Hip Christmas

Welcome To Hip Christmas! I think you'll enjoy my dysfunctionally vast web archive dedicated to holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs. If you do, please support me by shopping at Amazon, Apple Music, and Sheet Music Plus! Regardless, the best of the season to you - no matter what month it is! [about me]

What Was New In 2024? Last year's new Christmas albums included lots of vinyl reissues, big names like Jennifer Hudson and Little Big Town, indie darlings like Dean & Britta and Phantom Planet, a full-length Tower Of Power album, a new collection from the Carpenters, and yet another Bear Family compilation. I've completed my annual obsessive, quixotic attempt to keep up with it all, including my Top 10 Albums and Top 25 Singles. [gimme gimme]

The Christmas Jukebox. My online Christmas music player is bulging with over 900 hip tunes - and counting! You can listen to the music I write about - the coolest, weirdest, and loudest holiday songs ever, all while enjoying my inimitable prose - or not! [press play]

My Face, Your Book. There's a lot of holiday hilarity going on over at Facebook, in case you can't get enough on my website - or vice versa. Check out the Hip Christmas page, and follow me for maximum holiday fun all year long. No Russian trolls, please. I also post cool cover art on Instagram and Pinterest. [follow me]

Christmas From The Not-So-Latin Lounge. Despite appearances, Rhino's Mambo Santa Mambo isn't about Latin music, per se. Rather, it's about the Latin music craze that gripped American pop like a tropical fever during the 1950's - think Ricky Ricardo or Carmen Miranda. This was Latin music smartly packaged for the white market. [read more]

Too Much Of A Good Thing. Adding up to four compact discs and nearly 100 songs, Ho Ho Ho Spice (2002) and Holiday Heart (2005) gave us a lot of music at a bargain price while serving a good cause - supporting hospice care. But, a lot of that music wasn't very good, and I've spent a lot of time finding the jewels amidst the dross. [read more]

Christmas Spirit?? Released on tiny Etiquette Records in 1965, Merry Christmas From The Sonics, The Wailers, The Galaxies is a compendium of three garage bands from the Pacific Northwest that's not quite the Christmas-themed Nuggets one might expect. But, with no less than two songs from my Top 100, it's very, very good. [read more]

Mr. Excitement Is Boring. Almost forgotten these days, Jackie Wilson played a pivotal role in the development of Motown and soul music, not to mention his staggering talent as a singer and entertainer. Sadly, while his 1963 album Merry Christmas showcases his spectacular voice, it obscures his deep soul and sexy showmanship. [read more]

The Six Strings of Christmas. Compared to most of my holiday favorites, Chet Atkins is a pretty tame. But, if you appreciate great guitar picking, you need to check out his beautiful, gentle, virtuosic Christmas music. Easy listening? Sure. Memorable? You betcha. Heart warming? Absolutely. [read more]

The Man In Red. Who doesn't like Johnny Cash? He recorded four Christmas albums during his long career but, sadly, none compare to his best, toughest music. His legend is monstrous, but he was also a simple country boy longing for the comforts of home. And that's the Johnny Cash we hear on his Christmas albums. [read more]

Actually Very Special. After years of increasingly awful sequels, it's easy to forget what a big deal A Very Special Christmas was back in 1987. It spawned more than a few hip holiday classics, but its biggest impact was the slew of Christmas music that followed in its wake - and continues unabated to this day. [read more]

Christmas Is For Mugs. I'm a huge Graham Parker fan, and his 1979 album Squeezing Out Sparks is a touchstone. His 1994 EP Christmas Cracker is a different subject altogether - just three songs, recorded well past his prime. Which doesn't mean I don't like it. Any Christmas record that mentions sex toys is okay by me.... [read more]

Yo, Santa, whuzzup? When I first heard Snoop Dogg's hilarious "'Twas The Night Before Christmas," I assumed Christmas On Death Row would be more of the same. I was wrong. The compilation from the infamous West Coast rap label has some good stuff (including another joint from Snoop), but it's mostly soft-headed slow jams. Sigh... [read more]

Holiday Deluxe. The 1997 album Come On Christmas has all the swagger and adventurousness of Dwight Yoakam's best work, and it demonstrates what made him so important to modern country music - his musicianship, his inventiveness, his humor, and his insatiable thirst for the next cool sound. [read more]

Big Guitar From Texas. A legendary wild man and notorious drunk, Evan Johns played guitar with an unhinged fervor. His 1990 Christmas album, Please Mr. Santa Claus, never earned the kudos it deserves, perhaps because it's a brief, mostly instrumental, mostly original album. But, it's bursting with personality - a lot like Evan himself. [read  more]

What A Wonderful Christmas. Surprisingly, jazz icon Louis Armstrong never released a Christmas album during his long, long career. But, he did cut a number of holiday singles and album tracks - enough to nearly fill up a long player. Nobody's ever compiled them all, though a couple of otherwise fine albums have come very close. [learn more]

Christmas In A Honky Tonk. Three vinyl volumes of The Austin Christmas Collection, released in the early 80's, gave rise to The Texas Christmas Collection, a compact disc released in the early 90's. They did a pretty good job of representing the regional music scene, past and present - albeit in a very Chamber-of-Commerce sort of way. [read more]

Instant Record Collection. Rhino Records' Christmas Classics was as close to an instant record collection as you could find when it was released in 1988. It was one of the first of Rhino's historic series of Christmas compilations, and all 18 tracks are, indeed, classic - even if the album lacks the focus that would make the series so great. [read more]

Is Murder A Disqualifying Offense? It's hard to overstate the importance and greatness of A Christmas Gift For You (1963). It's the best album Phil Spector ever produced, and Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is one of his very best singles. If you can separate the man from his music, this is required listening. [read more]

A Christmas Gift For You. Every year, I offer free MP3's from my voluminous collection - all unavailable easily or legitimately in the music marketplace. In 2024, I revisited the legendary, exceedingly rare Flagpole Christmas albums, filling in some gaping holes and sprucing up the sound quality. [listen or download]

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