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]

Merry Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! An adjunct to the Hot Rod Rock series, Hot Rod Holiday (1997) collected 16 festive songs by vintage rock artists popular with grease monkeys and the ladies who love them. Only one song is actually about a car, but most Christmas collectors (and gearheads) will enjoy the hell out of it. [read 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]

My Little Brain Isn't Very Bright. Like a lot of their catalog, the holiday music of NRBQ consists of some real gems surrounded by frequently discordant, consistently amusing noise. In this case, we have one true classic ("Christmas Wish"), a handful of keepers, and a lot of stuff that sounds like Chuck Berry crossed with Ornette Coleman. [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]

That Special Time Of Year. They never recorded any holiday music for Motown, but Gladys Knight & The Pips cut two decent Christmas albums later in their career. One leaned towards gospel, the other towards disco, but neither is up to the standards of songs like "Daddy Could Swear" or "Midnight Train To Georgia." [read more]

Santa Is Real. The Louvin Brothers are the most important brother act in the history of country music, and they were the direct antecedents of the Everly Brothers, the most important brother act in the history of rock 'n' roll. Not a bad pedigree, but their Christmas album is, sad to say, less impressive. [read more]

A Special Product. In many ways, Sony's Reindeer Rock is a cheap piece of crap. But, nearly all of its measly 10 tracks are insanely rare, most never reissued before or since, mastered from pristine sources. Thrill to rare rock classics by a blonde bombshell, a forgotten girl group, a juvenile Elvis, and, unlikely as it seems, Little Jimmy Boyd. [read more]

The 12 Plays Of Christmas. In 2007, the Indie Rock Cafe published an amazing set of holiday playlists ranging from a handful of classics to an endless supply of genuinely obscure bands sure to thrill the kiddies and stump obsessive collectors. But, the playlists fell into disrepair, so I rescued them just for you! [listen & download]

Euphemisms for Boring. Columbia's Acoustic Christmas (1990) was a harbinger of a genre that we would struggle to put a name to before settling on Americana. Most of the tracks are, indeed, acoustic, and nearly all of the arrangements are spare, if not altogether solo. Some are lovely, but they sure don't rock, roll, swing, or twang. [read more]

Devoted Sisters. I've been a fan of quirky, East Coast folksters the Roches since I was an impressionable college student. Nerds of a feather, you might say. Their lone Christmas album is less quirky than I'd prefer - mostly a cappella and/or traditional - but it stands out thanks to the three sisters' amazing empathy for each other's voices. [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]

It's A Punk Rawk Christmas. Pop punk icons (and sometimes Christians) MXPX put out a Christmas song every year for about a decade - mostly exclusive releases for their fan club - before finally compiling them on an album in 2008 for the rest of us - and then summarily deleting it. Great stuff, though, if you can find it. [listen & learn]

Your Private Santa Claus. He didn't start out that way, but country singer Eddy Arnold eventually became the moral equivalent of Perry Como in cowboy boots. That turns his Christmas catalog into a musical quandry - much like the rest of his enormous, hit-laden repertoire. [read more]

A Cavalcade of Christmas Craziness. The 1992 EMI compilation Legends Of Christmas Past includes acknowledged rock 'n' roll nuggets, rare rhythm 'n blues classics, and a host of random singles ranging from wonderful to wacky. Altogether, it collects 20 gems spanning 20 years, including two unreleased songs by Bill Haley. [read more]

Rain, Sleet, Snow. Very few major rock artists cut Christmas records in the late '60s and those that did so made music that reflected the turbulent times. Paul Revere & The Raiders' A Christmas Present (1967) is one such album, and it's easily the strangest and funniest record the band ever cut. [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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