# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/41 "2005-11-22T13:39:31Z")
The top selling Christmas album is A Charlie Brown Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/42 "2005-11-22T14:19:42Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > IIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii want a hippopotamus for Christmas! > Only a hippopotamus will do! > No crocodiles, or rhinoceroseses! > I only want hippopotamuseses… I finally found a copy of the record! It’s a 45 (I’ve previously seen 78 rpm copies, but I can’t play those) on a yellow-with-red-print Columbia label–a design I’ve never seen before–with little pictures of a dancing hippo surrounded by holly leaves. Yay! ---
**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, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/43 "2005-11-22T14:37:18Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > 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. Yep, That’s the only version of the song I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/44 "2005-11-22T15:06:15Z")
[A Christmas Together](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001VD4/qid=1132671472/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0827109-6992712?v=glance&s=music) with John Denver and the Muppets is very good if you’re a muppets fan. You can get it for $6. Robert Earl Keen’s “Merry Christmas From The Family” single is hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/45 "2005-11-22T15:31:17Z")
How about **Another Rock and Roll Christmas** by Gary Glitter? Er, perhaps not under the circumstances. ---
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/46 "2005-11-22T17:06:09Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > How about **Another Rock and Roll Christmas** by Gary Glitter? Er, perhaps not under the circumstances. Oh, yes! Gather all the children 'round to listen… ---
**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, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/47 "2005-11-22T17:09:45Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > 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. YAY! 🙂 Exactly the version I’ve been looking for! > [@Zebra](#): > > Yep, > > That’s the only version of the song I’ve ever heard. I first heard it 20 years ago when I was living in England, and I have a crappy recording of it from off a _Top of the Pops_-like special, but last year I decided to search in earnest for a good recording (I love this song!). I found [this CD](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00002MUIY/qid%3D1132678689/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-7333602-7069520) on Amazon, which is also an import and doesn’t list any artist names, so I thought I’d found it … unfortunately, it wasn’t until the album arrived that I read the words on the bottom of the cover: “Christmas classics regrooved by the best of British rock.” No Wizzard, just a bunch of covers by has-been rock stars. ☹ Thank you **so much** for mentioning (and linking to) _The Best Christmas Album in the World … Ever_! 🙂 > [@seosamh](#): > > How about **Another Rock and Roll Christmas** by Gary Glitter? Er, perhaps not under the circumstances. I refuse to let any current unpleasantness interfere with yet another song that I’ve been enjoying for the past 20 years. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/48 "2005-11-22T17:27:49Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Christmas Eve and Other Stories](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1204044) - The Trans Siberian Orchestra If you get Christmas Eve and Other Stories you must read the liner notes as the CD plays. The entire CD is one long story, and the liner notes explain the story as the music fills the air. There is a version of CEAOS that has narration on it. it came as a bonus CD with another TSO Christmas album. That version is my personal favorite. However looking at Amazon I don’t see it listed. ☹ ---
**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, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/49 "2005-11-22T18:04:46Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Favorite tracks: > (Everybody’s Waitin’ for) The Man with the Bag - The Brian Setzer Orchestra > Gettin’ in the Mood (for Christmas) The Brian Setzer Orchestra > Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) - The Trans Siberian Orchestra > Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer - Jewel > Winter Wonderland - Harry Connick, Jr. (on the [When Harry Met Sally](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1059139) soundtrack) > Mr. Heat Miser - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (on [Everything You Want for Christmas](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=3089848)) > 'Til Santa’s Gone (Milk and Cookies) - Clint Black (on [Looking for Christmas](http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2958133)) Forgot one: Frosty the Snowman - Michael Keaton and the Jack Frost Band (on the [Jack Frost](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000FDMA/qid%3D1132682589/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-5102539-9755811) soundtrack) ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/50 "2005-11-22T18:11:28Z")
I like the original Band-Aid … _Do They Know It’s Christmas_. Yes, I am aware that the lyrics stink because (1) much of Africa is Muslim; and (2) it doesn’t usually snow in Africa in December. However, I am an 80’s pop junkie. I also like _Little Drummer Boy_ by Bing Crosby and David Bowie. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/51 "2005-11-22T18:15:22Z")
Another vote for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It’s like Xmas meets a kid’s choir meets 80s hair metal. Fantastic. We have tix to see them live next month. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/52 "2005-11-23T02:30:58Z")
If you’re a fan of rock guitarists, [Merry Axemas](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002BP3/002-6639216-0654464?v=glance&n=5174&v=glance) and [Merry Axemas, Vol. 2](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000DFS6/002-6639216-0654464?v=glance&n=5174&s=music&v=glance) are pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/53 "2005-11-23T04:47:56Z")
My new favorite is a Big Band arrangement of [“The Nutcracker Suite”](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002UFL/102-5939349-3949714?v=glance&n=5174&s=music&v=glance) by Les Brown. And since you can never go wrong with the Velvet Fog, there’s [Mel Torme’s Christmas CD](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003D3E/102-5939349-3949714?v=glance&n=5174&s=music&v=glance). When I find the commercialization of holiday gets to be too much, I listen to Stan Freberg’s _Green Chri$tma$_. ---
**Author:** ![mcott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@mcott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcott)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/54 "2005-11-23T06:26:46Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > If you get Christmas Eve and Other Stories you must read the liner notes as the CD plays. The entire CD is one long story, and the liner notes explain the story as the music fills the air. > There is a version of CEAOS that has narration on it. it came as a bonus CD with another TSO Christmas album. That version is my personal favorite. However looking at Amazon I don’t see it listed. ☹ Well, speaking as one who just bought the DVD of _ **"The Ghosts of Christmas Eve"** _, (thank you _Borders_ at 18th and L in DC - it’s temporarily unavailable in Canada) I have to say that it’s great. I’m not normally one for seasonal music, but the DVD now ranks with the “West Wing” episode _“In Excelis Deo”_ as something that can cause me to cry. ---
**Author:** ![Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lathe_of_Heaven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2005, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094/55 "2005-11-23T06:32:16Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > **dangermom** , Larry Lipkis is one of my professors (and I’m a composition major, so I see him a lot). I saw the Baltimore Consort for the first time last weekend (so good!) and was thoroughly amused by the revelation that he has fangirls. > > That CD is on my Christmas list along with a few others of theirs. Whee. 🙂 Whoa. I thought I was the only Baltimore Consort fan in the world. Tell him I’ve been listening since I was 13. (Yeah, I was odd.) My suggestions: Atheist though I am, it’s just not Christmas if I can’t blast Handel’s Messiah at decibel levels normally associated with jet takeoffs. My personal Christmas standby is the Boston Camerata’s album [A Renaissance Christmas](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000005IXX/103-4417972-3961432?v=glance&n=5174&s=classical&v=glance). Nobody’s mentioned the [Arrogant Worms’ Christmas album](http://www.maplemusic.com/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1201&pf%5Fid=1200%2D07&lang=EN) yet? It’s uneven, but “Santa’s Gonna Kick Your Ass” is a holiday classic in my circle. The Chieftains have (I think) a couple of Christmas albums, but I really like [The Bells of Dublin](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003F53/103-4417972-3961432?v=glance&n=5174&n=507846&s=music&v=glance), not least because it has Elvis Costello singing a macabre little tune called “The St. Stephen’s Day Murders”. Folk goddess Dar Williams has a cheerful number called “The Christians and the Pagans” about love and tolerance at Christmas/Solstice. It’s on her album [Mortal City.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002ZCC/103-4417972-3961432?v=glance&n=5174&n=507846&s=music&v=glance) Speaking of folk, ye folkies should totally get Signature Sounds’ holiday album [Wonderland](http://www.signaturesounds.com/onlinestore/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=228&CFID=662846&CFTOKEN=86166789). It has a brooding take on Joni Mitchell’s “River”, a Christmas song by the great Dave Carter, and my personal favorite version of “At The Christmas Ball”. The Bobs once had a song called “Yule-Man vs. the Anti-Claus”, which, most unfortunately, was not as good as its title. I’m fond of non-Christmas wintry songs. How about Gordon Lightfoot’s “Song for a Winter’s Night”? I like the Sarah McLachlan version, which I have [on the Due South soundtrack](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000007RNL/103-4417972-3961432?v=glance&n=5174&s=music&v=glance). It may be available elsewhere; I don’t know. But wait! Can we combine secular winter-y songs with early music? Of course! [Shira Kammen](http://www.shirakammen.com/pages/cds.html) has a beautiful a capella song called “Green Grows the Holly”. There’s also a medieval song called “Miri it is whil sumer ilast” that is genuinely depressing; but, since it’s in Middle English, no one will ever know. The one I have is on an album called [Thys Yool](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000037CJ/103-4417972-3961432?v=glance&n=5174&n=507846&s=classical&v=glance). Now, if only I can find a good version of “O Come Emmanuel” (English OR Latin! I’m desperate!), I can be happy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unofficial-christmas-music-thread/332094.md?page=2)