When I was looking back at previous posts on the blog, I came across a list of Christmas rock, soul, rap and pop tunes I had put together last year. For the most part, I still stand behind it and thought it would be fitting to publish a slightly updated version.
One of the things I liked to do during the Christmas holiday while growing up in Germany many moons ago was to listen to my favorite radio station, which was then called SWF III. At that time of the year, the DJs would frequently play song requests from listeners.
Not surprisingly, Christmas pop and rock songs were high in demand. Some of these tunes became seasonal anthems, such as Wham’s Last Christmas, Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas. Okay, maybe these are not the most compelling examples, but these tunes come to mind first when I think about those times.
Some folks may cringe about the thought of pop and rock artists dressing up as Santa and performing Christmas songs, whether they are covers of traditional tunes or new songs with holiday themes. Others may get cynical about music artists and record companies all for a sudden discovering Jesus and Santa when people conveniently are willing to spend insane amounts of money on Christmas presents. I get all of that and being cynical about it is not unfounded.
I still think there are some great Christmas rock and pop songs that have come out over the years – in fact, make that over the decades! Plus, let’s be honest, while many traditional Christmas tunes have beautiful melodies, they don’t exactly groove. I don’t know about you, but I like listening to music that makes me want to get up and move – by the way, probably not such a bad thing during the holiday season when many folks like to indulge on food and drink. So how about rockin’ and rollin’ off that of these extra calories!
Below are some clips of some of my favorite Christmas rock and pop tunes in no particular order: From John Lennon’s haunting Happy Xmas, to Chuck Berry’s rockin’ & rollin’ Run Rudolph Run, to Run-D.M.C.’s cool rap Christmas in Hollis, to AC/DC’s hard-charging Mistress For Christmas, to a fantastic live version of Feliz Navidad with José Feliciano and Daryl Hall, to the unforgettable James Brown and his funky Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto, these tunes come in many different genres!
John Lennon/Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (1971)
Chuck Berry/Run Rudolph Run (1958)
The Pogues/Fairytale Of New York (1987)
Run-D.M.C./Christmas In Hollis (1987)
AC/DC/Mistress For Christmas (1990)
José Feliciano/Feliz Navidad (2010)
James Brown/Santa Claus, Go Straight To The Ghetto (1968)
Otis Redding/Merry Christmas Baby (posthumous, 1968)
The Ravers/(It’s Gonna Be) A Punk Rock Christmas (1978)
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band/Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (2007
Happy Holiday season!
Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube
Christian's Music Musings 
Good stuff. I loved the Jose’s live “Feliz Navidad” on Daryl Hall’s show.
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Me too, a nice refresh of the tune. Hall has had some pretty cool guests on his show!
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I like all of these Christian. Lennon’s is my favorite. I found two that I didn’t know exist… Do you know The Band had a Christmas song? I just found out that Big Star had one also…I’m going to post both of those soon…probably Tuesday and Wednesday.
I didn’t know about the AC/DC…it sounds great.
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When I heard that naughty AC/DC Christmas tune a few years ago, I just had to include it. While I’m not into rap, I also find the Run-DMC song pretty cool. And that James Brown tune has a great groove as well.
As for the Band and Big Star, nope, their Christma tunes don’t ring any bells. With so many music artists having jumped on the Christmas bandwaggon, it’s hard to keep track!
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The Band and Big Stars were in the 70s of course…they were really good. Rick Danko sings the song in the Band…it should be played.
Oh yea…James Brown is all about grooves.
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