Have You Been Naughty Or Nice? Hmmm? The One Buck Guy Is Both Naughtier And Nicer...

Ho! Ho! Ho! And by that I do mean the scantily clad women hanging around in a photogenic manner in this thread's various visual supports. It's Christmas time again, folks, and here at One Buck Records that can only mean two things: women in various state of Holiday-themed skimpy outfits and a specially compiled Christmas compilation for my very favorite readers - which is all of you, obviously. 

You might have noticed on the last two volumes (which are also re-upped, gotta keep that Christmas music comin'....) that I keep the irreverent and snotty limited. Yes, these Christmas collections are supposed to be fun and not entirely traditional, but big ol' sentimental me also enjoys a genuine take on a Christmas carol by a favorite artist, so there's also quite a bit of those from perennial OBG faves like Tift Merrit, Tracy Chapman and Shawn Colvin. This doesn't stop me, obviously, from opening proceedings with Cheap Trick kickin' down Santa's door with "Come On Christmas". Power pop fans will be served on this volume, as we also have Christmas Carols from the likes of Chris Stamey, Del Lords and Fountains Of Wayne, while genre-adjacent Marshall Crenshaw's DIY contribution is a little more subdued (dig the 80s Casio groove, friends..).

Oh, hello there, lady...is there something for me in there..?

And then there's the ones that split the difference between the genuine and...the genuinely weird. Hear Nat King Cole fight his way through a phonetic cheat sheet while wrestling the original German language version of "O Tannenbaum" to a draw! Witness the improbable once-in-a-lifetime dream team of David Bowie and Bing Crosby (or, as Bowie recalls him at his advanced senior age, looking like 'an orange sitting on a stool') with the improbably beautiful "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy". These are unironically two of my favorite Christmas tunes! I'll leave it to the listener to judge whether the group vocals during the second half of Chris Stamey's "Christmas Song" are genuine and charming or willingly amateur and a send up. If you do want lovely group vocals, don't go further than The Wondermints doing their loveliest Beach Boys impression on "Santa's Beard"!

We also have slightly jazzy takes from the likes of Ray Charles and Don Dixon! Further vets like Jose Féliciano and John Hiatt! Wisenheimers like Nick Lowe and Sufjan Stevens! Truly a cornucopia of Holiday tunages, accompanied, as ever, by the One Buck Records Elvettes coming up right underneath..

So, have yourself a merry little Christmas, everybody...

P.S.: While uploading this comp I've just learned that Chris Rea died this week. Not a huge fan, but considering tha radio proclivities of my parents, I couldn't escape the man. Here's his Christmas classic "Driving Home For Christmas"

R.I.P. Christopher Anton Rea, 1951-2025

 

Ho!Ho!Ho! Sightings...

Ho!Ho!Ho! And by that I don't mean the scantily clad women...wait, what's that you say? I made the same joke last year? Ah, we're gonna make that an inofficial Christmas tradition then, here at One Buck Records, together with the mandatory Christmas compilation. We will beat it into the ground until it is super annoying and then beat it some more until it becomes awesome again. Unless if it never was awesome in the first place, but we're not gonna entertain that notion. So. Hos. Lots of them. Yelled by an overweight fella in suspicious red attire. It's that time of the year again...

If you don't like Christmas music, like, at all (U A H8R BRO?), this isn't for you, but if you like Christmas music with a twist (mostly), then it is. There are a couple of straightforward classic Christmas carols here, mostly by soul artists such as The Jackson 5, The Rotary Connection and the Supremes, as well as a relatively traditionalist take on "Joy To The World" by neo-trad folkies Cawlings, but of course half the fun is having non-traditional Christmas songs getting their due, like house favorite Ron Sexsmith wondering, if "Maybe This Christmas" will mean something more. We have Christmas-adjacent songs from Michael Kamen and The Cowsills. We have humorous takes on Christmas songs by The Doobie Brothers, The Goo Goo Dolls and Alabama. 

Is she wrapping or unwrapping..? And does it really matter?

We have power-poppy Christmas tunes from The Weeklings and Mike Daly and an uptempo raver from The Mavericks. And speaking of uptempo: House favorites Jimmy Eat World give us a sped up, non ironic take on Wham's cheesy "Last Christmas", arguably improving it. Cheap Trick, as always bring the noise on the short, energetic "Christmas Christmas". And then, as the album fades into the (holy) night, we slow things down with Michael McDonald wishing for us to have a merry little Christmas and Brandi Carlisle celebrating "O Holy Night". 

X-tremely X-cellent X-Mas (or XXX, but I'm still workshopping the acronym there) has, as you can see, a bit of everything and hopefully a thing or two for you. If you were good this year, that is...

So, folks, merry Christmas, happy hanukah or whatever other good reason you can find to be merry and with friends or family these days...

Look what some bearded weirdo in red attire just shoved under your tree...

Ho!Ho!Ho! And by that I don't necessarily mean the scantily clad ladies accompanying this post, because nothing says 'tis the season' like mistle toes, eggnog, Christmas Carols and, uh, ample amounts of cleavage?! Did someone in the back there just yell 'Jingle them bells'? Naughty boy, you! So, this year from Uncle OBG you get some cheesecake, delivered freely with your Christmas offering, which is the kinda sorta mandatory Christmas compilation, seasonal obligation for any self-respecting music blog (unless you boycott Christmas or Christmas music compilation, which, you do you, you!). Not much to say, other than there's a bunch of cool dudes and dudettes on here (Ron Sexsmith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom Rush, Koko Taylor) and that you should check it out. 

On my PC I have my Christmas music arranged in playlists by genre, but this has proven to not be the best way of going about it. After a while you get sort of fed up with a single genre (funk, country, rock etc.), so this comp will feature a variety of artists and styles. Dig the power pop that The Grip Weeds bring to "Christmas Dream", some rockabilly "Jingle Bells" from Ricky Nelson or some funky festive tunes from The Temptations. The biggest wild card in the pack is probably Twisted Sister's take on "Deck The Halls", with its rumbling "falalalala-lalalala" chorus making me imagine a bunch of disgruntled elfs taking the piss out of the whole Christmas endeavor. 

So, Merry Christmas y'all that do celebrate, and if you don't, have a good time with friends or family regardless. See you on the other side...

PS. Have some more cheesecake, for the road. There ya go...