Christmas @
Mr. Zero’s Inc.
Mr. Zero’s Top Christmas Songs
“BUZZ” Newspaper Article: December 2013 (#33-xS)
When I was a kid I loved Christmas & I Especially loved Christmas Music, so did my Little Sister Carrie, I remember she would listen to Christmas Music in Aug, on a little tape recorder passed down from her oldest Sister Michelle. So as I have being selling music for over 35 years, I thought I would cover my favorite Christmas songs & the formats in which they were released, as I was just reminded by a customer, that most of these great Christmas songs were not released on full length LPs, but instead usually on a 45 Single, then later as a bonus track on a CD that was closest to the time that Xmas song was recorded.
“Little Drummer Boy” Harry Simone Chorale: 1958 on LP. From the Claymation film of the same name, I loved this show as a kid.
“Rockin’ Santa Claus” The Martels: 1959 a 45 & then on CD “Cool Yule” 1988, a great R&B tune, I love the bass vocal in this song.
“(I Want a) Rock and Roll Guitar” Johnny Preston: 1960 a 45 & then on CD “Cool Yule” 1988 the 50s dialect is priceless. “Man, I don’t want no dump-truck, I want something that swings” he also did “Leave My Kitten Alone”
“Riu Chiu” The Monkees: 1967 released on “Missing Links 2” 1990 CD/Cass, this song was used in the only Monkees Christmas episode & not released until 23 years later. Sadly this version does not have David Jones on it, but Chip Douglas in his place. It’s a 15th century Spanish balled.
“A Christmas Song” Jethro Tull: 1968 a 45 Single & then on “Living In The Past” 1972 LP/8Track. An unbelievable track from these prog-rockers, one of my all time favorites. I feel this band is grossly under rated.
“Yesterday’s Christmas” Bobby Sherman: 1970 LP/CD. This song totally captures what it was like to be a young kid in the early 70’s, once a popular teen idol, he is largely forgotten today.
“Happy Xmas (war is over) John Lennon: 1971 a 45 & then on “Shaved Fish” 1975. Com’on its Lennon for crying out loud. Yoko has the B-Side “Listen the Snow Is Falling”.
“Miss Christmas” Energy w/ Tommy Bolin: 1972 “Energy” CD. Some of you may not know Tommy Bolin is from my home town Sioux City, Iowa. I have written many articles on him, & still trying to finish up a book on him.
“Christmas Eve Can Kill You” Everly Brothers: 1972 “Stories We Could Tell” LP. When I was a baby my Mom took a photo of me, with an Everlys LP in the background, many years later I was able to get that same LP autographed by both Phil & Don.
“Step into Christmas” Elton John: 1973 a 45 Single & then a bonus track on “Caribou” 1995 CD. I 1st heard this song on a promo only CD sampler I got in L.A. at a work function. I remember thinking back in 1993 someday kids will not understand the line “Hop aboard your turntable, step into Christmas with me”
“Merry Christmas Everybody” Slade: 1973 a 45 Single. As a 45 this sold 1 million copies, & started off the UK tradition of the race for the #1 spot on the chart for Christmas in the UK. My old boss Marc H. turned me onto this song.
“I Believe In Father Christmas” ELP a 45 in 1975 By: Greg Lake then re-recorded By: ELP & released in 1977 on “Works Vol. 2” LP. I really feel this song sums up the whole Christmas experience for me. I still remember sitting in my Grandma Marge’s living room looking at the tree & hearing this on the radio.
“Christmas Is My Time Of Year” The Monkees (Dolenz, Jones & Tork): 1976 a 45 & on the CD “Cool Yule 1988. In the mid-70’s the pseudo 1st Monkees reunion took place in the form of “Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart” in late ’76 they released this Xmas 45, which lead to me one of my best friends in the Record Biz (Ace-High Records), he was a DJ in a local club & I sought him out to get a copy from him.
“Father Christmas” Kinks: 1977 a 45 then in 1986 on “Come Dancing” LP/Cass/CD. This song is so cool I asked the Glam Band I was in (Palace Guard) back in 1985 to do this song in our regular set.
“Wonderful Christmastime” Paul McCartney 1979 a 45 & then a bonus track on the 1993 CD “Back To The Egg” as before, com’on it’s McCartney, the B-Side was a weird instrumental that McCartney is known to do from time to time.
“Dead By Christmas” Hanoi Rocks: 1981 a 45 then on the 1982 “Self Destruction Blues” LP/CD. This band really influenced our Band “PALACE GUARD”
“2000 Miles” The Pretenders; 1st a 45 in 1983 then in 1984 on the LP “Learning To Crawl” I never really got into this band but this a great song.
“Thank God It’s Christmas” Queen: 1984 a 12″ EP Single & a 45, then on the 1999 CD “Greatest Hits 3” My buddy Pat (the Drummer of Palace Guard) was a huge “QUEEN” fan & used to get all the rare Import Singles etc. & introduced me to this song. Another great Non-LP Track was “2 Sharp Pencils”
“That Spirit of Christmas” Ray Charles: 1985 LP/CD. I heard this LP when it came out, it didn’t grab me until this song was used in the film “Christmas Vacation” years later.
“It Wasn’t His Child” Sawyer Brown: 1988 CD “Wide Open” this was the opening track to a charity CD a friend gave me because Dolenz of The MONKEES was on the same disc. It really hit home for me, as I was not my Step- Dad’s child but he loved me like a son.
“Christmas Vacation” Mavis Staples: 1989 Paisley Park Promo Only 45, eventually released on “Ultimate Christmas Vol.3” CD only in 1996. The opening song to the film. I made a cassette recording from a VHS, so I could listen to this song. This was not commercially released back then because there was trouble between PRINCE & WB, in retaliation WB messed with several of the Artists PRINCE was working with, Mavis ended up being one of them.
“I Heard The Bells” Suzy Boguss: 1988 Promo only CD Single. This was a CD Single released only to Radio Stations. Customers drove us crazy that year coming in droves to buy it, when it was not available. I eventually got a copy from the record label.
“I Believe In You” Sinead O’Connor: 1992 “Very Special Christmas 2” CD/Cassette. Being Irish I was interested in the artist even if she was bald … I heard this tune & thought this is great, well of course it is, Dylan wrote it.
“Kidnap The Sandy Claws” 1993 “Nightmare Before Christmas” I got turned onto this song from a co-worker John Z. he played it for me & laughed my head off. “Beat him with a stick”
“Christmas Is My Time Of Year” The Beatles: 1967 on the “Free As A Bird” 1995 CD Single. I 1st heard this song on a Bootleg LP in High School. This song was re-mixed for a CD Single only for The BEATLES “Anthology” series.
“Rudolf Red Nosed Reindeer” Smithereens: 1995 “Attack Of The Smithereens” CD. I got this song off of some sampler CD that came in at Xmas time that year, turns out it was on this CD by the band.
“River” Ann Nancy Wilson: 1995 “Road Home” CD/Cass. This is a Joni Mitchell song that had been around for awhile, I did not discover it until years later, I was going to see HEART in concert & was playing all their CDs that I owned.
“Looking for Christmas” Clint Black: 1995 “Looking For Christmas” CD/Cass. I was working for WorstBuyz when this came out & we were doing some sort of promotion for the new CD. I really liked this 1st song.
“Happy Holiday” Enuff Z’nuff: 2003 “We Wish You A Hairy Christmas” CD. I was never really into the “Hair Metal” scene or specifically this band but I heard this & really thought this one was great.
“Washington Square” Chris Isaak: 2004 from the CD “Christmas” I love Chris’ music, & this song especially. He had a great TV show in the early 2000s.
While there were millions of Christmas albums recorded, most were by Easy Listening, Vocal or Big Band Artists, then eventually artists aimed at a younger audience, ex. Brady Bunch Kids, Jackson Five, New Kids On The Block, etc. recorded Xmas albums as a quick cash-in on their fleeting fame, most Rock or Jazz Artists, usually, only did a song or 2. Music History Trivia: back in the late 80s & early 90s most Christmas Music was sold in Minnesota or Iowa, more so than most other states combined.
So here are a few of my Favorite Christmas Albums:
Dean Martin “A Winter Romance” 1959 Capitol, I always loved Dean’s voice, I know most prefer Frank, but I like Deno.
Jackie Gleason: “Merry Christmas” 1962 Capitol, this promo CD came in, in 1989, I just loved it, it was the 1st commercial album to use the instrument the celeste which along with vocal choir surely inspired Danny Elfman on works such as “Edward Scissorhands”
Paul Revere & Raiders: “A Christmas Present And Past” 1967. Band leaders Paul Revere & Mark Lindsay found themselves with yet another band change in 1967, so to fill the gap they recorded a Xmas album with the new band, as the Raiders considered themselves a musical comedy group there are several bits this that were meant to be humorous that ended up being a little un-enjoyable.
Osmonds: “We Sing You A Merry Christmas” 1962 & “Christmas Album” 1976. In the 70s the Osmonds were huge, the 1st Xmas LP they did as barbershop quartet & the 2nd as a whole family singing group.
The Beatles: “From Then To You” UK 1970 Apple LP. Turns out The BEATLES would release a Flexi- Disc to the members of their fan club in the UK, from 1963- 1969, so 7 in total, when they broke up in 1970 their final release was to the fans an album of all 7 Xmas Flexi-Discs on one LP. This was released in the USA the following year. Trivia: Tiny Tim was the only outside artist to appear on this Xmas LP, the 1968 “Sixth” record.
Partridge Family “Christmas Card” 1971 Bell/ Arista LP & 8Track. When I was a kid the MONKEES had ended & in the wake The Partridge Family was created, 60% of the Musical staff went from 1 project to the other, so it only makes sense I would have liked this kind of music too.
Best of Cool Yule: 1990 Rhino CD. The record label Rhino started out as a compilation/ re-issue label, in many cases such as this one, putting several 45 singles not on any other album, all on 1 CD. This one has many 50s songs together a great listening experience overall.
Davy Jones “It’s Christmas Time Again” 1991 Cassette. The MONKEES 80s reunion ended in Sep 1989; however Jones never stopped working as an entertainer. In the late 80s into the 90s Jones had his own record label; Hercules, (manufactured by Capitol) he put out several releases on cassette only.
So there you have it folks, my final installment for 2013.
I would like to add this article, as with all my submissions is/are written from my perspective, experience & my own preferences. As I learned the hard way, in some way we are all very different, and in some ways we are all very much the same. So stay true to yourself & dig what you’re into …
I would like to thank Izzy Presley & Don Anger for getting me this gig. Izzy just played a show with “ACK” & Izzy was kind enough to let me do a song with him & my other band mates Pete & Mick.
“So Garry Crimble to you, Bette Davis …me too”
RLSchwinden aka MrZERo
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