licensed tracks from many disparate labels for use on those specific albums - long before there was such a thing as iTunes or Spotify. So, sadly, none of Rhino's Christmas collections made the leap to the world of downloads or streaming. I wish I could say that there are equivalents in the virtual world but, mostly, there are not. Unlike many Rhino compilations however, New Wave Xmas consisted of relatively recent recordings, many of them released during the digital age. So, you should be able to find most of the tracks online. Happy hunting! [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • All I Want For Christmas (Is World Peace) (Timbuk 3, 1987)
  • Careless Santa (Mono Puff, 1995)
  • Christmas (Buzz Of Delight, featuring Matthew Sweet, 1983)
  • Christmas Day (Squeeze, 1979)
  • Christmas Time (Chris Stamey Group with the dB's and Syd Straw, 1985) Top 100 Song
  • Fairytale Of New York (The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl, 1987) Top 100 Song
  • Little Drummer Boy (Miracle Legion, 1985)
  • Mary Xmess (Sun 60, 1993)
  • One Christmas Catalog (Captain Sensible, 1984)
  • Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy (David Bowie & Bing Crosby, 1977)
  • Rudolph The Manic Reindeer (Los Lobos, 1988)
  • Santa Claus (Throwing Muses, 1989)
  • Santa's Beard (They Might Be Giants, 1988)
  • Shouldn't Have Given Him A Gun For Christmas (Wall of Voodoo, 1987)
  • Thanks For Christmas (The Three Wise Men, aka XTC, 1983)
  • 2000 Miles (The Pretenders, 1983) Top 100 Song
  • Xmas At K-Mart (Root Boy Slim & The Sex Change Band, 1978)

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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