Here Comes Santa Claus, Elvis Presley, 1957
Another of Gene Autry’s holiday classics, he was inspired to write it after hearing crowds chant: “Here Comes Santa Claus!” during a Christmas parade he was participating in. Elvis Presley puts his own spin on the tune, which is of course, his.
Click here to listen to all the songs on YouTube!
“Santa Got Lost In Texas,” Michael Landon, 1972
Most folks know Michael Landon as a successful television actor, but he was a pretty good singer, too! Anyone who’s ever been lost on the highways and byways of Texas can relate to this raucous sing-along.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Texas Tornados, 1999
This marks Rudolph’s 3rd song on the list. Recorded for “A Christmas Tradition Volume III” album, The Texas Tornados (naturally) give a Tejano twist to the classic, with the last verse being sung in Spanish.
YouTube user unclebill68 wrote:”I produced and engineered. The label wanted a nice Xmas carol. You should have seen the look on their faces.”
Auld Lang Syne, B.B. King, 2001
“Auld Lang Syne” is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 set to folk music. This song’s presence on the list is admittedly a little bit of a stretch, since it’s best known for being sung at New Year’s Eve these days.
The song is usually performed at a fairly slow tempo, but B.B. King’s rendition is more upbeat.
“Marshmallow World,” Dean Martin, 1966
Written and composed in 1949 by Carl Sigman and Peter DeRose, this is another of one those “Christmas” songs that makes no mention of the holiday. While hardly the first to record the song, (Bing Crosby was first in 1950) Deano bought his inimitable style to yet another classic, earning him a third spot on this list.
Every Christmas these last four years I have made lists of my favorite Christmas songs. Some classic, some modern, some out there, but all full of Christmas cheer!
Click here to listen to all of them on YouTube!
I tried to pick some of the more eclectic songs and different renditions of classics the first time around in 2014:
Please Come Home for Christmas – The Eagles
Winter Wonderland – The Eurythmics
Little St. Nick – The Beach Boys
If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas – Gene Autry
Baby It’s Cold Outside – Dean Martin
Christmas Vacation – Mavis Staples
What Child is This – Liona Boyd
White Christmas – The Drifters
Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid
Santa Claus and His Old Lady – Cheech and Chong
There’s Always Tomorrow – Janice Orenstein
Feliz Navidid – Jose Feliciano
Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town – Bruce Springsteen
Happy Xmas (War is Over) – John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy – David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Someday at Christmas – Stevie Wonder
Merry Christmas Darling – Carpenters
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings” – Barenaked Ladies Feat. Sarah McLachlan
We Need a Little Christmas – Percy Faith
Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley
A Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack – Vince Girauldi Trio
Christmas at Ground Zero – Weird Al Yankovic
2015 featured more standards but there were still plenty of oddballs to be found.
The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole
Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Gene Autry
Happy Holiday, Andy Williams
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Andy Williams
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee
You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch, Thurl Ravenscroft
Frosty the Snowman, Willie Nelson
Winter Wonderland, Huey Lewis and the News
There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays, Perry Como
I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas, Gayla Peevy
The Twelve Days of Christmas, John Denver and The Muppets
I’ll be Home for Christmas, Fats Domino
The Chipmunk Song, The Chipmunks
Carol of the Bells, Mykola Leontovych
Jingle Bells, The Singing Dogs
Give Love on Christmas Day, The Jackson 5
Chrissy the Christmas Mouse, Debbie Reyonlds and Donald O’Connor
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Elmo and Patsy
Christmas Dragnet, Stan Freberg
Things slowed down in 2016 with only ten songs, with some fairly recent ones catching my ear.
It Must Have Been Ol’ Santa Claus, Harry Connick, Jr.
Where Are You, Christmas?, Taylor Momsen
Chiron Beta Prime, Johnathan Coulton
Merry Christmas (Exclamation Point), Jon Lajoie
All I Want for Christmas is You, Mariah Carey
Merry Christmas from Cell Block 2, Matthew Ebel
The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack, Danny Elfman, et al
Welcome Christmas, M-G-M Studio Orchestra & Chorus
Snoopy’s Christmas, The Royal Guardsmen
Another ten for 2017:
Dominick The Donkey, Lou Monte
Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home), Darlene Love
All I Want For Christmas Is You, Vince Vance and the Valiants (feat. Lisa Layne)
Here We Come a-Wassailing, Under the Streetlamp
Hard Candy Christmas, Dolly Parton
Up On The Housetop, Gene Autry
Love on Layaway, Gloria Estefan
The Snow Miser Song, Dick Shawn / The Heat Miser Song, George S. Irving
There’s more on the way for 2018!
You are about to hear one side of a chat that may be taking place this afternoon or maybe tomorrow, assuming it hasn’t already. It involves a speaker who wants to get something off of their chest and a listener who is there for their own reasons. I call this curious conversation: ‘Confession.’
How are you?
I’m fine, just busy, you know?
You, me, and everybody else. Remember when today wasn’t so busy and everybody stayed at home?
Yeah, me too. You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but I think it got this way because of me.
How? *sigh* Well, about six years ago, I saw Santa Claus.
Yeah, I know, everybody thinks I’m crazy, but I saw him. I didn’t even hear him or anything, I just wandered into the living room because I just had this feeling, you know? And there he was, leaving gifts under the tree.
Apparently when you catch Santa in the act, he grants you a wish…anything you want, in exchange for keeping his secret.
I wished that it could be Christmas all year…hey, I was eleven years old, it sounded good to me!
Santa tried to talk me out of it. He said something about ‘the balance,’ but like I said, eleven years old. Santa said okay, and disappeared.
Ever since then, the Christmas decorations go up a little earlier, people start putting their lights a little bit earlier, and you start hearing Christmas music a little bit earlier. Like I said, I think it’s my fault.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I guess that I hope that if I break my promise to keep his secret, he’ll break his, and things will go back to the way they used to be…I guess Santa never breaks his word, even when it’s a good idea.
Crazy, huh? I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t believe me. I don’t believe it myself, sometimes…but well, here we are…and here’s your receipt, ma’am. You have a nice day. *sigh*
Next customer!
Tis the season, so the saying goes, Dear Listeners, but which one? It gets harder and harder to tell. For more telling tales told by me, visit Eduardo Soliz dot com. This has been Super-Short Storytime and regardless of which one you’re celebrating: Happy holiday, listeners!
I wrote a happier Christmas story to make up for this one called “Middlemen.”
“The Snow Miser Song,” Dick Shawn, 1974
“The Heat Miser Song,” George S. Irving , 1974
The feuding Miser Brothers are easily two of the biggest stars of the stop-motion classic “The Year Without a Santa Claus.” In the show, the songs are played separately, so YouTube user Marco Hofschneider combined the two and removed the sound effects to combine them into one wonderful ode to heat, cold, and big egos.
That’ll do it for this year! I hope you enjoyed this year’s count-up and you can click here to hear all seventy songs!
“Love on Layaway,” Gloria Estefan, 1999
Gloria Estefan brings a delightful tropical beat to this ode to saving.
Click here for sixty more Christmas songs!
“Mele Kalikimaka,” Bing Crosby, 1950
The North has white Christmases, the south has green Christmases, and Hawaii has plenty of sun and clear skies!
TRIVIA: Mele Kalikimaka is not a translation. Because the Hawaiian language is phonetically different from English, it is an approximation of “Merry Christmas.”
Click here for sixty more Christmas songs!
Eduardo Soliz 