Since
tiny, teenage Brenda Lee belted out Rockin’
Around the Christmas Tree in 1958 there has been a mixed bag of Rock & Roll Christmas music.
That song had the edge of being co-written
by Christmas music specialist Johnny Marks,
the creator of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. There
have been a lot of shots fired at the elusive goal of becoming a seasonal perennial but there have been
way more misses than hits. Although not
so ubiquitous as country music stars Christmas
albums, plenty of rockers from Elvis
Presley to some death metal bands have
tried to get into the game.
In
the ‘50s and early ‘60s the most successful holiday sides were basically novelty
tunes like Lee’s. Notably success
included Chuck Berry’s Run, Run Rudolph, rockabilly Bobby Helms’ Jingle Bell Rock, and the Beach Boys’ recasting The
Little Duce Coup into The Little Saint Nick.
But
that began to change in 1963 with Phil
Spector’s wall of sound Christmas album. It notably included Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene
Love which Rolling Stone rated as the greatest
Rock Christmas song of all time.
Unfortunately the album dropped
on the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated and was swamped nearly to oblivion. None of the songs on the album charted originally. Over time the album and the song became cult favorites. It got a huge boost in 1986 when David Letterman featured Love belting
out the song the final new episode
before Christmas. He made it a tradition
that lasted 27 years with ever more elaborate productions.
The Beatles got into
Christmas music with annual almost throw
away ditties meant as audio Christmas
cards to fans. Later both John Lennon and Paul McCartney had their own holiday hits. Lennon’s Happy Xmas (The War is Over) in 1971
was a great rocking protest song and
was produced by Phil Spector. In 1979 McCartney stuck gold with Simply
Having a Wonderful Christmas Time, which has made it to Christmas radio play lists but has also been derided as “the worst Christmas song of
all time.” Believe me, it isn’t as long
as Dominick
the Donkey or The Christmas Shoes still turn up.
For
sheer star power and more than a
dollop of self-importance nothing
matches Irish rocker Bob Geldoph’s assembly of Rock and Pop superstars on Do They Know its Christmas in 1984
to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
Mariah Cary’s diva performance on All I
Want For Christmas Is You became the first new Christmas song in years to
become a seasonal standard in
1994. The infectious earworm has finally passed Bing Crosby’s White
Christmas as the most played holiday song on radio as well as the biggest seller.
There
are undoubtedly others that deserve mention.
But for sheer raw Rock and Roll power
nothing matches the 1975 live recording of Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
including Little Stevie—Steve Van Zant—and
saxophonist Clarence Clemmons. There is something playful and joyful in
this rocker.
The
song long predated Rock &
Roll. It was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie and became a huge hit for Eddie Cantor after he featured it on his weekly radio program in 1934. It has been recorded by over 200 artists,
including Bing Crosby and The Andrews
Sisters, The Crystals, Frank Sinatra, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Mariah Carey, Neil Diamond, Chris Isaak, and Michael
Bublé. It was also the title song of the Rankin and Bass 1970 animated
TV special with Fred Astaire
narrating the origin of Santa Claus.
For sheer infectious ebullience, Springsteen’s version blasts all others out of the water.
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