Artist	Song
darlene love	"christmas (baby please come home)"
chuck berry	"run run rudolph"
the beach boys	"little saint nick"
elvis presley	"blue christmas"
frank sinatra	"mistletoe & holly"
ray charles & betty carter	"baby, it's cold outside"
prince	"another lonely christmas"
carla thomas	"all i want for christmas is you"
otis redding	"merry christmas, baby"
big star	"jesus christ"
the crystals	"santa claus is coming to town"
the beatles	"christmas time (is here again)"
stevie wonder	"someday at christmas"
james brown	"santa claus go straight to the ghetto"
the ronettes	"sleigh ride"
tom petty & the heartbreakers	"christmas all over again"
the ramones	"merry christmas (i don't want to fight tonight)"
the kinks	"father christmas"
the vince guaraldi trio	"christmas time is here"
tom waits	"christmas card from a hooker in minneapolis"
ryan adams	"hey parker, it's christmas"
rufus wainwright	"spotlight on christmas"
the pretenders	"2000 miles"
johnny cash	"silent night"
john lennon & yoko ono (with the harlem boys community choir)	"happy xmas (war is over)"

Comment:

this is my revision of last year's christmas mix, with intent to ship around to family & friends with (or without) gifts this holiday season. i went through about a dozen different incarnations of this mix, at first feeling really self-conscious & uncomfortable with the fact that it skirted dad-rock territory a little too closely for my taste - a bit too much like something you'd find in the bargain bin at a family-oriented dollar store. after reworking it enough times, no closer to a satisfying final draft, i realized that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing: the conventionality actually works in this case, ringing in a sort of comfort that these standards tend to conjure up. yes, the line-up is entirely predictable; yes, the song choices are safe; yes, quite a few of these cuts are incredibly cheesy; no, there's nothing out of the ordinary here. however, that's sort of what christmas is all about to me, that sense of nostalgia these classics seem to bring out in everyone. not to mention, there's a reason so many of these tunes are holiday standards. is there a better reading of "blue christmas" than elvis presley's? is there a funnier, or more bitingly cynical, christmas song than "father christmas"? has any holiday protest song even come close to "happy xmas (war is over)"? & let's not forget the opener, hands down my all-time favorite christmas song ever. all in all, this may not be the most groundbreaking holiday mix, nor will it house any raging obscurities us music geeks love to savor over (unless you count the ryan adams track as a "rarity," which it sort of is). it's just a wonderfully nostalgic trip down holiday lane with some proven & true standards i never get tired of hearing this time of year. title once again from rufus wainwright. enjoy, everybody! merry christmas & happy holidays!

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