A Very Daly Christmas

Last week, a colleague asked if I would make his girlfriend a Christmas mix. He's Jewish, she's not -- the man needed some help. I'm a freak for Christmas music and have an epic number of albums that are only good for 25 days a year. So of course I said yes.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a ton of time to make the mix, so I threw a bunch of stuff together and hoped it worked. In retrospect, I give it a B. No Darlene Love -- an omission that would get you shot in the North Pole. And the abundance of Guaraldi slows the pace in spots. But there's some good stuff on there.

(By the way, I had a hot picture of the Hawaiian Tropics girls in strategically placed wreaths to go with this post. But out of respect for my female readers -- and my beloved Forever Fiancee -- here's a picture of Yoda in awkward Santa gear instead.)

Anyway, here's the playlist for A Very Daly Christmas...(plus for the ladies, a CLIP from the Star Wars Holiday Special)

1. Santa Claus Is Back In Town -- Elvis Presley
2. Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer -- Chris Isaak
3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) --  Death Cab For Cutie (WATCH a homemade video)
4. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? -- Rufus Wainwright
5. Merry Christmas Baby -- Otis Redding
6. O Tannenbaum -- Vince Guaraldi
7. Sleigh Ride -- Los Straitjackets
8. Frosty The Snowman -- The Ronettes
9. Run Rudolph Run -- Chuck Berry
10. Linus And Lucy -- Vince Guaraldi
11. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town -- Bruce Springsteen
12. The Christmas Song -- The Raveonettes
13. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) -- Nat King Cole (WATCH)
14. Carol of the Bells -- The Bird And The Bee
15. Blue Christmas -- Elvis Presley
16. Christmastime Is Here (Instrumental) -- Vince Guaraldi
17. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -- Chris Isaak
18. Christmas Is Coming -- Vince Guaraldi
19. Spotlight On Christmas -- Rufus Wainwright
20. Skating -- Vince Guaraldi
21. Jingle Bell Rock -- The Ventures
22. The Man With All The Toys -- The Beach Boys
23. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus -- John Mellencamp
24. Christmastime Is Here (Vocal) -- Vince Guaraldi
25. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) -- U2 (WATCH)

Comments

[sparky]

How can this list/mix be complete without any samplings from the Neil Diamond or Barbara Streisand Christmas Albums?

[sparky]

And I totally forgot about Amy Grant! You have to put Hark the Herald Angles Sing on the Mix.

[Carla]

Death Cab for Cutie.. Christmas (Baby please come home)??? Interesting... but I still prefer Jon Bon Jovi's version!!

[Bassnote]

The only version of 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' that you need, is the one by Darlene Love. that is the ultimate version of the song.

[Sean Daly]

Oy, I'm catching a lot of crap in the office for the lack of Darlene Love. Even though I explain it's not a definitive playlist -- I'm still getting coal in my stocking.

[Sean Daly]

And in policing myself, the lack of Charles Brown is inexcusable as well. His "Cool Christmas Blues" album should be in heavy rotation in ho-ho-house.

[jane]

Gotta put in a plug for any of the pieces in Duke Ellington's adaptation of the Nutcracker Suite... "Sugar Run Cherry (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)" has been on heavy rotation around here.

[Bassnote]

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Temptations
(Something About) Christmas Time - Bryan Adams
Oiche Chiun (Silent Night) - Enya
Winter Wonderland - Louis Armstrong
Put A Little Love In Your Heart - Al Green & Annie Lennox
Just A Little Snow - Jeffrey Osborne
Little Drummer Boy - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Twelve Days Of Christmas - John Denver & The Muppets

[Marissa]

Hey! I'd listen to it on loop.
Last year my son was in 6th grade. His class was having a Christmas party the day before break started. He asked me to make him mix CDs to share (what an honor). Thank GOD Hannah Montana wasn't a huge hit then. Having to scrape my son's teacher from the ceiling would not look on his permanent record. I did, however, have to slap on Hanson's Run Run Rudolph and a couple others that slip my mind.

[Marissa]

Oh, and let me just thank you, Sean, for taking the women-folk into consideration when posting pictures on the blog. Now, if you REALLY wanted to give kindly to the ladies you would have posted a photo of some hunk-o-burnin' love wearing nothing but a Santa hat and strategically placed holly. :)

[Marissa]

Ya know, I was just thinking (a dangerous thing)... Posting a photo of Chris Isaak--since he's on the playlist--would have been absolutely sublime! meowwwww

I need a moment ::sigh::

[DG]

Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Christmas Vacation - Mavis Staples
Holiday Road - Lindsey Buckingham
That Spirit Of Christmas - Ray Charles
Step Into Christmas - Elton John

[Jeff in Cuba]

On last year's Christmas show I played 11 versions of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town", back to back and asked my listeners (or as my wife calls them, "my deeply disturbed following") to pick their favorites.

Their top 3 versions:

3. Bruce Springsteen - Nobody hits that "Santa" in the chorus harder than the Boss.

2. Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters - There's just something about the mix of Bing's crooning and the girls' harmonies.

3. Ray Charles - The big band sound, the distinctive phrasing, and that iconic voice. It just doesn't get any cooler than that.

[Sean Daly]

Cool idea, Jeff. Next year try "Rudolph." Ray Charles' version is so slinky and sexy, you'd swear he was singing about a red-nosed pimp. Chris Isaak's cover has this devastatingly cool keyboard line.

And Dean Martin's take? Well, let's just say "ol' Rudy," as Dino calls him, took from a few nips from Santa's bottle before the big flight.

[Jeff in Cuba]

I think I will run down the Rudolph's for this year's show (which is tomorrow). I'll let you know the results.

[Brad]

I know I'm a little late to the party but I'd kick it off with:

Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 - Trans Siberian Orchestra

And work this one somewhere in near the end:

All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey