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This index lists the essential songs (not all the songs) contained on the albums reviewed in Hip Christmas, plus singles, album tracks, or one-hit wonders not otherwise included on those albums. Whenever possible, the artist's name is linked to my review of the best Christmas album (not necessarily the only or original album) on which to find the song.

Barring that, the names will be linked to a place where you may buy the song (usually Amazon). If there's no link, it means that, to my knowledge, the song is not available on CD or MP3. Of course, the list will expand as I write more reviews. And, nothing's perfect - especially me and my crazy list. Please send additions, corrections, criticisms, and suggestions via email.

  • Take A Break Guys (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) (Brian Setzer, 2007)
  • Take Me Back To Toyland (Nat King Cole, 1955)
  • Take Me Home For Christmas (Deep Delta, 2015) [close]

    Deep DeltaDeep Delta is a blues/rock side-project of Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collens and Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DiLeo. I'm not a fan of either band, and I'm always skeptical of white rockers playing the blues - though African Americans Debbi Blackwell-Cook (vocals) and Forrest Robinson (drums) lent Deep Delta some authenticity. Perhaps that's why I overlooked this single when it came out, or perhaps it's the altogether generic cover art. By the time I noticed it, the single (an iTunes exclusive) was no longer for sale. But, the band left it up on YouTube and Soundcloud, so I was able to check it out. It turned out to be, well, not bad, and certainly far to the right of the band's usual sound, which is more akin to Led Zeppelin than Lead Belly. "Take Me Home For Christmas" is a slow, languorous, R&B ballad that, the band maintains, is "reminiscent of the 1940's jazz era." Personally, I wouldn't go that far, and I'd argue that they shot themselves in the foot by attempting something "classic" rather than doing what they do best: making a lot of blues-adjacent noise. Nevertheless, it's an original song by famous people, and I felt compelled to document it. So there.

  • Talking Christmas Blues (David Lee Roth, 2023)
  • Talking Christmas Goodwill Blues (John Wesley Harding, 1989)
  • Teddi's Song (When Christmas Comes) (John Mellencamp, 1995)
  • Teenage Christmas (Jacobites, 1996) [close]

    JacobitesDespite a prolific career that spanned over 25 years, English iconoclast Nikki Sudden is best remembered for his early and brief tenure with Swell Maps ("Let's Build A Car"), an influential post-punk band he formed with his brother, Epic Soundtracks. His longest running alliance, though, was the Jacobites, a band Sudden formed in 1984 with Dave Knusworth, playing aggressive rock that owed more to the Faces or Rolling Stones than the angular pop of the Swell Maps. Sudden met Kusworth in 1980 while the latter played with the Subterranean Hawks. In 2004, Sudden recalled, "Dave and I agreed that if the Hawks ever broke up we'd get a band together. But when I turned up at Dave's house a few days after the Hawks had deceased, Dave said, 'I've already got a band together with Slim,'" meaning the Rag Dolls (who eventually disappeared without a trace) and Slim Cartwright (Kusworth's brother-in-law). Undeterred, Sudden convinced Knusworth to play in both bands. The Rag Dolls are only relevant to our present discussion because, in Sudden's words, "We stole two Rag Dolls' songs and made them our own," one of which was "Teenage Christmas" (now credited to Sudden, Kusworth, and Cartwright).

    Initially, the Jacobites recorded a number of singles and EP's, plus two full albums including the acclaimed Robespierre's Velvet Basement which also featured Epic Soundtracks (who died mysteriously in 1997). They didn't release "Teenage Christmas," however, until 1996 after they returned from a lengthy hiatus, and then only in an acoustic version as the b-side of a split 7" single given away with an issue of Presto Magazine. Eventually, this version of "Teenage Christmas" showed up on the 2002 CD reissue of Twin Tone Records' 1986 Jacobites compilation The Ragged School.

    The electric (and electrifying) version of "Teenage Christmas" came out in 1998, both on the band's final studio CD, God Save Us Poor Sinners (Bomp, 1998), and as a limited edition 7-inch single on Chatterbox Records. Lyrically, I'll admit, "Teenage Christmas" is no great shakes (note that the words to the acoustic and electric versions vary somewhat). But this definitive electric recording is magnificent, if altogether obscure - a non-stop thrill ride of guitars and hooks. (The Bomp CD is out-of-print and, for reasons unknown, "Teenage Christmas" does not appear on the 2010 Easy Action reissue of God Save Us Poor Sinners - which is only available for download.)

    Nikki Sudden once said, "The Jacobites are Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth. The Jacobites will continue as long as we are both alive." Kusworth and Sudden did, in fact, play together on a semi-regular basis until March 26, 2006 when Sudden died in his sleep from a brain hemmorage after a solo gig at New York's Knitting Factory. The Jacobites were scheduled to play in London just three days later. In writing of Sudden's sudden death, English writer Kirk Lake recalled, "He figured in one of my favourite rock moments of all time - storming the stage to join Dave Kusworth's Rag Dolls playing 'Teenage Christmas' at a club in Birmingham with the promoter and the bar staff holding on to the speaker stacks so they didn't topple over on to the tiny stage."

  • Teenage Santa Claus (Babs Gonzales, 1959)
  • Tell 'Em It's Christmas (Buckcherry, 2023)
  • Ten Tubas (Professor & Maryann, 2005)
  • Thank God It's Christmas (Queen, 1984)
  • Thank You Christmas (Stratocruiser, 2008) (Stratocruiser, 2008)
  • Thank You Santa Claus (Dr. John, 1984)
  • Thanks For Christmas
  • Thanksgiving (Loudon Wainwright, 1989)
  • Thanksgiving Day (Ray Davies, 2006)
  • Thanksgiving Filter (Drive-By Truckers, 2011)
  • Thanksgiving Rock (The Grapes & Friends, 2020)
  • Thanksgiving Song (Adam Sandler, 1993)
  • That Christmas Feeling (Bing Crosby, 1950)
  • That Christmasy Feeling (Johnny Cash, 1972)
  • That Makes Christmas Day (Rufus & Carla Thomas, 1973
  • That Punchbowl Full Of Joy (Sonny Columbus & His Del Fuegos, 1983) Top 100 Song
  • That Special Time Of Year (Gladys Knight & The Pips, 1982)
  • That Swingin' Manger (Bob Francis, 1995)
  • That Time of Year Again (Sick Puppies, 2009)
  • That'll Be Christmas (Thea Gilmore, 2009)
  • That's What I Want For Christmas
  • There Ain't No Sanity Clause (Damned, 1980) [close]

    DamnedThe Damned's "There Ain't No Sanity Clause" (1980) is only sort of a Christmas song, but that didn't stop the infamously cynical UK punk band from marketing it as such. Note that it's "Clause," not "Claus"... The lyrics do, in fact, reference Christmas, but they mostly focus, in turn, on the foibles of the band members Rat Scabies (drums), Dave Vanian (vocals), Captain Sensible (guitar), and Paul Gray (bass). The title, in fact, is derived from a scene in a Marx Brothers movie. First released as a non-LP single, the song later appeared on Rhino's Punk Rock Xmas and lots of Damned collections such as The Chiswick Singles (2011). Note that the "e" in "Clause" gets dropped on a lot of later appearances of the track, but it was definitely "Clause" on the original vinyl.

    The Damned are most famous for being the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977), and tour the United States. But, they went onto a long career with mutiple break-ups and reformations, ultimately emerging as punk elder statesmen. The Damned would never record another Christmas song, but Captain Sensible waxed "One Christmas Catalogue" in 1984, was invoved in the Punk Aid project in 2003, and recorded "Stupid Christmas" as Sensible Gray Cells with Paul Gray in 2023.

  • There On Christmas (Popa Chubby, 2014)
  • There Won't Be Any Snow (Christmas In The Jungle) (Derrik Roberts, 1965)
  • There Won't Be Any Tree This Christmas (Kitty Wells & Johnny Wright, 1969)
  • There's A New Kid In Town
  • There's A Star Above The Manger Tonight (Red Red Meat, 1996)
  • (There's No War On Christmas) When Christmas Is In Your Heart (The Mockers, 2012)
  • There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mother, They're Burning Big Louie Tonight (Sensational Alex Harvey Band, 1972)
  • (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays
  • There's No Santa Claus (Yobs, 1991)
  • There's Nothing I Want More For Christmas This Year (Chubbies, 1995)
  • There's Still Christmas (Clarence Clemons, 1981)
  • There's Trouble Brewin' (Jack Scott, 1963)
  • They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose (Johnny Horton, 1959)
  • Things Fall Apart (Cristina, 1982)
  • (Things That Make Up) Christmas Day (Ral Donner, 1962)
  •  The Things We Did Last Summer (George Shearing Quintet with Nancy Wilson, 1961)
  • Things We Don't Need Anymore (Jenny Owen Youngs, 2007)
  • Thinking About You (This Christmas) (Paul Carrack, 2011)
  • Thirty-Two Feet - Eight Little Tails (Gene Autry, 1951)
  • This Christmas
  • This Christmas (Color TV, 2016)
  • This Christmas (Shoes, 1991)
  • This Christmas (Magic In The Air) (Brinsley Schwarz, 2021)
  • This Christmas Time (Keri Noble, 2005)
  • This Christmas Time (Ben Reel, 2011)
  • This Could Be Christmas (The So So Glos featuring Spider Stacy of The Pogues, 2022)
  • This Is Life (Merry Christmas) (Lumineers featuring Daniel Rodriguez , 2021)
  • This Is My Wish (Kevin Ross, 2014)
  • This Is What I Want (Mary Margaret O'Hara, 2014)
  • This Mess We're In (Sophia Talvik, 2020)
  • This Time Every Year (Saturday Looks Good To Me, 2003)
  • This Time Of The Year
  • This Time Of The Year (Whispers, 1979)
  • This X-Mas (Chris Brown featuring Ella Mai, 2017)
  • This Year Can Kiss My Ass (Meiko, 2020)
  • (This Year's) Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt, 1954)
  • Three Blind Mice Make It to Santa's Village (Bel-Airs, 1961)
  • 364 Days (Murder City Devils, 1999)
  • 365 Days of Christmas (The Linedance Fever, 2012)
  • Three Wise Men & A Baby (Cavedogs, 1991)
  • Through The Winter (Saint Etienne, 2006)
  • 'Til Next Hanukkah (Velouria, 1997)
  • Time For Love (Yuletime Lifters, 2023)
  • Time Of The Season (Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, 2010)
  • Tinsel And Lights (Tracey Thorn, 2012)
  • 'Tis The Damn Season (Taylor Swift, 2020)
  • 'Tis The Season To Be Lonesome (Jacob Lyda, 2011)
  • Tit For Tat (Ain't No Taking Back) (James Brown, 1968)
  • To Heck With Ole Santa Claus (Loretta Lynn, 1966)
  • To Mother At Christmas (Jimmy Martin, 1980)
  • Too Fat For The Chimney (Teresa Brewer, 1953)
  • Too Many Santas (V.D. King, 2023)
  • Townhall Band (Helen Love, 2015)
  • Toyland
  • Toymageddon (Yo La Tengo featuring Ira Glass & Eugene Mirman, 2013)
  • Trim Another Tree (James Apollo, 2014)
  • Trim Your Tree (Jimmy Butler, 1954) Top 100 Song
  • Triple Dog Dare (Ralphie's Red Ryders, 2022)
  • Trucker's Christmas (Lee Arnold, 1976)
  • 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
  • Tweety's Twistmas Troubles (Mel Blanc, 1959)
  • 12 Bars of Christmas (Sivion, Sareem Poems, Kinetik, Sojourn & Imperial, 2014)
  • Twelve Days (Bitter Hearts, 2005)
  • Twelve Days Of Christmas
  • Twelve Days Of Memphis (Star & Micey, 2010)
  • Twelve Gifts Of Christmas (Allan Sherman, 1963)
  • 21st Century Christmas (Saint Etienne, 2006)
  • 24 Decembre (Pizzicato Five, 2000) [close]

    Pizzicato 5The All Music Guide labels Pizzicato Five "kitsch-pop deconstructionists," and I can't think of a better thumbnail portrait than that. This iconoclastic duo (originally a trio) mashed up pop culture far and wide, translating the characteristically Japanese mania for pop (music, fashion, film, celebrity) into a uniquely postmodern idiom both ironic and heartfelt. Their holiday single "24 Decembre" came out just as the band was ending their career, having achieved stardom in their native country long before they built a sizeable cult following in the United States. Compared to Pizzicato's usual cheeky technique, "24 Decembre" sounds almost traditional, setting what I can only presume are holiday-themed lyrics (sung in Japanese) to a propulsive dance beat. Following a breakdown, singer Maki Nomiya chants in English, "We like music, we like the disco sound," and, if you listen very closely, whispers "We are listening to a Christmas song." That pretty much says it all.

    In Japan, "24 Decembre" was released as a CD single in a fancy, 7x5-inch box and, to my surprise, was still in print when I discovered it in 2008. The front cover art bears a close resemblance to their career-spanning compilation CD, Singles (2001), so I suspect the single was released as a promotional advance on the album. Anyway, different mixes of "24 Decembre" later showed up on Ca Et La Du Japon (2001), a cobbled-together final studio album, and R.I.P. - Big Hits & Jet Lags 1998-2000 (2006), the concluding volume of a series of anthologies.

  • 25th December (Everything But The Girl, 1994)
  • 25th Of Last December (Roberta Flack, 1977)
  • Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights) (JD McPherson, 2012)
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Me (Supremes, 1965)
  • Twistin' Bells (Santo & Johnny, 1960)
  • 2005 (MXPX, 2005)
  • 2000 Miles

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