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 1000 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]

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]

Christmas Was Better In The 80's. One of the last great Rhino compilations was VH1: The Big 80's Christmas, which chronicled the decade that brought Christmas music back in a big way - and teed up the internet age, when it went totally bonkers. Great singles by the likes of Billy Squier and the Pretenders signaled great things to come. [read more]

Holiday Deluxe. The 1997 album Come On Christmas has all the swagger and adventurousness of Dwight Yoakam's best work, and it demonstrates what made him so important to modern country music - his musicianship, his inventiveness, his humor, and his insatiable thirst for the next cool sound. [read more]

Cool Yule. In the 1980's, IRS Records was a paragon of indie virtue, and their holiday sampler, Just In Time For Christmas (1990), reflects that aesthetic. Comprised of both catalog tracks and new recordings, it strikes a lighthearted, if frequently acerbic, tone and includes songs by Dread Zeppelin, Squeeze, the dB's, and Wall of Voodoo. [read more]

Christmas Gumbo. On the one hand, Fats Domino is an underappreciated founder of rock 'n' roll seldom mentioned in the same breath as Elvis, Chuck, or Little Richard. On the other hand, his 1993 album, Christmas Is A Special Day, is not his finest moment. It's quaint and charming, but you won't find your thrill on this particular hill. [read more]

I Want You Back. The Jackson 5's Christmas Album (1970) is a good example why people thought the group would be the salvation of Motown Records. They turned out to be the label's last hurrah, but it's the single best holiday record Motown ever produced - and that's saying something. [read more]

Cold Enough. Released locally in 1982, An Austin Rhythm And Blues Christmas was a harbinger that the Texas town would become a hipster mecca. Lou Ann Barton and Charlie Sexton would go on to greater things, and the album was picked up nationally after Epic Records struck gold with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. [read more]

Praise Jah, It's Christmas. Studio One was producer Coxsone Dodd's legendary Kingston hit factory, and he ruled the Jamaican charts like no one before or since. Reggae Christmas From Studio One and its sequel, Christmas Greetings From Studio One, are typical of the thrilling roots reggae that routinely sprang from within those blessed walls. [read more]

Bronx Bomber. Back in the 50's, Dion & The Belmonts accounted for some of the most thrilling white doo wop around - "The Wander," Runaround Sue," and many more. By the time Dion recorded Rock n' Roll Christmas, he'd gone through many changes and emerged as an elder statesman of the New York rock scene. [read more]

'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]

Hey Sister, Go Sister! Patti LaBelle started out as lead singer of a girl group, the Bluebelles, and their 1963 Christmas album is charming, but not much more. LaBelle would record several holiday records befitting the diva she became, but none approached the funk grandeur of "Lady Marmalade" or the turbo-charged polish of "New Attitude." [read more]

I Dig Thee, Lord Jesus. The swing revival gave rise to a vast array of reissues, ranging across jazz, easy listening, and a whole pack of rats. Rhino Records' Swingin' Christmas (2001) was one of the best, including all-time classics by Kay Starr and Louis Armstrong, plus an unbelievable piece of latter-day kitsch called "That Swingin' Manger." [read more]

Intimate Christmas Music For Young Lovers. The legacy of Hollywood Records is both glorious and shameful, encompassing some of the greatest holiday rhythm & blues ever waxed - including the 1956 album Merry Christmas Baby - and some of the shabbiest reissues in the history of record collecting. [read more]

Rowdy and Violent Young Men. As I started my journey into hip Christmas music, the Yobs (aka UK punk band the Boys) were a key influence on me. Their 1980 Christmas Album is raucous, weird, sacrilegious, and scatological. More music would follow, but it never got better - or more disgusting - than this. [read more]

Whispers 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]

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]