I recently mentioned on Facebook that I have an eclectic holiday playlist on my iPod that I play every year around Christmas. In response, I received requests to share a list. Below, I not only share my list but some commentary about the evolution of the list and how it came to be what it is.
In the mid 1980’s just after I got married, we started buying a few Christmas CDs. While this collection contained some mainstream music, we focused on music that you didn’t usually hear in stores or on the radio. Here is a list of the CDs we accumulated:
Bing Crosby – Holiday Inn Soundtrack
Bob Dylan – Christmas in the Heart
Cast of Bonanza – Christmas on the Ponderosa
Booker T and the MGs – In the Christmas Spirit
Burl Ives – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Elvis Presley – If Every Day Was Like Christmas
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass – Christmas Album
William Hung – Hung for the Holidays
James Brown – Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag
Kacey Musgraves – Very Kacey Christmas
Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas
Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas In the Aire
Mannheim Steamroller – Fresh Aire Christmas
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir -It’s Christmas!
Phil Spector – A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector
The Ray Conniff Singers – Christmas with Conniff
Spike Jones – It’s a Spike Jones Christmas
Take 6 – He is Christmas
Take 6 – We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The Brady Bunch – Christmas with the Brady Bunch
The Chipmunks – Christmas with the Chipmunks
The Partridge Family – A Partridge Family Christmas Card
Various Artists – Handel’s Messiah – A Soulful Celebration
Various Artists – Nick at Nite – A Cartoon Christmas
Various Artists – Nick at Nite – A Cartoon Christmas, Too
Various Artists – Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits – 1935-1954
Various Artists – Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits – 1955-Present
Vince Guaraldi – A Charlie Brown Christmas
We had a CD player that used cartridges that would hold 6 CDs at a time. We would have multiple cartridges that we would rotate through the player every year. When we made the transition to mp3s, we converted all these albums listed above and put them on my iPod. There were a few Christmas CDs that we have that didn’t get converted for various reasons. Here is that list:
Mojo Nixon & the Toadliquors – Horny Holidays
Jimi Hendrix – Merry Christmas & Hapy New Year
Soundtrack Album – It’s a Wonderful Life The Record
Soundtrack Album – How The Grinch Stole Christmas
I was able to find additional albums in the mp3 format that I added to my playlist. Here is a list of the albums that were added to my primary holiday list:
Buck Owens and His Buckaroos – Christmas with Buck Owens
Ferlin Husky – Christmas All Year Long
Take 6 The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas Song
Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas Live
The Beach Boys – Christmas Album
Various Artists – Columbia Records – Season’s Greetings
Andre Kostelanetz – Wonderland of Christmas
The last two on this list are albums that had been in my parent’s Christmas album collection that I searched long and hard for to include in my iPod playlist.
Next, there were several Christmas singles that I considered must haves. Here is a list of those singles that are part of my playlist:
Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas
Paul McCartney – Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time
Jose Feliciano – Fexiz Navidad
Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus is Coming to Town
David Bowie and Bing Crosby – Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
The Eagles – Please Come Home for Christmas
John Lennon – Happy Xmas (War is Over)
The Roches – The Hallelujah Chorus
The Three Stooges – I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
The Barking Dogs – Jingle Bells
The Little Stinkers – I Farted on Santa’s Lap (Now Christmas is Gonna Stink for Me)
At one point, I greatly expanded my collection of Christmas album mp3s to include this next list. There are more mainstream albums in this list. It also includes some albums that I detest but still play every year. Here is that list:
The Carpenters – Christmas Portrait
Chicago – Chicago XXV – The Christmas Album
Lawrence Welk – Christmas with Lawrence Welk
Dean Martin – A Winter Romance
John Denver – Rocky Mountain Christmas
John Denver and The Muppets – A Christmas Together
John Prine – A John Prine Christmas
Johnny Cash – Personal Christmas Collection
Johnny Mathis – Merry Christmas
James Taylor -James Taylor at Christmas
Kenny G -Miracles
Kirk Franklin & the Family – Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas
Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song
The Ray Charles Singers – Winter Wonderland
THe Ray Conniff Singers – We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Stevie Wonder – Someday at Christmas
The Jackson 5 – Christmas Album
The Manhattan Transfer – The Christmas Album
Barbra Stresand – A Christmas Album
Andy Williams – Christmas Album
Chet Atkins – Christmas with Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins – East Tennessee Christmas
In the 1960’s and 70’s, Goodyear and Firestone tire stores sold Christmas albums that were compilations of various artists. I was able to find mp3 versions of 9 Goodyear albums and 7 Firestone albums that I added to my playlist. Then I decided that was more traditional Christmas music than what I cared to have playing. Now I have a Holiday playlist that has all of the music listed above and a separate Holiday Favorites list that just includes the first list of CDs, the first list of mp3s and the singles.
There are a few Christmas albums that I have found that I chose not to include on my iPod for various reasons. Here is that list:
The Monkees – The Christmas Album
Joan Baez – Noel
The Golddiggers – We Need a Little Christmas
Twisted Sister – A Twisted Christmas
Various Artists -A John Waters Christmas
Brian Setzer Orchestra – Boogie Woogie Christmas
El Vez – Merry Mex-Mas
Do you have anything that you would suggest that I consider adding?