Our Christmas playlists are filled with hours of favorite songs, and honestly most new stuff is terrible. So it’s often difficult to discover fun Christmas music that we haven’t heard before.
However, as we discussed on the show, both Rusty and I did make a bit of an effort this year, by listening to some new playlists and, for me, satellite radio stations.
As a result, here are a few things that I’m glad I found this year!
- Saturday’s Children – “Christmas Sounds” (1966)
This is a 1960s Beatles/Stones-inspired band from Chicago, and this song is amazing. I listened to it like 10 times in a row, cause that ending just kept making me want to play it again each time. This is the B-side to a track called “Deck Five,” which is a take on “Deck the Halls” and is also pretty good. I will spend most of 2024 digging through 45s in random Nashville record stores until I finally give up next November and drop $20 for the thing on eBay.
- The Caroleer Singers – “The Christmas Stocking” (1973?)
Who knows what’s even happening here? Who are these people? When was this released? (It looks like maybe 1973, but who knows if that’s the first release?) Is it good? I have no idea. But as I’ve said on the show throughout this year, I’ve been digging through a lot of ’60s and ’70s tracks, and there is a ton of stuff like this out there. This particular song is all about the different types of stocking people use, and I think that’s fun (and also weird, although “fun” and “weird” are often interchangeable here at Snow in Southtown). Did I recently buy this LP on eBay? Yes, I did. Does it have another track called “There’s a Hole in My Christmas Stocking”? Yes, it does. The Caroleer Singers like stockings, OK guys? As of now, it looks like we might be covering all ’70s stuff for Season 6, so you could be hearing me talk a lot about the Caroleer Singers and other weird stuff like this.
- “Rare Christmas Songs” Playlist
Rusty sent me this, and I’ve been listening a little bit. As Rusty said on the show, the mix contains a wide range of stuff. There are some songs that I wouldn’t consider “rare” (such as The Ventures’ “Sleigh Ride” or Nightmare Before Christmas tracks), but then there are things that none of us have ever heard (check out The Julekalender’s “Støveldance“). It’s funny that there are multiple versions of “Christmas Island” here, because I’ve never really thought much of that one until it was released on the new Bing Crosby collection this year. Now suddenly it’s everywhere. Also, this playlist contains a lot of songs by…
- Ray Conniff
I don’t know what happened in 2023, but it’s the year where I started hearing Ray Conniff all the time. The music has always been around, but this year it was very noticeable. As I said on the show, I don’t know anything about these people, but they sound (to me) like adult people at a party, excited to have babysitters, just singing songs cause they’re happy… Yet, they also kinda sound like the ’60s Christmas version of the Black Eye Peas, just a super hyped group of musicians, bringing the energy to whatever they do. I bought one CD (the album from 1962), and I think every single track is in the Christmas radio rotation. And there were still songs that I hear on the radio that weren’t on this album, mainly “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” So I’ll be digging more into Ray Conniff next year for sure.
- Richard Marx – “Christmas Spirit” (2012)
I started following Richard Marx on social media a few years ago when he participated in an awesome songwriting project that our friend Vance DeGeneres was doing with Rick Springfield during the pandemic, and he’s pretty fun on social media. He recently announced that his 2012 Christmas album was being released on vinyl, and it was cool to see him, a rock star who ruled MTV for a while, so genuinely excited about the candy cane swirl vinyl. I checked out the album as a result, and it was mostly what I expected. But a few songs actually stood out, especially the title track, which is as good as pretty much any new holiday radio song from the last 20 years. If you’re into the pop Christmas stuff by Kelly Clarkson, Arianna Grande, etc., give this one a listen.
Bonus: Bobby Lloyd & the Skeletons – “Do You Hear What I Hear/You Really Got Me” (1996)
I do not necessarily like the song “Do You Hear What I Hear?” However, I love the Kinks. So do I like this mashup? I don’t even know. It’s weird. Yet I found myself listening to it a few times. It’s just over two minutes, which is always good. I suppose after Bing’s, this is the version of “Do You Hear…” that I would choose to listen to from now on. How long until I do this with a Christmas song and a Weezer song?
A few others that I enjoyed finding:
The Screaming Jacksons – “We Three Ships“
Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band – “Xmas at K-Mart“
Scoopski – “Xmas Eve in the Mall“
Snow in Southtown Christmas Podcast 