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]

How Comfort and Joy Turned into Obsession and Compulsion. For the incurably curious, I've written a page explaining me and my crazy website, Hip Christmas. Like most of you, I love cool and strange holiday music. The difference is, I have a problem with boundaries. Many thousands of records later, here we are! [the whole sad story]

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]

Child of God. After breaking into the record racket as a teen idol, Bobby Darin made a beeline towards respectability. He never quite got there, and one of his more curious stabs at redefinition was The 25th Day Of December (1960), a not-so-subtle attempt to put Christ back in Christmas - via Las Vegas. [read more]

Just The Hits, Ma'am. In the 1990's, Rhino Records partnered with Billboard Magazine for a series of compilations that attempted to write the history of popular Christmas music from the top down. More than 30 years later, they are still an excellent place to start, even if they stop far short of telling the whole story. [read more]

Snowman Magic. Power pop icon Dwight Twilley scored a handful of classic hits during his long career including "I'm On Fire" (1975) and "Girls" (1984). He kinda capped it off with Have A Twilley Christmas (2004), a charming and eclectic EP that, over the next few years, would be expanded into a full album. [read more]

Run - Don't Walk. The Ventures' 1965 Christmas Album is a widely acknowledged classic - and #2 on my Top 20 Albums. What makes it so special is the way the band melds hits of the day with holiday classics. You haven't lived until you've heard the Beatles' "I Feel Fine" segue seamlessly into "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer." [read more]

Hey Charlie, I'm Brown! Long ago, Robert Lopez played in a San Diego punk band called the Zeroes. But, when he donned a white suit and started mashing up Elvis songs with, well, almost everything, he found his special purpose. Twice, so far, El Vez has released Christmas albums, and both are a hoot - but very hard to find. [read more]

Christmas In Vietnam. Most holiday music is escapist. Who, after all, wants to think about death and mayhem during the season of hope? Nevertheless, the Vietnam war intruded into this idyllic genre during the turbulent 60's, and we examine six songs that looked at Christmas through the eyes of soldiers and their families. [read more]

Go To Rhino Records! From a small record shop in Los Angeles came - eventually - the very foundation of this website. Across 20 years, Rhino Records released nearly two dozen compilations that wrote the history of recorded Christmas music in the 20th century and transformed my curiosity into obsession. [read more]

The Magic Touch. As I dug into rock history, the Platters became an early favorite. "The Great Pretender," "Twilight Time," "Only You" - that's great stuff! By the time they cut their Christmas album in 1963, lead singer Tony Williams had moved on, and the group was past their prime - but the record has its charms, nonetheless. [read more]

Christmas Is Coming. In the 90's, Oglio Records issued two fine, if bewildering, compilations, The Coolest Christmas and The Edge Of Christmas. Nearly all the tracks are keepers, a few are all-time classics, and several are pretty rare including singles by George Thorogood, the Cocteau Twins, and Canadian power poppers the Payolas. [read more]

The King of Cool. My favorite thing about Dean Martin's 1959 concept album, A Winter Romance, has always been the cover. Get a load of Dino's trademark, two-timing leer... It's a good album - not a great one - but Martin sounds like he's having fun, more full of horny vigor (or spiked punch) than pious reflection on the season. [read more]

Christmas Time's A-Coming. Long ago, country music was called "hillbilly" music, and nobody took offense. Rhino Records' Hillbilly Holiday tells the story of Christmas music during the golden age of Nashville, and by embracing the old appellation, it makes a statement: The best country music never denies its roots. [read more]

A Christmas Miracle. Only a handful of Christmas albums came out of Motown Records during their "Golden Decade," and two of them belonged to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. The first contained one of Motown's finest holiday songs, "Christmas Everyday" (1963), but the second is the better LP. [learn more]

Christmas Is Going To The Dogs. The beloved 1966 TV special How The Grinch Stole Christmas included barely three songs, but one of them is an all-time classic. In the years since, it's been covered dozens of times, and the TV show spawned two movies, a Broadway musical, a raft of merchandise, and a lot more music. [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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