THE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS ’80s ALBUM

Classic Christmas-80s Album
The Classic Christmas 80s Album flunks the Deb Test (no “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” here!) but for the nostalgia lover on your gift list, here’s a Christmas CD that will bring back a lot of memories. My favorite song on this CD is Hall & Oates’s “Jingle Bell Rock.” The songs on this album run the gamut from rap–“Christmas in Hollis” by Run-D.M.C.–to heart-felt–“This One’s For the Children” by New Kids on the Block–to uplifting, Whitney Houston’s moving version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” This is one of the eclectic Christmas song collections I’ve heard. What’s your favorite Christmas song? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1. Christmas Wrapping – Waitresses
2. Last Christmas – Wham!
3. Hazy Shade of Winter – Bangles
4. Christmas In Hollis – Run-D.M.C.
5. Jingle Bell Rock – Oates & Oates
6. Do You Hear What I Hear? – Whitney Houston
7. Christmas Is the Time to Say “I Love You” – Billy Squier
8. Run Rudolph Run – Dave Edmunds
9. Zat You Santa Claus – Buster Poindexter & His Banshees of Blue
10. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – Pointer Sisters
11. Christmas Time Is Here – Ray Parker
12. Twelve Days of Christmas – Bob McKenzie
13. This One’s for the Children – New Kids on the Block
14. Slick Nick, You Devil You – Fishbone
15. Silent Night – Hooters

33 thoughts on “THE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS ’80s ALBUM

  1. Cap'n Bob

    Next to the stuttering pig singing Blue Christmas, my fab fave is O, Holy Night, as long as the singer can handle the high notes! I’ll be sure to avoid that ’80s album with every fiber of my being!

    Reply
  2. Dan

    You just can’t beat Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to Margaret O’Brien in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS.

    Reply
  3. Deb

    (Turn off italics please.)

    Wow–I now have a test named for me. I feel like Allison Bechdel!

    So, yes, my favorite carol is definitely “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”; while my favorite secular Christmas song is Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” (please don’t even bother to listen to Madonna’s version). Of more recent vintage, I like Elton John’s “Step into Christmas”, Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime”, and the Carpenters’ “Merry Christmas Darling”.

    I’ll put in a plug for a CD called “The Most Fabulous Christmas Album Ever” which is always in heavy rotation at our house this time of year. And, of course, Elvis’s Christmas Album. I can’t trim the tree without listening to that.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Deb, thanks for the heads up on the italics (it’s fixed now). WORDPRESS drives me crazy sometimes. You’ve made some great choices for Christmas songs! I’m with you on Madonna.

      Reply
  4. Bill Crider

    I’ve never thought of “Hazy Shade of Winter” as a Christmas song. I like a lot of Christmas songs, and I don’t have a favorite. My favorite Christmas album is Elvis’ Christmas Album, though.

    Reply
  5. Jeff Meyerson

    I hate McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time” with every fiber of my being, Deb. I also dislike “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives, and even though I don’t hate the song, I despise Bing Crosby so don’t listen to that song.

    I agree with the Cap’n on “Blue Christmas” by Porky Pig (Elvis’s version is OK too!), and Dan on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” among others. I love Phil Spector’s Christmas album (A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU), especially the great Darlene Love doing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” Agree on Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” (the how awful the Madonna remake is).

    Others:

    I’ll Be Home For Christmas
    The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole)

    And yes, I get a kick out of “Santa Got Run Over by a Raindeer.”

    There, I said it.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, I’m with you on Phil Spector’s A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU. Darlene Love was performing at a local casino a week ago and I was tempted to go see her (I resisted and corrected research papers instead). I wish the Giants had held on to that 10-point Fourth Quarter lead over the Jets.

      Reply
  6. maggie mason

    Jeff I always enjoyed Darlene Love singing Christmas on Letterman I just watched 20ft from Stardom and enjoyed that as well.

    Reply
  7. Jeff Meyerson

    That certainly would have helped the Bills if they had. But they’ve blown fourth quarter leads repeatedly this year. It’s been a big disappointment. Coughlin is definitely going after the season.

    At least the Bills are still hanging in there.

    Reply
  8. Beth Fedyn

    Although I like a lot of ’80s music, I’ll pass on this one.

    None of the artists really excite me. The past couple of years I’ve really enjoyed Joni Mitchell’s River. Sarah McLachlan put out a good Christmas album a few years ago and included River on it. Lovely.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Beth, I completely agree with you on Sarah McLachlan’s Christmas album. It’s on heavy rotation in the Kelley household. Diane loves “River.”

      Reply
  9. Deb

    Although I like both “River” and “Hazy Shade of Winter”, neither of the strike me as Christmas songs. Yes, “River” begins with a line about Christmas and “Hazy” mentions the Salvation Army, but to me it’s a stretch to consider either of them really Christmas songs.

    Reply
  10. Richard R.

    The Messiah by Handel. The album Christmas At Trinity with the choir singing the standards such as “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful”. I’m not much for the more pop stuff, though I have a lot of CDs of Christmas music. One I’m fond of is Gloria Estivan’s Christmas album.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Rick, I know you’re going to find this hard to believe but I don’t own Gloria Estivan’s Christmas album. I’ll have to rectify that!

      Reply
  11. Jerry House

    I consider myself fortunate because I spent most of the 80s with my head in the 60s. As much as I like Eartha Kitt, ‘Santa Baby” is not one of my favorites (Kitty hates it with a passion). I go for the more traditional carols. As for Christmas albums, give me Peter, Paul, and Mary or Elvis,

    Reply
  12. Cap'n Bob

    In the eighties I was working hard at my job, going to Bouchercons, doing MDM from 1984 on, hunting, fishing, Dapa-Em, and looking for love!

    Reply

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