skip to content

Welcome to 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]

Season For StalkersWhispers of Christmas. With hits like "And The Beat Goes On" and "Rock Steady , the Whispers helped define R&B in the 70's and 80's. But, their Christmas music was equally emblematic, if a tad too smooth for my tastes. Their 1979 album Happy Holidays To You was the high water mark, but there was a lot more to the story. [read more]

Season For StalkersThe Mother of all Lists. David McGee's list of essential Christmas albums appeared in Dave Marsh's 1981 Book Of Rock Lists and is largely to blame for my obsession and, eventually, this website. Christmas music had been my parents' music: adult, reverent, boring. McGee showed me holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs. [read more]

Top 100 Christmas SongsHag's Christmas. Merle Haggard had a reputation for his rough and rowdy ways. Maybe so, but his music was less so, usually sounding soft-spoken, dignified, and even genteel. Across his 50-plus year career, the Stranger recorded three middlin' Christmas albums - and one uncontested work of genius, "If We Make It Through December." [learn more]

A Christmas Gift For You!A Christmas Gift For You. Every year, I offer five free MP3's from my voluminous collection - all unavailable easily or legitimately in the music marketplace. In 2023 I chose lost treasures by the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, XTC in disguise, fake Rolling Stones, Boston's barbecue guru, and a Christmas bummer by Concrete Blonde. [listen or download]

What's New?What's New In 2023? Every year, I obsessively track all the new Christmas music. You could say I made a list and checked it, well, many times. My picks for 2023 included rare Vince Guaraldi, collected Boston Pops, sexy Salsoul Orchestra, a new Stax Records collection, and the sophomore holiday album by guitar picker extraordinaire Joel Paterson. [gimme gimme]

Christmas JukeboxThe Christmas Jukebox. My online Christmas music player is bulging with nearly 500 hip tunes - and counting! Now you can listen to the music I write about - the coolest, weirdest, and loudest holiday songs ever. All while enjoying my inimitable prose.... [press play]

MailbagMy Face, Your Book. There's a lot going of holiday hilarity 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. No Russian trolls, please. [like or love]

Top 100 Christmas SongsTop 100 Christmas Songs. In which I attempt to boil thousand and thousands of Christmas songs in my library down to their purest essence. Countdown to Christmas Day with these always wonderful, frequently crazy songs - from Phil Spector's celebrated Wall Of Sound to obscure punk, country, and rhythm & blues. [read more]

Top 20 Christmas AlbumsTop 20 Christmas Albums. Actually, 40 - I started unwrapping presents and just couldn't stop! Anyway, who said Christmas music has to be boring? Not me! These sterling platters will put you in the Christmas spirit faster than you can say, "Go Cat Go!" [read more]

Jews For JesusJews For Jesus. A surprising number of popular Jewish entertainers have recorded Christmas albums and songs. From Irving Berlin to Beck, we've got the shmutz on this strange phenomena. Plus, Jews we wish would record a Christmas record - and Jews we hope do not! [read more]

Horny HolidaysHorny Holidays. Some people love to bask in the warm glow of friends and family during the holiday season. Others feel like starting a family (or something to that effect) at Christmas time. Read about the 20 naughtiest songs in the history of the holiday. You'll never look at a candy cane quite the same. [read more]

Season For Stalkers'Tis The Season For Stalkers. In the 50's and 60's, a number of Christmas songs were recorded about the two most popular artists in rock history - Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Read about this strange and obscure - and obsessive - phenomenon. [read more]

Christmas In VietnamChristmas 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]

Wish ListMy Wish List. It wouldn't be a record collector's website unless I published my wish list - Christmas songs I'm still hunting down, and songs for which I'd happily barter from my relatively vast treasure chest. If you have a copy of any of these rare goodies, let's talk! [read more]

SpinHumbug Hit Parade. If the annual deluge of holiday music hokum is driving you to suicide-by-fruitcake, Spin Magazine has compiled 25 of the weirdest, darkest, most awesome, "Noel-wave" oughtabe classics you'll never hear in a mall during the holiday season. [read more]

about.comTop 40 Christmas Oldies Songs. The web is crammed with blogs and tweets, obscuring the fact that experts might know more than know-it-alls armed with a quick wit and a laptop. To me, that's sad, and this rock solid list from (now defunct) About.com shows why. [read more]

Spinner12 Worst/Best Songs of Christmas. I enjoyed this list from (also defunct) Spinner Magazine so much that I preserved it after the rag went belly up. I am proud to say I own all 12 best songs of Christmas - and all but one of the worst! [read more]

Indie Rock CafeThe 12 Plays Of Christmas. The Indie Rock Cafe has published an amazing set of holiday playlists ranging from a handful of classics to an endless supply of genuinely obscure bands sure to thrill the kiddies and stump obsessive collectors. [listen & download]

[old news]  [top of page]