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  1. 2023 (Xmas) Albums Thing 241 - Various Artists “Phil Spector’s Christmas Album”

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    As you may have noted following the last two blog posts and are surely about to realise with this one, my Christmas album collection, outside of one record, has a theme…coloured vinyl. This one is on Blue vinyl, a not very exciting shade of dull navy blue granted, but if you aren’t familiar with my penchant for coloured vinyl by now then you can’t have been paying very close attention for the past year.

    It also helps that it’s a bloody great record regardless of the Christmas theme. It was originally released in 1963 under the title “A Christmas Gift For You From Philles Records”, Philles being the record company formed by Phil Spector and Les Sill in 1961, but these days is most commonly known as “Phil Spector’s Christmas Album”. It consists of the Philles artists of the time (Darlene Love, The Ronettes, Bob B Soxx & The Blue Jeans and The Crystals) belting out a selection of Christmas standards all supported by Spector’s patented “wall of sound” production.

    You get “White Christmas”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Frosty The Snowman”, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”, “Winter Wonderland” etc. etc. and it all ends on an excruciatingly cheesy (American) “Silent Night”. Cher sings (uncredited) backing vocals throughout and the Beach Boys Brian Wilson played piano on “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”…but his performance was so bad it wasn’t included.

    Special mention has to be made of the one song written for this record, Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. It’s an absolute banger and unbelievably, on first release as a single in 1963 and again in 1964, it didn’t chart, not doing so for the first time until 2018 ! That tells you everything you need to know about the great record buying public, deaf as gate posts the lot of em !! Thankfully it’s now regarded as a Christmas standard.

    Yes, Spector indelibly marked his copy book eventually but Christmas just wouldn’t seem like Christmas without this.

    Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - https://youtu.be/4EvZOXEoJ84?si=2mLhJ1mCzUjD9rYa

  2. 2023 (Xmas) Albums Thing 240 - The Brian Setzer Orchestra “Dig That Crazy Christmas”

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    …and again, Christmas songs played by a rock & roll, boogie woogie big band this time pressed on lush red and white splatter vinyl…we’ve been here before haven’t we ?

    Mr Setzer and his Orchestra’s second volume of boogie-woogie-fied Xmas tunes follows the same formula as the first. It’s a selection of Christmas standards (“White Christmas”, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, “Jingle Bell Rock” still getting the picture ?) sprinkled with 3 Setzer originals, his “Santa Drives A Hot Rod” is pretty cool. Some of the selections this time are less obvious which makes it a little more interesting as Xmas albums go.

    I gotta point out that both of these albums have fantastic artwork, all very early 60’s comic book style, think The Jetsons and there you have it. This one finishes with a look forward to the New Year too…which is nice…

    Santa Drives A Hot Rod - https://youtu.be/ZFoiN_qtPQQ?si=4GBJ6Ooq8usNHclc

  3. 2023 (Xmas) Albums Thing 239 - The Brian Setzer Orchestra “Boogie Woogie Christmas”

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    OK I realise I just chucked the alphabetical thang outta da window but I own just 4 Xmas albums and I figured what better time to get those outta the way than now…well it is Christmas…

    What we have here is Christmas songs played by a rock & roll, boogie woogie big band pressed on lush green and white splatter vinyl…ace! 

    This and its follow up, that we’ll get to tomorrow, entered my world only this year. Well that’s not entirely true, I’ve had a download of this one for some years, these records I only acquired in February. They arrived as part of a collection I bought for the shop, both 2019 re-issues of albums originally issued on CD only in 2003 and 2005 respectively. My addiction to all things coloured and vinyl meant I immediately earmarked them as additions to my collection.

    For anyone who has been asleep for the last 40 or so years Brian Setzer is the impossibly blonde and be-quiffed singer and guitarist who first made his name fronting Rockabilly Rebels the Stray Cats. After the breakup of that band and a try at a solo career he put together the Brian Setzer Orchestra, a 17 piece Jump Blues and Swing big band with extra added Rockabilly guitars in 1990.

    This album is another collection of Christmas (mostly) standards (“Jingle Bells”, “Winter Wonderland”, “The Nutcracker Suite” you get the picture ? Yes we see) with a couple of Setzer originals all revved up to sound something like Cab Calloway or Joe Jackson’s “Jumpin’ Jive” on pharmaceutical grade amphetamines (I am in no way insinuating that any chemical stimulants were employed in the making of this album) all sprinkled with scorching boogie-woogie guitars. Like this…

    Jingle Bells - https://youtu.be/juTJQr9WJfY?si=QtVPaLiqhgpDbDxK