We are less than two weeks away from Christmas, which means that stores, restaurants, and FM radio stations (those still exist, right?) have already long been bombarding anyone in earshot with cavity-rot songs about having affairs with Santa or dashing through snow in archaic transport. Christmas music is polemic: nostalgically holy to some and noxiously evil to others. I don’t spend much of my time listening to holiday music as an adult, but the name of this column is “Timely Tunes”, so I thought I would put together a playlist of season-appropriate songs that don’t make me want to overdose on eggnog.
Also, I’d like to take a moment to explain why there hasn’t been a “Timely Tunes” playlist for a few weeks. Each year, November and the beginning of December is when I browse back through all of the albums and singles I listened to over the preceding year and compile a playlist of my 100 favorite tracks. It’s an intensive and time-consuming process, but that playlist is basically finished now and will be published here next week. After the beginning of the year, I will try to get back to a more regular schedule. Until then, enjoy some musical holiday cheer.
Timely Tunes, Vol. 28: Christmas Mix
Tracklist:
1. Darlene Love “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
2. Otis Redding “Merry Christmas Baby”
3. Marvin Gaye “Purple Snowflakes”
4. Donny Hathaway “This Christmas”
5. James Brown “Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto”
6. Stevie Wonder “What Christmas Means To Me”
7. Wizzard “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”
8. The Waitresses “Christmas Wrapping”
9. The Kinks “Father Christmas”
10. Big Star “Jesus Christ”
11. John Coltrane “My Favorite Things”
12. Louis Armstrong “Christmas In New Orleans”
13. Billie Holiday “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm”
14. Charles Brown “Please Come Home For Christmas”
15. Loretta Lynn “To Heck With Ole Santa Claus”
16. Low “Little Drummer Boy”
17. The Pogues “Fairytale Of New York”
18. Sufjan Stevens “Christmas In The Room”
19. John Lennon “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
20. Harry Nilsson “Remember (Christmas)”
21. Cat Power “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
22. Ahmad Jamal Trio “Snowfall”
23. The Flaming Lips “Silver Bells”
24. Vince Guaraldi Trio “Christmas Time Is Here”
25. John Fahey “What Child Is This”
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Some great songs on there. I especially love “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” and “Fairytale Of New York” from your list.
Cliff Richard’s “Mistletoe And Whine” and any version you care to list of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” would need to appear on my list.