After a brief period of popularity as a power pop pioneer ("I'm On Fire," 1975), Tulsa native Dwight Twilley evolved into the very definition of the phrase coined by critic Robert Christgau: semi-popular. That is, Twilley works in a popular idiom at a less-than-popular level. His sort of brittle classicism and cool sincerity faded from the limelight long ago. Despite a paucity of hits (his last one, "Girls," dropped in 1984), Twilley has soldiered on, creating a long, unheralded string of semi-classics for the pop faithful.

Back in 1992, Twilley recorded two Christmas songs, a big, reverb-drenched ballad called "Christmas Love" and a glam rocker called "Christmas Night," which sounds like T. Rex never left. "Christmas Love" finally showed up in 1999 as the b-side to Twilley's "A Little Less Love" single (on French label Pop The Balloon) and on Between The Cracks (Not Lame, 1999), a rarities compilation. "Christmas Night" was never been released at all.

So, the inclusion of the two songs on Dwight's 6-song holiday EP, Have A Twilley Christmas (DMI, 2004), was big news for fans. And truth be told, nothing else on the EP quite measures up against those two early tracks. More than anything, the four new songs suffer from the claustrophobic feel of a guy who spends too much time alone in the studio. They sound, too clean, too compressed, too damn digital. All the same, Twilley hits more than he misses on Have A Twilley Christmas, thanks to his solid, sentimental performance and his pointedly eclectic song selection.

Entertaining yet ephemeral, Have A Twilley Christmas adds up to the sort of rarified gem that makes Christmas music geeks (c'est moi) tingle all over! Mixing mournful, jangly ballads ("Christmas Stars") with souped-up power pop ("Rockabilly Christmas Ball") and goofy novelties ("Christmas With The Martians"), Dwight Twilley revels in the sort of diverse yule that he probably grew up with in his native Tulsa, Oklahoma. His pleasure in palpable in the grooves (or bits, or bytes, or whatever).

Speaking of which, Have A Twilley Christmas was originally released by Digital Musicworks International as a download-only purchase from services like iTunes. Soon, however, the company manufactured a limited run of compact discs for the pre-digital generation - still available through Amazon as of this writing - and they even issued a green vinyl, 45-rpm single of "Christmas Night" (b/w "Rockabilly Christmas Ball"). Then, they quickly released another song, "Almost Christmas Time," exclusively in digital format.

In 2005, the DMI issued an expanded, remastered CD version of Have A Twilley Christmas. Now running 10 tracks, this album-length version appends "Almost Christmas Time," then adds three new songs (most notably "Snowman Magic") and a remix of "Christmas With The Martians" to Twilley's already potent potion. From the get-go, copies of either version of Have A Twilley Christmas have been hard-to-find. Still, try Amazon or download the whole thing through iTunes - it's well worth the effort, and Twilley don't mind. [top of page]

Important Albums

• Have A Twilley Christmas (EP) (2004)
• Have A Twilley Christmas (expanded version) (2005)

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Essential Songs

• Almost Christmas Time (2005)
• Christmas Love (1992)
• Christmas Night (1992)
• Christmas Stars (2004)
• Rockabilly Christmas Ball (2004)
• Snowman Magic (2005)

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Further Listening

• Christmas Wish (NRBQ, 1986)
• Christmas Time (Chris Stamey & Friends, 1986)
• Yuletunes (various artists, 1991)

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