# The Unofficial Christmas Music Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094 "2005-11-21T16:38:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/21 "2005-11-21T22:51:03Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’m trying to resist. I need to resist the threads about Christmas music. > > Aiieee! > > There is a lot of good Christmas music out there, and a lot of dreck. I like both. 😃 > > \ LOL. Me too. I do love the holiday season. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/22 "2005-11-21T23:27:56Z")
I’ve always loved “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, “The Holly and the Ivy”, “I Wonder as I Wander” “The Toy Trumpet” (The one conducted by Arthur Fiedler especially) “Carol of the Bells”, “The Coventry Carol”, and many more. I found several albums that have the songs I love. I’ll list them in order from very nice (IMO) to nice. [Sleigh Ride! Classic Christmas favorites](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003FCB/104-4543664-5396700?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846&vi=samples#disc_1) This is the one that has the Arthur Fiedler version of the Toy Trumpet. It also has the Hallelujah Chorus on it. [A Festival of Christmas Carols Robert Shaw Chorale](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003EPA/qid=1132613889/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl15/104-4543664-5396700?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846) This one has a lot of my favorites on it. I like to sing and listen to almost every one. There are some I’m neutral on. [Ultimate Classical Christmas Album of All Time](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006L3OY/104-4543664-5396700?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846&vi=samples#disc_2) This one is a double album and is quite nice. Some of their interpretations are just okay though. [Christmas Adagios: Holiday Classics](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006JY9O/qid=1132614452/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl15/104-4543664-5396700?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846) is nice too. All of those links have sound samples on them, they are to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) pages. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/23 "2005-11-21T23:28:32Z")
**Joe Pass** - _Six String Santa_ If you are a fan of jazz guitar, this is a must-have. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/24 "2005-11-21T23:44:57Z")
Coming back to add Mannheim Steamroller’s [Fresh Aire Christmas](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000005MV/ref=m_art_li_2/104-4543664-5396700?v=glance&s=music). It has a very nice interpretation of “The Holly and the Ivy” on it. Other carols I forgot to mention were “Good King Wenceslas” and “I Saw Three Ships”. ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/25 "2005-11-21T23:51:14Z")
hands down Kenny and Dolly, Christmas to Remember ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/26 "2005-11-22T00:00:50Z")
Silly Christmas songs: The Ten Pains of Christmas - Bob Rivers Twisted Radio Blue Christmas - some guy doing a Porky Pig imitation We Wish You a Merry Christmas - John Denver & The Muppets Leroy the Redneck Reindeer - Joe Diffie They Shined Up Rudolph’s Nose - Johnny Horton ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/27 "2005-11-22T00:08:19Z")
More silly songs: Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy - Buck Owens Christmas in Hollis - Run-DMC ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/28 "2005-11-22T00:09:02Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > The Ten Pains of Christmas - Bob Rivers Twisted Radio > Blue Christmas - some guy doing a Porky Pig imitation I love the Porky Pig Blue Christmas one! And as long as we’re talking Bob Rivers, “Walkin’ Round in Women’s Underwear” has to be mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/29 "2005-11-22T00:39:33Z")
Another Robert Shaw [The Many Moods of Christmas](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003CT2/102-7061121-2432916?v=glance&n=5174&s=classical&v=glance) I’ve got a couple versions of the Messiah, but they’re both out of print. Still, any complete Messiah belongs in a collection. Robert Shaw’s version on Telarc was good, although I haven’t heard it in a while so I can’t say how it stacks up against the current ones in print. I also enjoy Bach’s [Christmas Oratorio](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000057D5/102-7061121-2432916?v=glance&n=5174&s=classical&v=glance) Also, a complete [Nutcracker](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003CU4/102-7061121-2432916?v=glance&n=5174&s=classical&v=glance) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/30 "2005-11-22T03:43:21Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > And as long as we’re talking Bob Rivers, “Walkin’ Round in Women’s Underwear” has to be mentioned. Heck, we could devote an entire thread to Bob Rivers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/31 "2005-11-22T03:56:58Z")
[The Alligator Christmas Collection](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000A29/qid=1132631572/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-4366636-2912756?v=glance&s=music) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/32 "2005-11-22T04:08:31Z")
IIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii want a hippopotamus for Christmas! Only a hippopotamus will do! No crocodiles, or rhinoceroseses! I only want hippopotamuseses… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/33 "2005-11-22T04:38:39Z")
You people may have to pay for the marriage counseling. Why? Because you forced me, _forced me_! to get out the Christmas cds. Oh yes. First up? A fun favorite:[Lou Rawls’s “Christmas is the Time”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000005HEF/qid=1132634103/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2977626-4944107?v=glance&s=music&n=507846). If you can resist his version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” it’s just proof your soul was sucked out of you by a machine! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/34 "2005-11-22T04:53:04Z")
> [@Malodorous](#): > > Is there going to be an official Xmas music thread later? > > Some of my favorite christmas tracks: > > 1.[Snoopy’s christmas](http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/snoopys.htm), The Royal Guardsmen (Snoopy fights his archnemesis, The Red Baron, on Christmas day, but shows mercy on his enemy becasue of the sounds of the church bells from nearby towns) I love that song too! I remember having the 45 back when I was a kid. [Have a Fun Christmas](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002XEE1G/102-8733694-9352164?v=glance&n=5174&s=music&v=glance) has many of the great classics. _The Chipmunk Song, The Singing Dogs, Twelve Days of Christmas_ (Bob and Doug, eh) and a great Louis Armstrong song called _Zat you Santa Clause?_ Great album. There there is [The Best Christmas Album in the World, EVER](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B00065EDW0/102-8733694-9352164?%5Fencoding=UTF8#disc_1). 44 tracks of some really great Christmas tunes including one of my favorites I Wish it Could Be Christmas Every Day. ---
**Author:** ![max\_yasgur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@max\_yasgur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/max_yasgur)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/35 "2005-11-22T04:55:25Z")
Aiyeee, no mention of Phil Spector’s Christmas Album yet? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/36 "2005-11-22T04:57:30Z")
It’s not just Christmas; it’s [A Toolbox Christmas](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000005C3F/103-8044990-9637456?v=glance)! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/37 "2005-11-22T05:45:56Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > There there is [The Best Christmas Album in the World, EVER](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B00065EDW0/102-8733694-9352164?%5Fencoding=UTF8#disc_1). 44 tracks of some really great Christmas tunes including one of my favorites I Wish it Could Be Christmas Every Day. This is **very important** : who is the artist on “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day?” Amazon doesn’t say, and I’ve been looking for a particular version of that song since 1985 … the fact that this album is an import bodes well! I’m trying not to get my hopes up, though! ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/38 "2005-11-22T06:04:54Z")
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned “In Dulci Jubilo” yet. That’s gotta be one of my favorite Christmas songs, especially when sung a capella in the original language(s). It has a nice story to it, too – it was a very, very early Christmas song. When the Reformation came along, the Protestants threw out most of the old Catholic hymns, but there were a handful that were considered so beautiful that they kept them anyways. The story may be apocryphal, but I like it anyways. The tune was adapted into the better known “Good Christian Men Rejoice.” “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” is another personal favorite. Little known fact: the tune was written by Felix Mendelssohn. As far as I’m aware(?), that makes it the only popular Christmas carol written by a major classical composer. (I’m not counting stuff like Handel’s Messiah – just the songs that are typically sung around the piano.) For modern stuff, “Santa Baby” has to be one of the funniest Christmas songs out there. And a whole book has been written on the influence of “White Christmas.” ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/39 "2005-11-22T07:15:18Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > This is **very important** : who is the artist on “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day?” The version on _The Best Christmas Album in the World, EVER_ is by [Wizzard](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:v5o20rnar48n), headed by Roy Wood, formerly of the Electric Light Orchestera, who wrote the song. ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/40 "2005-11-22T12:49:18Z")
I really like Trans Siberian Orchestra, but whenever I think of Christmas, I think of this one song my Mom found when I was little. It’s so obscure, I just found it on CD a few years ago. The song is by Merle Haggard, and is called[Santa Claus and Popcorn](http://www.luma-electronic.cz/lp/h/Hag/hag_christmaspres.htm). Another good obscure one is [Thistlehair the Christmas Bear](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/alabama/thistlehair-the-christmas-bear-10604.html) by Alabama. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094.md?page=3)