"It's not that I'm passionate about Christmas as a holiday. Truth is, I'm not particularly fond of it at all. Christmas means more work and extra hassles and I've got enough of both already. It's the songs that I'm crazy about. Don't know why or how but somewhere along the way I've developed a place for them in my otherwise black heart. I like all Christmas songs. I like religious ones, I like traditional ones, and of course most of all I like the rock'n'roll ones. There's Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and the Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," there's a version of "Frosty the Snowman" by the Ronettes that is so spirited it can almost make you forget that the world is so fucked up for a few minutes. And don't try and tell me that recording them is not cool cuz both Patti Smith and Keith Richards have turned in versions and Elvis recorded a whole album's worth.
This record may have turned into a slightly different beast than what I had originally envisioned, but all things considered, I think it's a pretty impressive collection. Included on this slab are ten new entries in the sweepstakes for Christmas classics of the future. Sure, maybe a few are a bit tweaked, but a couple of 'em are honest contenders. To hear just one of them one day somewhere down the road blastin' from a radio when Sympathy is nothing more than a bad memory and some boxes cluttering up my swank three-car garage would send this lonesome cowboy straight to moondoggie heaven. Here's hopin' that you'll enjoy a ffew of them today. And don't forget Christmas is Jesus's birthday! Color me... LONG GONE JOHN xx"
Side A:
Shitbirds - Christmas Is a Comin' (May God Bless You)
Junkyard Dogs - Brand New Bike
Claw Hammer - The Night Before Christmas
Devil Dogs - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Rocket From The Crypt - Cancel Christmas
Side B:
Humpers - Run, Run Rudolph
Jackknife - Santa Claus Never Forgets
New Bomb Turks - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
Red Aunts - Little Drummer Bitch
Monsieur Jeffrey Evans with Ross Johnson & The AMF - Mr. Blue X-mas (Cut Your Head On Christmas)
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